“Betting Zoo” follows the story of Orla. She feels a lack of control in her life because of the dystopian gambling-oriented society around her, tempting her to return to the high stakes sports show, Betting Zoo, where competitors are held captive till they win.

We want to showcase a dystopian world where gambling is exaggerated to its extremes in everyday life to tackle themes of inescapable addiction and the irritating feeling of letting parts of you life succumb to chance. In this world, something as simple as buying groceries or doing your driving exam has gambling and spectacle intertwined into them. The protagonist, Orla, and others in this world, find a rare escape from these games of chance through a predatory company called “Betting Zoo” which makes people compete in sporting events for a cash prize using only their skill. The catch being that they must remain there as recurring competitors until they win one of the events. This company uses animal masks as their gimmick to hide the identities of the competitors but still manages to dehumanise them with their poor conditions.

We are a group of student filmmakers from Dundalk Institute of Technology fundraising for our 3rd year film project. Dundalk Institute of Technology has a reliable reputation for getting their short films into film festivals both nationwide and internationally, alongside winning awards. We want to use the money raised towards creating the Betting Zoo world as ambitiously as possible. We want to put the money towards dressing, costuming, custom-made props, and more. The film is set to shoot in March.

Crew:

Writer & Director – Oskar Prokop

Producer – KwanYu Cheung

Director of Photography – Ciarán Carroll

Assistant Director & Editor – Ben Fleming

Sound – Emma Neilon

Production Designer – Leisha O’Loughlin

1st Assistant Camera – Matthew Monaghan

All funders will be thanked in the credits of the film!

Our goal is to create a dystopian world that will allow for reflection over the current state of normalised gambling around the world as it creeps inside industries like food and videogames in relation to “free food” prizes and loot-boxes. This world in the film is meant to display a society that may not be too far from our own if rules against gambling don’t become stricter.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our film. If you have any questions, reach out to us below!