Aussie crew films documentary in Camp Sherman

Dominick Dunne's controversial career has led him from a time as a film producer to becoming a writer and investigative journalist. The former Camp Sherman resident is now the subject of a new, independent documentary produced by a film crew from Australia.

Dunne's subjects are usually the rich and famous who have become embroiled in the legal system. Now, it is Dunne himself who is in the spotlight.

The idea for the documentary germinated in the mind of a young film director named Kirsty de Garis from Sydney, Australia. She brought the idea to another director named Tim Jolley, and they decided to join forces to create the film. The pair have worked steadily over the last 18 months.

"It was Kirsty's idea about two years ago. She started talking about it with me, and I thought it was a brilliant idea for a film. So when she asked if I wanted to get involved I said: 'Yes,'" said Jolley, an experienced documentarian who felt the subject matter would lend itself to his style.

As the idea began to reach fruition, de Garis and Jolley realized that Camp Sherman is critical to the film.

"The time that Dominick spent in Camp Sherman was a pivotal point in his life. Before he came to Camp Sherman, he had spent a number of years in Hollywood where he had obtained some success as a film producer and won a couple of awards at Cannes," said Jolley.

His time in Camp Sherman is well remembered by those who lived there during his stay.

"As is well documented, his life began to fall apart in Hollywood and he came here (Camp Sherman) as a broken man. This was where he began to write and obviously he is now much more famous for being a writer. So, his time in Camp Sherman gave him the space to launch the very successful second part of his life," Jolley said.

Although the temptation was strong to fix the documentary's focus on Dunne's later, more successful career after his time in Camp Sherman, the film makers recognized that too much emphasis on this phase of Dunne's life would not be appropriate.

"We have been following Dominick Dunne's life for the last couple of years, and we realized that we couldn't do a film about his life without including his time in Camp Sherman," said de Garis.

The film is being funded by a patchwork of resources.

"We have a certain amount of funding from the Australian government. The Australian Film Commission has contributed some money, and we are providing some money ourselves. We are also in talks with some American film distribution companies about having them contribute some to the project," said Jolley.

There is hope that the film can become a commercial success, but the road is long and difficult.

"We are hoping to release the film next May for a theatrical release. It will be a 90 minute feature film, and we think he is an interesting enough person and he has a great story to tell," said de Garis.

Camp Sherman resident Joyce Osika reflected on the time that Dunne was in Camp Sherman.

"The connection between Dominick Dunne and Twin View (Resort) and ourselves is because we shared a part of his life when he was at his lowest ebb of feeling good about himself, his integrity and all the rest of it. He has come a long way," she said.