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There are some happy little Vegemites in country Victoria after its inventor’s grandson sold the movie rights to his book.
Jamie Callister is the author of The Man Who Invented Vegemite, which documents his late grandfather, Cyril Callister’s, life.
Cyril was born in Chute near Beaufort and later moved to Yendon.
He studied at Ballarat School of Mines before moving on to the University of Melbourne and then embarked on a career as a chemist in food technology when he created the iconic spread.
Jamie said he had always envisaged the story for the screen.
“Before I wrote the book I started writing the screenplay,” he said.
“The book charts his life from the time he was born in Chute, where his grandfather was a teacher, all the way through.”
Mr Callister said he recently signed off on the deal with Melbourne movie producer Richard Keddie.
“It’s early days at the moment, we don’t know whether it will be a theatrical feature film, TV series or TV movie yet,” he said.
Mr Callister will be the associate producer for the film. He says he will be a consultant for the story line.
Mr Callister did not rule out doing some filming in regional Victoria.
“We haven’t signed off on where the story will go ... but there’s a good chance some of it will be shot in Victoria,” he said.
“But it’s a broad story that encompasses lots of the globe, so locations will depend on funding.”
Beaufort cafe Three Troupers Pantry owner and manager Marianne Troup said there had not been Callisters in the Beaufort region for a long time, but she still had a connection to the family.
“My sister-in-law is good friends with Libby Callister, Jamie Callister’s wife – the author of the book,” she said.
“They did a book launch here in October last year – they all ran out of copies ... I couldn’t even get in it was that full.”
Pyrenees Shire mayor Michael O’Connor said the story of Cyril Callister was well-known in the region
“Cyril Callister is a good-standing citizen from the Chute area and it’s great to see his work being recognised,” he said.
“We would love to see a film made about him.”
Entering Chute, the sign reads ‘Welcome to Chute, birthplace of Cyril Callister 16.2.1893, the inventor of Vegemite’.
“We would certainly hope and encourage that any part of production would be shot in the region,” Cr O’Connor said.
“And if they want a mayor dressed in period costume to appear in the movie, I might even do that.
“He’s done so much on the world stage as far as food technology.”
Mr Callister said that because his grandfather came from the region, the news of the film was exciting for the area.