The SSP team was in the studio this week shooting a TV show with our 2021 festival award winners. It was great to be back at the WSU Parramatta campus, in our element and enjoying a day in the TV studio, just like the good old days!
Made in the West TV was made possible this year thanks to a new collaborative partnership between Western Sydney University and Made in the West Film Festival. The show features interviews with three award-winning filmmakers from the festival, discussing their films, their night at Made in the West 2021 and what it's like to be part of the emerging film scene here in Western Sydney.
We'd like to say a huge congratulations to our WSU student crew – Lisa Plummer, Alana Dowling and Meg Bowyer on camera, Abraham Box on sound in the audio booth, Nataly Thomson on teleprompter, and Sam McIntyre on the switching desk.
You all did such a great job working alongside our Still Searchin’ crew, Ross, Casey, Jay, Luke and Misty, keeping pace with us for the whole day – we were so impressed with your work!
We were thrilled to welcome our new host Rachel Morley to the stage to discuss all things filmmaking and short films. Rachel did a wonderful job hosting the show and definitely got some great conversation going with our special guests.
Joining her on the stage were this year’s major trophy award winners - Sereen Omran, winner of Best Student Film and the Audience Choice Award for Towel Head, Noel Vinson, winner of Best in the West for Jane, and Alex Dona, who won the People’s Choice Award for A Girl’s Best Friend, as voted by our online festival audience.
These three amazing filmmakers absolutely stole the show at Made in the West 2021 and had some great reflections to share with us about the experience and their individual filmmaking journeys.
The conversation was thought-provoking and insightful, and there were smiles all round as we got into the flow of things, working together as a team. We love having fun while we work – after all, we love what we do!
And we’re always keen to offer more publicity opportunities to local filmmakers and let’s face it, making a TV show about filmmaking in Western Sydney truly takes the cake!
So we have to say a HUGE THANKS to the School of Humanities & Communication Arts at Western Sydney University for their sponsorship this year, and special thanks must go to Associate Dean (Engagement) Dr Rachel Morley, Acting Dean Professor Matt McGuire, Dr Wendy Chandler, and long-time supporter Professor Peter Hutchings.
To have access to state-of-the-art studio equipment, and working with amazing local talent and an awesome crew was a great experience and we had so much fun!
Special thanks to Cass for joining us on Hair & Makeup for the first time - you were fab!
Thanks also to Addy Fong for all your support and David Levy for hosting us in your studio - it is always great to work with you.
We have loved working with Western Sydney University throughout the 2021 festival season and we are pleased with all the moments we got to share with WSU staff, students and alumni along the way… there were so many!
Early in the season, we worked with 8 amazing student designers (Brenden Schmitz, Thomas Baldwin, Erin Barnes, Annabel Crawford, Alex Foy, Kai Huang, Angela Tao and Ethan White) and Burrow Studio to write and produce our 10th Anniversary Magazine and eventually participate in our live online launch event.
We hosted our #WesternSydneyFilm Online Networking Events spotlighting animation specialist and festival judge Dr Wendy Chandler at the August WSFONE, and student filmmaker Steven Saros-Glinatsis in the October WSFONE.
Working with students Natasha Raj and Elissa Sewell on our Digital Campaign Internship was a blast, promoting our 10th annual event, and design student Tia Macgillivray, whose design won our 2021 poster competition, did some amazing work!
Then at the festival in December, we had WSU students on our Event Crew (Nataly Thomson, Jumana Qazi and Thomas Fleming), with Luke Hodge and Emily Mumford assistant producing our Festival Highlights video with Dr Holly Kaye-Smith interviewing filmmakers on the red carpet, and fellow alum Jessica Pabian rocking the mic as MC for the in-cinema show.
And we are also proud to say that 17 WSU students, alumni and staff contributed to the final production of the year, our weekend-long Online Festival screening. Amazing!!
We’re passionate about sharing knowledge about filmmaking and creative practice with the next generation of student practitioners and we’re thankful for all of the enthusiasm they brought to the 2021 season.
We’re looking forward to hosting the festival again in late 2022 – our SAVE THE DATE announcement is coming soon!
We’ll also be getting the crew back together for another online networking event in the coming months. Stay tuned for more details!
And of course, Made in the West TV will be on your screens soon! We'll keep you posted.
In the meantime... keep creating, Western Sydney!
We love your work.