Then in May 1980 Rupert Murdoch and Robert Stigwood announced they were forming a film company, Associated R&R Films. Lovell approached them with the script, and they agreed to fund it provided the budget did not exceed $3 million. Lovell later said the final budget was $2.8 million, or $2.4 million with the rest consisting of fees. This was the highest budget of an Australian film to date. Rupert Murdoch's father, Keith Murdoch, was a journalist during the First World War. He had visited Gallipoli briefly in September 1915 and became an influential agitator against the conduct of the campaign by the British.