Howard Anderson, a restless and discontented American, goes to Australia to team up with an old associate, Julian Fane.
While Anderson is a builder who takes pride in his work, Fane's only motive in building is to burn down the resort in an insurance fraud.
John Seale shot footage of the fire which Brian Trenchard-Smith turned into a 25-minute film, That Dangerous Summer.
It was then announced this material would be used by Trenchard Smith in a feature version of the story, to be called Bushfire.
The films were not box office successes and the stock brokers refused to repay the loans when they matured in November 1983.