Since winning the comp in 2010, Chris Busuttil has found himself on a whole new trajectory into the industry, networking with production experts and industry professionals and getting a rare chance to work on a real-life film commissions at just 25 years of age. MAFMAD has certainly opened doors for Busuttil; it’s still exciting to get phone calls from random people who have seen his film at the cinema and want to congratulate him. “It’s also the little things, like having access to after-parties and other contacts you gain along the way through the MAFMAD project. In the filmmaking industry it’s all about establishing as many contacts and collaborating with as many people as you can.”
Before creating and producing his film What’s On Your Mind? for TAC, Busuttil studied film in Victoria and worked on his own scripts with as many professional filmmakers as he could get his hands on, even on a limited film student budget. Working as a freelance artist was a world away from his experience with a professional commission and the client’s commercial needs. “Before, I was kind of my own boss and my own critic, but at the MAFMAD gig I had to make sure their needs were met and it was really challenging but it was such an experience, a really good experience.”
The experience just got better after the production period, as Busuttil’s short film screened at local cinemas across Victoria for six months, was shown on MTV and featured at the opening of the 2011 St Kilda Film Festival. “Seeing my name credited on the big screen at the cinema was always a goal of mine so finally seeing the end result was a huge highlight for me.”
This year, TAC (Transport Accident Commission of Victoria) wants young drivers to think about the car party – the mobile disco, your engine-powered boom box, also known as your potentially fatal lift to the pub. In the month of May alone Victoria has seen 22 road fatalities – scary stuff considering how vastly over-represented young people are in this toll. Young drivers account for just 14% of license holders and 28% of all driver deaths in Victoria.
The last thing we need is a preacher though and, frankly, stats just don’t hit the mark either. That’s why TAC need the 25 and unders to represent the voice of their peers and, as Busuttil says, young filmmakers are the ones who know how to access this target audience best. Busuttil’s short film sets the “morning after” scene; we watch a young man’s memory return gradually after partying hard with his mates as he scrolls through photos online. Saying all the right things in a way that really impacts an audience is actually a pretty incredible feat in two minutes. “It was challenging because two minutes – although it may seem a long time on screen – it certainly isn’t a long time in terms of filmmaking, because there’s a lot of information and things that need to be put in there, so two minutes was a challenging thing to handle.” Bussuttil has obviously done something right as his film garnered fantastic attention since its completion last November and even received a special mention from the St Kilda Film Festival director during the festival opening amongst some 2000 avid film fans.
The best two short film ideas will receive a $20,000 production budget and the help of mentors to produce their film, plus $5,000 prize money. Past winners’ films can be viewed on the TAC Youtube Channel youtube.com/tac. You may recognise a number of the films, especially Bill Irving’s popular 2009 winning entry, This Is Bullshit, which takes viewers along an evolutionary journey culminating in present day Brunswick West where two smart young lads decide to take a cab rather than let their uber toasted mate take to the wheel.
By Steph Iredale
