My name is Gianna Mazzeo and I'm an emerging writer/director based between Melbourne and Amsterdam. You can look at some of my work here: www.giannamazzeo.com . Last year I was lucky enough to be selected to take part in an 11-day workshop run by Playlab Films in Patagonia with the Oscar-winning director, Paolo Sorrentino (Hand of God, The Great Beauty). Over the duration of the lab in late December 2025, we each created a short film from ideation through to editing a rough cut under the mentorship of Sorrentino. Although I couldn't particularly afford the expensive lab, with only one month to secure my spot, I decided to borrow the money in the hope that I would retrospectively be able to raise the funds through grant applications and public funding bodies. However, after many unsuccessful grant applications with Australian funding bodies, I gave up on the traditional screen fundraising avenues and decided here to ask for help from philanthropists and film enthusiasts with the ability to contribute. In Australia, there seems to be a lot of resistance from funding bodies to nurture new talent for fear of risk. No guaranteed return on investment = no funding. Therefore, in order to develop our skills and professionally upskill, we need to rely on our own means which can be quite disheartening and create a big barrier to career progression. This is why I've created this Go Fund Me campaign, because I need help investing in my future and don't want to miss out on important opportunities that will help me to further my career because my country is so risk-averse. Thanks for reading and considering contributing to my professional development and dream to one day be writing and directing feature films!