Writer/director Scott Roberts has joined the team behind The Quiet Man, a vehicle for Australian comedian Alexander Gutman, better known under his stage name Austen Tayshus.

Roberts' debut film The Hard Word, starring Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths, has just opened in several key US cities.

Robert Lewis Galinsky describes the original script, which he wrote with Gutman, as "a dangerously twisted love story in which the protagonist challenges our ethical, religious and sexual morality". It was one of only several chosen to be pitched at the annual conference of the Screen Producers of Association of Australia late last year and Galinsky is one of only a few Australian-based writers who makes a respectable living writing film projects for US producers.

The Quiet Man is loosely inspired by Bad Day At Black Rock, which was nominated for an Academy in 1955, and it is hoped that the original star Ernest Borgnine will reprise his role as the villain.

Gutman's Australiana DVD, published by EMI, still holds the crown as the largest selling comedy single in the country. Also on The Quiet Man team is Larry Meltzer, producer of the high-rating ABC television series Long Way To The Top.

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