Meet Luke Hodge! He’s the Western Sydney University student that took on our 2021 Associate Producer Internship, working with us behind the scenes on Made in the West TV.
Luke is in his final year at uni, studying a Bachelor of Communications and majoring in Media Arts Production. WSU’s new Bachelor of Screen Media degree offers hands-on experience and strong links to the screen industry, providing real skills in screen production across film and TV drama, documentary, web series, and VR and interactive content.
“I couldn’t say no to a chance to develop my technical knowledge and sharpen my understanding of all aspects involved in the production of both TV and film”, says Luke when quizzed about why he applied for the role.
The internship role was tailored to support the planning and production of two episodes of Made in the West TV that were scheduled for the 2021 season. Thanks to that crazy little thing called Covid-19 we still had the 2020 episode to catch up on, and of course the 2021 winners would also need to be booked for an episode following the festival in December.
Made in the West TV is a chat-style television show that highlights the work of local filmmakers that have each won trophies at Made in the West Film Festival. Three winning filmmakers are invited to join a conversation with our host, Dr Rachel Morley, to discuss the festival, their winning films, and the local filmmaking scene in Western Sydney.
Of course, Covid-19 came back to haunt us in late 2021 too, so cancellations and further delays pushed our production back to February 2022. We had the crew recruitment process completed, so we were thankful for our contingency planning as we were able to redirect guests and crew to new dates in the new year.
The TV Show is a very special collaboration, and one that we take a lot of pride in, as it combines our love of Western Sydney-made content with the opportunity to work with film students from one of the world’s leading tertiary institutions and the university that the SSP team graduated from. How cool is that!?
We love working with up and coming student filmmakers because we remember how we all felt when we were in third and fourth year university just itching to get on set and make a go of it.
“It's great to get professional experience working alongside a team of people who have followed an educational journey much like mine,” Luke says.
Check out Luke and our student crew on set in the TV studio at WSU Rydalmere campus in our behind the scenes video!
Luke is a proud Dunghutti man whose passion is telling stories that are personal, inspiring and thought-provoking.
“Through film & TV directing, producing and acting, I aim to provide a spotlight on our strong cultural heritage that brings a remarkable amount of pride to my family and me, everyday,” says Luke. “I want to provide a platform for young people to express themselves creatively and share their stories.”
When asked for a highlight of his time with us, Luke says, “The chance to connect at the festival celebrating and commemorating Western Sydney stories, filmmakers and creative minds alike, is something I cherished.”
The delays on the TV shoot meant that Luke had time to assist at the festival wrangling artists for our 2021 Red Carpet Highlights and notching up another credit to his name as assistant producer working alongside Emily Mumford, a content producer and digital marketing star who also took on a Digital Campaign Internship with us in 2020.
The red carpet highlights content Luke helped produce at the festival went on to be used in our 2021 Online Festival and later in the 2021 TV show.
We’re so pleased that Luke joined us on Made in the West TV and we thank him for his contribution. From our lockdown Zoom meetings and contingency planning, to greeting guests and assisting at the festival, to all the prep in the lead up to the shoot, it was a wild ride and we all learned a lot!
If you are a student or emerging filmmaker creative looking for experience on a live set or an internship with Made in the West Film Festival then check out the opportunities currently on offer and contact us to express your interest.
Meanwhile, submissions for Made in the West Film Festival 2022 are OPEN NOW! If you’ve made a short film, documentary, web series or music video featuring a Western Sydney cast or crew member, submit it for your chance to win!
Films must be under 15 minutes and all genres are welcome.