A Launceston actor has turned his hair loss journey into a feature film starring a former premier and a Home and Away actor, with more than 400 people involved in its production across Tasmania.
Michael Ballard is the producer, director, writer and lead actor of Balding, which took seven years to make.
The film, made with his wife Emma, will premiere at Launceston’s Star Theatre on October 29.
Ballard said the project started at the end of 2019 as a short film, after he was diagnosed with skin conditions including psoriasis and was “pretty much losing my hair”.
He said there was “too much stigma around it”.
“So I was just like, ‘You know what?’, I’m going to claim it. I’m going to do the Dwayne The Rock Johnson and just be proud to be bald,” he said.
The project grew as more people agreed to take part. Filming slowed during COVID-19 lockdowns and the final shoot was in 2024.
The cast includes former premier Peter Gutwein, local MP Michael Ferguson, Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood and former ABC newsreader Peter Gee.
Actor John X, Home and Away’s Lisa Gormley, Australian Idol winner Damien Leith and Beaconsfield mine survivor Brant Webb also appear.
“I want it to be a community film where it was made for Tasmanians,” Ballard said.
“I had an idea and then I thought, ‘This person would be great. I’ll just message them’.”
“It’s Tassie, so you’ll know someone who knows them or something.”
Ballard said Gutwein was “more chilled” about appearing in the film than he expected and agreed to perform a dance that made it into the final cut.
He also messaged every former prime minister. Julia Gillard replied that she was busy, while Paul Keating declined in a letter.
The comedy-drama follows a successful local theatre actor and hairdresser who is diagnosed with aggressive psoriasis and loses his acting roles as he goes bald.
It includes a Bollywood sequence filmed in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and a hallucination scene in which a doctor turns into a giant panda.
Ballard said the story also follows the character’s efforts to be a good son to a neglectful father.
While the premiere is a private event, Ballard said companies that place films on streaming services had approached him. There is no release date yet.
