By Kenan Beaumont
Crowdfunding has become crucial to the financing of short films in WA.
Murdoch University film student Cecilia Allen on set.
Film students and graduates rely heavily on crowdfunding and self-funding to produce short films in Australia.
“It’s really the only option students have,” says Murdoch University lecturer and filmmaker Glen Stasiuk.
He believes most students aren’t in a financially stable position and require help from the community to pay for the expenses of making a short film.
Jess Parker, a film graduate from Murdoch University, is currently using the crowdfunding website Pozible to fund one of her up-and-coming short films.
“The crowdfunding money will be targetted towards festival submission, marketing and getting the film out to the world, which is a real struggle for short films but it’s crucial in making them,” says Jess.
“I think it’s amazing that students can go online now and push their projects that one step further and get support while they are still in education,” says Jess.
“Any money that you raise extra can give you the opportunity to actually pay for a good cast member while you’re still at Uni, or make your set better and look more professional, or hire crew members outside of Uni and really put yourself into that industry before you even graduate.”
Dr Stasiuk says it is very difficult for students to get funding from film companies such as ScreenWest or Screen Australia because they tend not to support university projects.
He says, usually, students will only be able to source a budget through family, friends and the public.
Dr Stasiuk says not working with the big funding bodies can be beneficial for students, in that it teaches them to work creatively with financial restrictions.
He says due to the hoops aspiring filmmakers have to jump through and the guidelines set, working with big companies can often restrict or dilute their creativity.
Watch this short clip to meet Jess and find out about her latest project.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCvpdMn1LAE]