We had a blast at Made in the West in 2022 celebrating another year of Western Sydney films on the big screen. What a joy it was to fill the cinema again with a huge crowd of excited and eager people keen to see Western Sydney up in lights.
Who could have guessed when we started the festival more than ten years ago that this is where we would end up? Here in the heart of Western Sydney with a bustling film scene and a huge community of friends cheering us on to create more and contribute consistently to the local arts industry.
We think that’s pretty amazing.
And we really wouldn’t be where we are today without the support and encouragement of our major sponsors! We are ever so grateful for the contributions they make to the festival each year and the love we get from these local legends.
These heroes are showing EVERYONE that they support our vision for a thriving creative community in Western Sydney and we think they deserve a special shout out for supporting the festival.
Please put your hands together for them!!
EVENT CINEMAS LIVERPOOL
Event Cinemas is a HUGE supporter of the Western Sydney film community, providing us with a dedicated space in their best V-max cinema to screen locally made films - on a Saturday night, no less!
Every year we pinch ourselves thinking about how amazing it is that we can screen our Western Sydney-made line-up at Event Cinemas in such a great space with theatre-style seating for 330 people, digital projection and a fully licensed private cocktail bar. Check out their hire packages for your next screening!
To top it all off, they’ve got a fantastic team that is committed to working with Made in the West and supporting the local film community. We love Event Cinemas Liverpool and we can’t wait to bring the festival to Western Sydney again next year – it’s going to be great!
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY
WSU School of Humanities and Communications Arts is our Gold+ Screen Sponsor and their contribution to the festival means so much to the work we do connecting and celebrating the local film industry. We can’t thank them enough!
Made in the West has been working with the team at Western this year to provide industry experience and connections for students enrolled in their popular Creative Industries, Visual Communication and Screen Media degrees.
You can read all about our 2022 digital internships, design competition and TV show production in our news blogs, or see the final wrap up of the year here in WSU News!
LUKE WALKER PRODUCTIONS
We were SUPER excited to work with the team at Luke Walker Productions again this year to capture all the glitz and glamour of our 2022 festival!
We love seeing Western Sydney filmmakers shine and with Luke and his team’s amazing cameras, lights and expertise, we were able to capture all the excitement of the festival for our online audience AND our red carpet highlights. Hooray!
And the cherry on top of that amazing contribution? Luke Walker also donated his time as a DOP to an amazing four-day shooting package which we added to our prize haul this year, for the 2022 Best in the West trophy winner! We are thankful to Luke for his ongoing support and we love his work – you can check out his online portfolio here.
AFTRS
Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) is the newest screen sponsor of Made in the West Film Festival and we are so happy to have their support. When we first told them about the huge community of filmmakers we have here out West, they jumped at the chance to support the festival and see what we do.
Many local filmmakers are fans of AFTRS, having studied with them in the past on postgraduate Masters for Arts Screen courses or one of their many short courses like Introduction to Assistant Directing, Screenwriting, or Premiere Pro and Voice Over Fundamentals.
It means a lot to us that an institution like AFTRS can see the benefit in what we’re up to here at Made in the West, supporting the Western Sydney film scene and celebrating the inspiring and authentic stories being made here in our region.
STILL SEARCHIN' PRODUCTIONS
The SSP crew are the team who plan, promote and produce Made in the West each year, sponsoring the event costs and all filmmaker awards. We are strong advocates for Western Sydney filmmakers and it is our pleasure to uplift and amplify the many talented artists who call Western Sydney home.
Made in the West is a grassroots festival, run by a small team of 3 people – Ross, Misty & Jay. That number doubles as we take on digital internships in the second half of each year and when our friends and family chime in to assist with marketing in the final month. We expand to a team of 30 on festival night, and thanks to our wonderful crew we have a blast making the magic happen.
SSP has a passion for bringing to life our community-led festival that celebrates our local industry, and brings the acclaim, glitz and glamour of a red carpet event to Western Sydney.
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Let’s hear it for our major sponsors!
We thank them all for believing in the filmmaking community we have here in the west and for putting their time and money behind our cause.
We’d also like to give a shout out and big THANK YOU to our prize sponsors for donating so generously to this year's festival award winners – what a fantastic haul of prizes we gave out this year!!
We have such a talented community here in Western Sydney and we know that everyone is keen to see more local films on screens, more opportunities to connect with industry, and more recognition for the great work they do.
We see Made in the West Film Festival as an important force in the local film scene that is driving change to make this happen, and with the help of local businesses like our festival sponsors, we’re creating more opportunities for local creatives to tell their stories on screen.
So let's all say THANKS to these amazing contributors for supporting Western Sydney films! We’re stronger when we work together.
Do you want to get involved in 2023?
If you know a local business that might like to support Western Sydney’s growing film scene by donating a prize or offering financial support to the festival, please contact us for our sponsor information. We're always more than happy to hear from potential supporters!
Made in the West will be back next year to roll out the red carpet once again and celebrate our 12th festival year in style at Event Cinemas, Liverpool. You won’t want to miss it!
It’s time to start thinking about your next project, Western Sydney creatives! Submissions are OPEN NOW for the 2023 festival.
We’ll be showcasing the very best short films Western Sydney has to offer, so if you have been involved in a project featuring cast, crew, or locations from Western Sydney, then we want to see it on the big screen.