{"id":142252,"date":"2023-09-28T07:32:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T07:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?p=142252"},"modified":"2023-09-28T07:32:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T07:32:03","slug":"delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Karl Quinn<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Joshua Sasse and Delta Goodrem in Love Is In The Air, the latest in a long line of low-budget rom-coms made by Canadian-born, Queensland-based producer Steve Jaggi. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n

Save articles for later<\/h3>\n

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n

There are 13 romance movies listed on the credits page of Jaggi Entertainment, many of them featuring the same mix of cursive and sans serif script, five of them with the word \u201clove\u201d in the title, two with the word \u201cromance\u201d, and one with the word \u201cmatch\u201d. Eleven of them feature a happy, attractive, heterosexual white couple.<\/p>\n

If it sounds like they\u2019re following a formula, that\u2019s because they are \u2013 and for company founder Steve Jaggi, it\u2019s paying off in spades.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, there is a formula here, it\u2019s a business, and we\u2019re learning every time,\u201d says the Canadian-born, Queensland-based producer. It boils down, he says, to two words: audience focused.<\/p>\n

Jaggi\u2019s latest is Love is in the Air<\/i>, which stars Delta Goodrem as a pilot in far north Queensland and Englishman Joshua Sasse as the blow-in who inevitably wins her heart, loses it, and finally regains it despite the ill winds (including, naturally enough, a tropical cyclone) that blow through their fledgling relationship.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Steve Jaggi has made 29 feature movies in the past eight years, by sticking to a simple formula of audience first.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cDelta wanted to get back into acting, and I think she connected with the material,\u201d Jaggi says of landing his leading lady, who was, he insists, the first and only choice to play Dana, the feisty pilot who puts community before profits. \u201cIt\u2019s a broad-based film that\u2019s PG-rated, and it\u2019s aspirational, full of positive messages. I think she felt it would connect with her fans and her music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge was finding a time when she could fit it into her schedule just as she was about to embark on an international tour to mark 20 years in the music industry. \u201cDelta is probably the top of the pyramid in Australia\u201d, says Jaggi.<\/p>\n

They shot a block of three weeks in north Queensland in January, then a few months later, in a break from touring, Goodrem returned for another week in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Delta Goodrem was ready to return to acting, and Love is in the Air provided the right vehicle at the right time. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Netflix<\/cite><\/p>\n

The film is unlikely to win many awards, but it does tick most of the boxes demanded by the genre and its fans. And that, says Jaggi, is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to recognise that the audience for these movies take them incredibly seriously,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are rules, there are tropes that have to be obeyed. You have to work with filmmakers and writers who are as dedicated to the genre as the audience is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it behooves us to take the audience seriously and not be tongue in cheek or ironic when we make these films.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s largely flown under the radar, Jaggi, who gives his age as \u201cearly 40s\u201d, has made 29 feature films in the eight years since he spotted a niche in the Australian market for an unapologetically commercial operation. Roughly half of them have been in the romance space.<\/p>\n

Though the genre has struggled in recent years at the cinema \u2013 the Julia Roberts-George Clooney rom-com Ticket to Paradise<\/em>, which made $US172 million worldwide last year, is one of just seven English-language rom-coms to top the $100 million mark since 2010 \u2013 romance has become a staple of the streaming and broadcast space.<\/p>\n

Netflix certainly has a crush on the genre. There are around 280 romantic dramas on its Australian site, and 240 romantic comedies. And it seems to have suddenly woken up to the idea that they can be made in Australia relatively cheaply, and sold to the world on the strength of picturesque locations like northern New South Wales (A Perfect Pairing<\/em>), Airlie Beach (Love is in the Air<\/em>) and, going a little further afield, New Zealand (the interactive rom-com Choose Love<\/em>).<\/p>\n

For Jaggi, the key is to make the product at the right price point. Typically, that\u2019s around the $4 million mark. Key creatives might be first- or second-timers; lead cast might be profit participants; discipline is essential to making the whole thing work.<\/p>\n

When it\u2019s suggested that his model has distinct echoes of that followed by the Hollywood horror producer Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse company has enjoyed enormous success over the past couple of decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my name is next to Jason Blum\u2019s, I\u2019m happy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Jaggi is an anomaly in the Australian industry, a producer who has largely (though not entirely) worked outside the government agencies. He puts that down to his training in London, where he spent a decade working for companies that made genre and exploitation movies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe films themselves are not so much what matters,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat matters is understanding the business behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of his films are financed through pre-sales to broadcasters or foreign markets, and by bank loans. \u201cWhen you\u2019re borrowing the money and your house is on the line, you\u2019ve got to be damn sure you can pay the bank back,\u201d he says. \u201cIf an audience will watch it, that means they\u2019ll pay for it, and that means we can pay back the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might seem a no-brainer, but Jaggi claims his early attempts to win the support of the agencies were met with utter disdain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my first meeting with Create NSW, they laughed me out of the room,\u201d he says. \u201cI hadn\u2019t even left the building, I\u2019d only left the conference room, and I heard the person in charge saying they would never in a million years fund me. The same with Screen Australia. I met with them and they were just so rude and abrasive and said what I was proposing would never work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine films later, he\u2019s well and truly proved them wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe creative battle is always that you want to spend more than you have, but if you do that you don\u2019t make a second film,\u201d says Jaggi. \u201cThat\u2019s what Jason Blum does so well, identifying when to spend and when not to spend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do it as well as him,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut we are working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love is in the Air<\/em> is on Netflix now.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contact the author at kquinn@theage.com.au, follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin, and read more of his work here.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. <\/i><\/b>Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Most Viewed in Culture<\/h2>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Karl Quinn Joshua Sasse and Delta Goodrem in Love Is In The Air, the latest in a long line…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDelta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Karl Quinn Joshua Sasse and Delta Goodrem in Love Is In The Air, the latest in a long line…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Projects World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Delta-Goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-Netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/\",\"name\":\"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lifestyle\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/category\/lifestyle\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Projects World\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World","og_description":"By Karl Quinn Joshua Sasse and Delta Goodrem in Love Is In The Air, the latest in a long line…","og_url":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/","og_site_name":"The Projects World","article_published_time":"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Delta-Goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-Netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/","url":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/","name":"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight - The Projects World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-28T07:32:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/delta-goodrem-in-the-pilots-seat-as-netflixs-budget-rom-com-takes-flight\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lifestyle","item":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/category\/lifestyle\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Delta Goodrem in the pilot\u2019s seat as Netflix\u2019s budget rom-com takes flight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/","name":"The Projects World","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}