by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 15, 2020 | Announcements
Want to enter SF3? Well, there’s still time…why don’t you make a film for our new Iso Category? The rules are simple: film on your phone or tablet, make it 3 minutes or less, shoot within your local lockdown laws and enter it at www.sf3.com.au by midnight August 1st to share in over $40,000 worth of prizes! No excuses this year, not even Covid-19!!!
by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 12, 2020 | Announcements
Today we have the pleasure to introduce you to
Paul Tassone
, our judge extraordinaire. Paul has had an indelible career spanning theatre, film and TV. Aussies would recognise him from his lead roles on Water Rats, Home & Away and Underbelly amongst many others. Ask him a question below.
1. What is the first gig you ever did?
The first gig I ever did was an original live musical theatre version of Greek shadow-puppet theatre called Karagiozis Down Under. It was as crazy as it sounds. Singing, comedic violence and I got to wear a tight dress. A bloke that I went to Uni with was producing and he asked me to audition. I’m no singer and so I sang the dentist song from Little Shop Of Horrors, which you can act your way through. When I finished the director looked at me and said ‘Ok. You fooled me. Now sing ‘Happy Birthday’. Fortunately, I could sing ‘Happy Birthday’.
2. What are you working on at the moment?
I have just finished work on a remake of the Video Game ‘Mafia’ which will be released at the end of August.
I am also writing a self help book for men going through divorce and developing a Western. Plus, I have written a 12 part action comedy which is in the last stages of development.
And due to Covid shutting the industry down, I have gone back to class work on and sharpen my craft.
3. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My inspiration is drawn from those who inspire us to do better and be better. Those that refuse to give up through life’s trials and tribulations and choose to rise to the challenge.
4. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I’m not working on a particular project I love to hang with my kids and go to the gym. Read. Meditate. Walk the dog. Coffee with mates.
I keep myself in the game by doing classes and continuing to evolve as an artist.
Recently, I have been taking a deep dive into classic films, particularly Westerns, and iconic actors, examining what makes them tick.
Work is Life and Life is work. I can’t really separate it. As an artist your being is your instrument and Life is what feeds you. It’s all one big journey and my aim is to stay as present as possible to every moment. Enjoy the time with those I love and to help and inspire those I can.
5. What are some memorable moments from your career?
Nelson’s (near) wedding on All Saints.
Working 42 weeks year with that amazing cast and crew. The laughs, the tears, the journey. The family.
Planting a fart machine in the nurses station and remotely setting it off at inopportune moments.
Driving to the set of
UNDERBELLY
and having to hide our identities from the press so as not to give anything away from the much anticipated second season.
Every moment of the film Mens Group.
Being told by producers that they had cowered under their seats and would have to cut up a scene I had done on Home and Away, as the Summer Bay Stalker, because it was too intense and I had gone, in their words, ‘full on Tarantino’.
Reading the Scripts of The Code and thinking how lucky I was to be involved with such a mature, intelligent series.
Telling
LL Cool J
that I was once a boy in Perth who listened to his music and dreamt of being and actor and then 20 years later, here I was sitting next to him, waiting for us to go onto set together.
Proof that with hard work, vision and a little luck, dreams really can come true.
6. What’s your favourite movie and why?
It would have to be Rocky. Because he wouldn’t stay down.
by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 10, 2020 | Announcements
We want your films!
by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 9, 2020 | Announcements
Holly Lyons is today’s Judge we want you to say hello to. One of Australia’s most successful screenwriters, she is currently writing for Home & Away, the iconic Aussie soap. She created Rocky & Me for ABCMe last year, which also starred SF3 Award Winning Filmmaker, Emily Prior. She is also a member of our sponsors, the Australian Writers’ Guild.
1. First gig I ever had was as a Script Coordinator on the police drama, WATER RATS – filmed on Goat Island in Sydney harbour. It was my first job out of uni and I loved taking the water taxi to work.
2. At the moment I am full time in the Script department of
Home and Away. I love the pace of the show – we write it, they shoot it, and then you see your words on the screen in a matter of weeks. I also run a script assessment service,
https://screenwritingscriptease.com/
3. Most of my inspiration comes from bizarre stories in the news. I love character driven stories too so it helps if my protagonist has a really clearly defined flaw – it’s the best way to generate ideas.
4. When I am not working I teach – I love meeting emerging writers and lecturing is a great way to do that. I also love kick boxing!
5. A memorable moment that springs to mind is last year when my co-collaborator and I created “ROCKY & ME” for ABCMe, a story about a girl with cerebral palsy who gets her first wheel chair, and with it, her independence. Our story was all about freedom and finding your confidence. In total we had 7 people with a disability working on the film as cast and crew. I am still very proud of that project.
6. I don’t really have a favourite movie, I adore television! Recently I loved DAYBREAK on
Netflix – it’s about a misfit in a dystopian world – I like the disconnect between wanting to fit in when the world’s gone mad.
by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 8, 2020 | Announcements
Let us introduce you to today’s judge,Megan Riakos. Megan is one of Australia’s leading filmmakers. Her first film is the incredible Crushed which screened at festivals and cinemas around the world and her latest film,Dark Whispers Anthology, a collection of horror shorts is on the festival circuit now. Megan was also the President of WIFT NSW
for many years and was on the board of WIFT Australia until recently, and she is a passionate advocate of female filmmakers and equality in the film industry. Ask her a question below.
