The 13th House [2003]

Writers - Shaun Duncan - Scott Richards
Director- Shane McNeil
Genre - Thriller/Mystery
Country - Australia
Runtime - 58 minutes

Plot Synopsis

"Work for a living, Kill for a promotion"

Mark Waterman hates his job as a minon employee, writing travel brochures for a faceless corporation. He is convinced he is due for the better life, full of wealth and beautiful women. Mark is on the verge of quitting when he recieves a notice to appear before the corporation board on the 13th floor - a level of the organization few employees have been priviledged to see.



Mark meets Sir, the enigmatic board chairman, who informed Mark he has been selected along with 12 other employees to compete for a promotion to a vacancy on the board. Mark and the other candidates are giving assignments via manila envelopes left on their desks. At first, Mark's tasks seem trivial and pointless, such as checking the locks on the stalls in the toilet. But the assignments become stranger and seemly more dangerous as the competition for the promotion wears on.

Mark is also smitten with Minervia, the ice queen receptionist of the 13th floor, and begins an affair with her that initially he thinks is a great reward, but ultimately leaves him feeling empty and more alone. Mark's friendships and loyalties are tests as his tasks demand he sacrifice the things in life that mean the most of him in order to succeed. One by one, the competition is reduced until only Mark and fellow employee David are left in line for the promotion. Both are given one final assignment that will see only one of them survive to the next day and become the 13th House of the company board.

What Shaun says about "The 13th House":

" You can't help but respond in kind to Shane's enthusiasm about whatever he's working on. I agreed to do this film because I liked Shane and Christian (the producer) and because the script was odd. It was an unusual role for me. I'm still not sure I pulled it off, although Shane professes to be happy with my performance.) Damon Gamaeu who plays the lead is Gary McCaffrie's nephew. If you look very carefully in one of the Micallef Pograms you can see him being crushed by a machine - it's the sketch where we're fireman who keep laughing because we remember something funny on TV. He was on a holiday from NIDA. I think he's also in that sketch where we're rather insensitively playing a yobbo family in a limo (didn't really work that one, I blame Damon)."

What Shane McNeil says about working with Shaun:

"I am very proud of Shaun's performance in "The 13th House" and I personally think it is the best thing he's done in terms of a creating a truly believable (and menacing) character outside his comic roles. We talked about modeling the character of "Sir" after other comedians who had to play villains against their comic type, like Michael Palin in "Brazil" or Steve Martin in "The Spanish Prisoner." He was very nervous about the part and said to us later that it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do as an actor."

"Based on our limited experience, he is still one of the most hygienic actors we have ever had the privilege of working with.

Additional Info:

Cast [In credit order]-
Damon Gameau - Mark Waterman
Shaun Micallef - Sir
Rebecca Havey - Minerva
John Scott - David Freeman

[ rest of cast listed alphabetically ]
Rosslyn Aylmore - Security Guard Kim
Alexandra Davies - Temp Receptionist
Wayne Groom - 13th Floor Board Member
Nicholas Hope - Man From the 14th Floor
Jamie Nicolai - Arian Salesman
Nils Erik Nielsen - Grinning Lawn Bowler
Grant Page - Violent Lawn Bowler
Bridget Walters - Myopic Tropical Woman at Reception Desk

Crew [additional crew info can be found at imbd.com]
Kristian Granpre-Moliere - producer
Julie Ryan - executive producer
Original Music by - Tom Heuzenroeder - John Scott

Official The 13th House Website

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