Short Graduate Film 'Playback'

When a 1930s film editor receives a movie that stars her abusive ex-boyfriend as the main romantic lead, she decides to recut the film to make him appear as the villain, against the director's wishes.

What's The Project?

Playback is a Short Film that is being undertaken as an Honours project for Swinburne University. The film will last approximately 14 minutes and will be submitted for festivals worldwide upon completion.

Why Support Us?

This is an important story! In the 1930s, editing was not exactly an admired profession or considered “creative” in any way. As a result, you have a bunch of female editors at the time, producing brilliant films that were completely overlooked from an editing perspective. This story shines a light on one such editor and shows how the craft of editing can be invaluable to positioning an audience. On top of this, Playback is a story about overcoming trauma through self-expression and intelligence. I decided that the best way to tell this modern story about manipulation and agency is to look back on a time that has supposedly “gone by”. When we start to acknowledge that the issues and themes of Playback are still relevant, it makes us truly question how far we’ve come.

The Production Team

Gideon Aroni - Director

Gideon Aroni is a passionate filmmaker and actor who started making films when he was four years old and started acting professionally when he was 11. He has written and directed a range of award-winning drama and documentary short films, as well as a feature (“Drifting Billy”) Gideon has also written four feature screenplays, one of which is currently in pre-production. Outside of film production. He is currently studying film and television at Swinburne University and will graduate in 2022 with honours.

Hey there! I’m incredibly excited to bring this story to life. I am obsessed with the time period of 1930s Hollywood and was very keen to create a story set within it. In my research about the period, I learned about these incredible editors who were given no recognition because editing was not yet seen as a creative profession. I instantly knew there was a story to tell here.

Amelia Nemet - Producer

Heyo! I’m Amelia and I’m the producer for Playback. Finishing off my studies at Swinburne University, I’ve found my passion in producing, writing, directing, and acting, and I’ve been pursuing these in an array of extracurricular projects. When Gideon reached out to me to work on Playback, the challenge of a short period film set in 1930s Hollywood was enticing and I knew I had to jump onto this project. Its narrative core still resonates with the present day and is a worthy addition to the fight for gender equality in the arts, and in every industry globally.

Jackson Hayat - Director of Photography

Yo everyone! My name’s Jackson and I’m the Director of Photography for Playback. I’m currently studying in my final year at Swinburne and continuing to pursue my love of cinematography and directing outside of the course through my own freelance projects. I’ve been lucky enough to test my versatility and creative problem solving across a sleuth of music videos, short narrative films and commercials as a cinematographer. I’m really excited to have the chance to flesh out Gideon’s take on the usually glitzy time period of the 1930s. Most prominently, exploring the time period through a retrospective lens really drew me to the project and has allowed us to develop a visual style inside of Playback that is distinct, and influenced as equally by the past as it is the present.

Emily Nikou - Production Designer

Hey Everyone! My name is Emily and I’m the Production Designer for Playback! I have a passion for all things production and costume design and I am super excited to construct this immersive world of the film. When Gideon came to us with the challenge of creating this super engaging world of a female editor in the 1930’s I jumped at the chance and I can’t wait to employ those traditional elements of the 1930s, in the visual aesthetic of the film as well as adding modern touches of colour and light to highlight the characters emotional journey.

Hamish McKenna - Sound Designer

Hey, I'm Hamish, I'm the sound designer for Playback. A lot of my interests in filmmaking are mostly involved in the onset production of the film, within the camera department, and usually in the lighting department. However, I do also have experience doing sound design and am excited to take on this more post-production-heavy role and make something that sounds fantastic.

Eloise Elphinstone - Editor

Hello! I’m Eloise and I am the editor for Playback. I have a great passion for editing and all things post-production, so I am honoured to be working on a project that celebrates editing, especially for female editors. Women have such a rich history in the editing department of filmmaking, and it is so exciting to get to explore this in my work. My experience with editing has been through a variety of different styles of short films, documentaries, and music videos, and I cannot wait to bring such an important story about female editors to life through the art of the cut.

MEET THE CHARACTERS

Barbara Booth, played by Paige Joustra

Barbara is vivacious and confident. She has made a name for herself in the editing room due to her natural cutting ability. She is intelligent and quick-witted, often having to work smarter to stand out in a male-dominated industry. She is inspired by 1930s actors such as Barbara Stanwyck and Katherine Hepburn. She has a warmness to her, yet a desire and longing to rise above her role in Hollywood by any means necessary. Her name is a portmanteau of Barbara Stanwyck and Margaret Booth (a famous editor from the time period).

Ralph Stanley, played by Nikita Chronis

Ralph is a 1930s Hollywood heartthrob. He is handsome and smarmy, with a menacing undercurrent. He is a stereotypical “man’s man” (for reference, think early Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart). Beneath his rough exterior, he is incredibly narcissistic and fragile. He is primarily fuelled by the love and adoration of the public. His body type is stocky and well-built and he has a certain instant likability.

Ruth Saperstein, played by Jarita Winslow

Ruth was born to a semi-religious New York, Jewish family. She graduated from college majoring in economics and accountancy. Against her parents' wishes, at the age of 25, she decided to leave the family business and move to LA to pursue a career as a movie producer. After some years, in order to support herself, she took up a small job managing the accounts of a post-production house. It was here that she met and (immediately fell in love with) formed a friendship with Barbara. After she was fired from her job due to the great depression, Barbara offered to take her on as her personal assistant and she agreed. Where Barbara is emotional, Ruth is pragmatic, where Ruth is skeptical and weary, Barbara is impulsive and brave. They are a dynamic duo.

Where are your Donations Going?

Your donations will be going towards a range of different costs related to the production of the film, including but not limited to,

• Location hire

• Costumes

• Props

• Actors

• Music

• Specialty gear and equipment hire

• Catering

• Festival entries

• Marketing