Playwright Melanie Tait has a lot to be excited about.
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Her play 'The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race' has been adapted for the silver screen, and has commenced filming in the place where it all began, Robertson.
"I am thrilled because I wasn't sure it would be filmed in Robertson," she said.
"I'm excited to be able to tell the stories of people who live in regional places up on the screen and for it to be filmed in my beloved hometown of Robertson.
"It's the biggest thrill ever. I'm so glad that producer Andrea Keir and Paramount made it happen."
The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race was inspired by real-life events which happened in Robertson.
"I always say that it was inspired by something that happened in real life," Melanie explained.
"It's about a doctor called Penny who grew up in Appleton, which is what Robertson is called in the movie.
"She's returning home to take over a local doctor's surgery, and she discovers that the local potato race prize money is different between the men and the women.
"And she goes about changing that and sort of sets off a bit of a cultural meltdown in the town.
"It pits family against family, and friends against friends. It's about them coming to a good place at the end."
"None of the characters in the play or the movie are based on real people or inspired by real people.
"They're just people that I imagined."
'The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race' joins a long list of productions such as 'Babe' and most recently 'The Traitors', to film in Robertson.
Melanie was a pre-teen when 'Babe' was filmed in her hometown.
"I've got a lot of memories of 'Babe'," she said.
"My parents have the local grocer, and the film crew used to buy a lot of food from our shop.
"Mum, in particular, became friendly with the person who was the head animal wrangler, Karl Miller."
Another highlight for Melanie was the opportunity to serve filmmaker George Miller who produced 'Babe' and directed the sequel 'Babe: Pig in the City'.
"I served him in the shop once. It was the highlight of my teen years," she said.
"I always loved movies. I wanted to somehow be in movies or write movies. I didn't quite know how that would happen."
Melanie has made her dream a reality and has adapted her play for the big screen, and is thankful for the support she has received.
"The community got behind the play," she said.
"It divided people who didn't agree with it, but there were a lot of people who did support it, and have been with it the whole way.
"It's just so so special that people have been supportive."
While Melanie wasn't involved in the casting, she said director Lynn Hegarty, and producer Andrea Keir put together an incredible team of actors.
"They're fantastic. The cast is wonderful," she said.
"Good actors for storytelling are just so essential. It's a crack team of incredible Australian actors."
With filming well underway, extras are still needed for the big potato race, and residents are encouraged to come along and get involved.
"We need people to come along and be in the crowd if they'd like to on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Robertson Showground," Melanie said.
"Even if they want to come and have a look and see what's going on.
"We would love them to hang around if they'd like to and be members of the crowd as we film the big race.
"We need lots of people cheering."
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