Cattle Class

Baz Luhrmann Is Brand-Conscious

So you reckon you've got better-than-average stock on your station or ranch? Then film director Baz Luhrmann is your man. The director of Strictly Ballroom (1992), Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge (2001) says he is searching for almost 1000 head of cattle for an epic period film to be shot in the far north of Western Australia. Scenes from the film, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, will be shot on pastoral land near Kununurra, after the Western Australian Government chipped in $500,000 to the project. And while Luhrmann is looking for ``stars'' to take part in a major cattle drive, he is very specific about what he wants. ``Actually we need period cattle so we need short-horns," he said. ``They can be a short-horn cross, red, sometimes a bit piebald, basically that look. So if you have a sensational, very attractive short-horn, we are doing cattle calls, pardon the rather lame pun.'' His words, not mine. Bart Simpson would have simply said: ``Don't have a cow, man.''