Hey #FilmFam - have you been missing us? We’ve been missing you!
It’s time to update your Zoom subscription, dust off those headphones, check your mic’s not on mute and join us online for the next #WesternSydneyFilm Online Networking Event!
Proudly hosted by Still Searchin’ Productions, Western Sydney Filmmakers Hangout and Made in the West Film Festival - we’re teaming up once again to get everyone together, chat about our passion projects, share skills and experience and hopefully find some new crew members in that true Westie spirit of collaboration.
We’re so thrilled to be able to bring together filmmakers from across the entire Western Sydney region to meet online! It’s something we started doing in 2020 and kept doing in 2021 because we just loved connecting with everyone so easily online, and in such a fun way.
There are so many interesting artists and creatives that work on films out West, from directors and DOPs, to editors and actors, musicians working on sound and score, writers, animators, foley artists, and student filmmakers – everyone’s unique and if anything, WSF ONE has taught us is that most of us are slashies!
It’s so INSPIRING to spend time with other creatives and hear how they are approaching the challenges of creative life and kicking goals in local productions.
We would usually catch up at the start of the year too, but we missed our opportunity to check in with you all in February, so here we are mid-year and we’re super keen to catch up and hear what you’ve all been working on!
Which projects do you have on the go right now? Are you looking for collaborators? Are you as keen to hear what’s coming up in the second half of 2022?
Great things can happen in our community when we connect and talk about our ideas and filmmaking practice. We love feeling inspired by the work everyone is doing and we know we’ll all walk away with a renewed sense of determination for our own projects.
And while we’re no longer living that #LockdownLYF we’re slowly creeping back towards #MaskLYF (not to mention #FloodLYF), so it's too cold and too difficult and too goddamn dangerous to be out and about right now - we’d rather stay home!
And if there’s one thing we learnt from 2020 it’s that we can have the best of both worlds these days – we can catch up with friends AND stay home – because let’s face it, we LOVE attending events from home!
So we’ll be Zooming into your lounge room and onto a screen near you very soon!
You can access the event via your browser on desktop, tablet or mobile phone - anything goes! Reserve your ticket now!
This time around we will be joined by some very special guests including:
Writer and director Bina Bhattacharya from Gemme de la Femme pictures who is currently working on her first feature film From All Sides and just recently launched a crowdfunding campaign. You may have seen her award-winning short films at Made in the West Film Festival over the years as she took home the Audience Choice Award in 2017 for her film Wild Dances, Best Screenplay in 2018 for Musings, and runner-up Best Music Video in 2021 for What You See, by Parvyn. We’re looking forward to catching up on her latest project!
Writer and producer extraordinaire Joanna Beveridge, who has recently announced a new web series in the works called Shippers which looks like an amazing project to get involved in and we’re not the only ones who think so, judging by their new crowdfunding campaign that kicked off last week too! If you have been to Made in the West in recent years you’ve likely spotted some of Jo’s other series as she took home Best Editor award in 2019 for Sydney Sleuthers and then Best Actress and runner-up Best in the West in 2020 for The Takedown of Melanie Sprottle. We can’t wait to hear more about her current plans!
Ian ‘Esky’ Escandor is a rapper, musician, comedian and filmmaker who took home the inaugural Best Music Video trophy in 2021 for ‘Good as Gold’ (which we happen to have on high rotation here at Made in the West HQ!). You might remember Esky from his previous short film Chocolate & Coffee which screened at Made in the West in 2020. We’re keen to find out what what great projects he has coming up!
And of course we’ll be chatting to filmmaker Matthew C. Vella, everyone’s favourite networking champion at Western Sydney Filmmakers Hangout and podcast producer at Upcoming Attractions. We’re looking forward to hearing what he’s got in the pipeline for the months ahead!
Of course, in between these filmmaker spotlight interviews there will be time for everyone to meet a few other people on the call - slowly, at first - and before long you’ll be making your way across the Zoom room faster and faster to meet a bunch of great folks and your new fave local filmmakers.
Note: Meeting people at any networking event is daunting, but online networking with #WesternSydneyFilm is totally fun! The event is a unique blend of three elements: a live TV show with guest interviews, a Zoom party with random breakout rooms for smaller group chats, and a Choose-Your-own-Adventure-style interactive game, complete with alternate endings!
From Campbelltown to Parrramatta, Bankstown to The Hills, and from Strathfield all the way out west to Penrith and the Blue Mountains - all filmmakers are welcome to join us. If you’re a filmmaker who lives outside of Western Sydney and you want to work with some of us on a project, then you can certainly join us too.
Get ready to reconnect with old filmmaker friends, network with new potential collaborators and find out what’s been happening in the #WesternSydneyFilm scene. There are so many great people who are part of the Western Sydney film scene to meet and discover!
So put those well earned quarantine skills to good work and whip yourself up a Whisky Sour, or pour some of your home-made Kombucha, or … maybe just put the kettle on and get into your comfy trackie pants.
Join the #WesternSydneyFilm community for a night of talking shop and sharing advice, and hopefully having a few laughs as we meet a bunch of other filmmaking peeps.
Register for your FREE ticket here and we’ll send you a secret link to access the online networking event for #WesternSydneyFilm
We’re looking forward to catching up!