1. What is the first gig you ever did?
My first gig in the film industry was after I graduated my Media Arts degree from UTS at age 21. I packed up and moved to Hollywood as fresh as a daisy and started interning on a low budget feature film called ‘Playas Ball’. After a week they offered me my first paid role as onset production assistant which kicked off my working career.
2. What are you working on at the moment?
I am in the midst of releasing my latest project Dark Whispers – Volume 1, a horror anthology feature film comprised of 10 short horror films by Australian women. We were in the midst of our festival run when the covid shutdowns happened, so are now finalising our digital release. Stay tuned!! I am also developing a new feature called People Might Hear You. It’s a thriller based on a YA book by Robin Klein, I was really affected by it as a teenager and it’s been really exciting to return to it 25 years on.
3. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
That’s a huge question! Life in general, life that happens to you, life that you observe in those close to you and in the world around you. A number of my films have their roots in true stories, even if it’s just a spark that pushes me creatively in my fiction work.
4. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I come from a really sporty family, so going for a run most days is a deeply ingrained habit! I destress by cooking and of course, I love binging TV shows and films either on the couch or in the cinema (when we are allowed to!).
5. What are some memorable moments from your career?
One of the most memorable moments was on the first day on set of my debut feature Crushed. Directing is a big enough job, but as an indie filmmaker, you wear a bunch of different hats and have so much extra work to do because it’s incredibly low budget. In the lead up, I was overstretched and exhausted and in my head I was thinking “this better be worth it!”. Spending every dollar I owned, going into debt, beg borrowing and stealing to get an indie film up, what if I didn’t actually like directing features? What if I got on set and thought, this just isn’t worth it? But the moment we shot the first slate of the production, I couldn’t help but smile, it felt like home. I had great collaborators around me and I knew that all the hard work was for a good reason – to enable me to do the thing I love, direct.
6. What’s your favourite movie and why?
Tricky! There are so many. One that really sticks with me is Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven – an incredible film about five young orphaned sisters and the challenges they face growing up as girls in a conservative Turkish society. I have three sisters and come from a Lebanese background (though not with the conservative restrictions seen in this film!) and it was a revelation to see these young women and their stories on screen, told through the lens of a female director. It’s only in recent history that these kinds of have become more mainstream (this film was nominated for an Academy for best International Feature Film) and Mustang resonated deeply because of it. I have seen a thousand coming of age films about young men, but there are not a whole lot that properly examine the female experience.
by SmartFone FlickFest | Jul 3, 2020 | Announcements
Jason van Genderen needs no introduction to most of you…but let me say how excited we are to have him join our Judging Panel for 2020. As the Founder of our Major Sponsors, We Are Treehouse, and a smartphone filmmaker who has won awards at festivals all over the world including Sundance Film Festival London, Tropfest NY and more, there is no more qualified filmmaker to watch your entries. And while most of us were resting during Covid, Jason has been going viral with Omas Applesaucewith over 30 million views and counting! Ask him a question below.
1. What is the first gig/job you ever did?
Jas: I was a freelance commercial illustrator from age 14 (while going to High School), I designed street banners and murals for Australia’s Bicentenary celebrations, was an artwork designer for long stitch tapestry kits (I know right!) and had my own greeting card range with Hallmark.
2. What are you working on at the moment?
Jas: Just about to publish my digital course ‘Going Viral’ which documents how we went from 1 to 30million views on our self-shot mini-docs during isolation, without spending a dollar. It’s a two hour course which I started filming as soon as we realised our own content was going viral, and we kept the camera rolling for two weeks to document the whole process and give others the experience of what this is like, and what they can learn from my journey to better their chances of going viral in the future.
3. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Jas: The imperfections of life to be honest…. and the beautiful way that people find creative ways to problem solve and push through. Those disrupters in our industry really inspire me to approach my storytelling from different perspectives.
4. What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Jas: Day-dream. Honestly it’s the most generous gift anyone can be given. Time and space to imagine, re-set, re-imagine and un-think… I love that!
5. What are some memorable moments from your career?
Jas: Definitely winning Tropfest NY in 2008, that really lit a fire underneath my creative soul and made me want to charm audiences over and over as often as I could. And also winning Sundance London in 2013 and the Moment Invitational in NYC last year… that was incredible… blew me away!
6. What’s your favourite movie and why?
Jas: I have a few here… as a kid, it was definitely a tie between E.T and Ghostbusters… my first two films I experienced in a cinema… they took me to a whole other world in my imagination and I’ve been spell-bound by it ever since. As an adult, my stand-out film of choice is a little indie documentary titled ‘My Date With Drew’… a wild can-do story made by three friends with a borrowed camcorder…. with a huge dream to realise. Everything about that film makes me feel alive and excited to explore my own next story adventure.
