Support a short film - "BALL AND CHAIN"
Donation protected
We're a group of third-year uni students making a short film called 'Ball and Chain', and we're looking for support to make our a dream a reality!
Shot over a week in the beautiful suburbs of Bibra Lake, here's what you need to know about our campaign:
OUR MISSION
We're creating a 12-minute black comedy film, 'Ball and Chain'. Inspired by weird and brilliantly dark British comedies, unsettling psychological dramas from the 90s, and a desire to make a character-driven film showing the horrors of what happens behind closed doors in suburban homes - comes our short film.
This is an unpaid short that we wish could survive on just the sweat, tears and love for the project from our crew and cast, but unfortunately, we do need some funds to make this film possible!
We need your support.
ABOUT THE FILM (In Short)
Jean, a reclusive housewife who is terrified of the outside world, begins to descend into madness when she suspects that her husband, Michael, is a serial killer. In her moment of escape, she must decide whose version of reality she chooses to believe.
For a longer description, scroll down to the end...
THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE
This film has an important message that we believe needs to be shared with the world. Through 'Ball and Chain', we hope to start a conversation about emotional and psychological abuse in relationships, and how they can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Although dark at times, the film ultimately tells the audience that survivors of abuse can find hope and resolve through valuing their own strengths, and maintaining an identity that is separate from their partner’s.
We knew that this story needed to be told when many of the people we have spoken to about this concept immediately said that they themselves had been in such abusive relationships or know someone who is. This is clearly a very common story for many people, particularly women, and yet it's not often one that is shown on the big screen. We believe that needs to change.
HOW YOUR MONEY WILL BE SPENT
We need your support to make 'Ball and Chain' a reality. By donating to this project, you will be helping to pay for:
1. Props, Costumes and Set Dressing:
The two main characters, Jean and Michael, live in a warped reality whereby the house they live in hasn't moved on from the 1990s. This means that we are going for a highly stylised retro look that involves completely transforming a very modern house into a whole other time period. It means buying awesome vintage props, fantastic outfits, wigs, shoes, furniture, etc. You name it!
2. Filming Expenses and Catering:
Making a film involves lots of expensive things. Hardware to store footage; office supplies and printing of scripts, call sheets, photos, and buying safety equipment. The biggest expense is catering, as we need to feed a crew of around 16 people every day for around 6-7 days. That's a lot of hungry mouths!
3. Marketing and Festival Entry Costs:
A huge portion of this campaign fund will go toward actually entering our film in film festivals in Australia and around the world. Each festival entry costs money, so your donation will help us actually put this this film and its message on more screens and be seen by more people!
Having our film be accepted at film festivals also builds the careers of our student crew members; if we win awards for our film, it will mean you've helped young up-and-coming talent take that next step to being noticed in the film industry and making even MORE great films.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Radheya Jegatheva - Co-Writer and Editor
You may have heard of Radheya's name if you've been to a few festivals in the last couple of years! Radheya is an award-winning filmmaker and creator of the world-renowned short animations, 'iRony', 'Journey', and most recently, 'The Quiet'.
Radheya co-wrote 'Ball and Chain' and is also the Editor. So you can only expect great things from this one!
Luisa Mitchell - Co-Writer and Producer
Luisa is a filmmaker who garnered over a million views on her first short film a few years ago, and has been madly working behind the scenes on various creative projects ever since! She also founded the Uni Goonies Film Festival, a student-made short film festival.
Luisa co-wrote 'Ball and Chain' with Radheya, and is the Producer. She is continuing to madly run around and trying to make a 12-minute film in less than a month. Mad!
Sebastian Howards - Director
Seb knows all the film references and could talk about movies for hours. He doesn't shy around from the weird, scary, beautiful and everything in between, and is directing 'Ball and Chain'.
Noah Jennings - Director of Photography
Sidonia Barwood - Production Designer
Owen Hearne - Sound Designer
THE CAST
We have already cast an incredible group of people who we know are going to absolutely kill their roles. Our two leads playing the husband and wife are:
JEAN - played by Nicoletta Dimas
A Screen Performance graduate from WAAPA, Nicoletta is a comedy and fantasy lover. She has acted on television shows like SBS and always brings insightful precision to whatever role she plays. When the camera rolls, the magic starts.
MICHAEL - played by Evan Williams
Also a WAAPA Screen Performance graduate, Evan has just wrapped up acting in his first two feature films, and is beyond passionate about what he does. He also does a very, very scary face.
ABOUT THE FILM (In Full)
Jean is a weary, shell of a woman living in suburban Australia with her husband Michael and the ashes of his beloved, departed dog Perry. She has stifling agoraphobia due to a fear of the outside world, and her mental state disintegrates further when she begins to suspect that her husband is a serial killer. In a moment of unexpected rage Jean destroys Perry’s ashes, and fearing violent retribution from her husband, must use a passion from her younger, happier years to distract Michael and escape.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Thank you in advance for your donation. This is a huge support for a film industry that is currently struggling as a result of the global pandemic and we need more art and stories to make our communities a better, more enjoyable place.
We believe that our film will make you laugh, pause to think, laugh some more, and still have our story in your head for days after you've left the cinema!
So thank you again for giving - we can't wait to share this film you. :)
Shot over a week in the beautiful suburbs of Bibra Lake, here's what you need to know about our campaign:
OUR MISSION
We're creating a 12-minute black comedy film, 'Ball and Chain'. Inspired by weird and brilliantly dark British comedies, unsettling psychological dramas from the 90s, and a desire to make a character-driven film showing the horrors of what happens behind closed doors in suburban homes - comes our short film.
This is an unpaid short that we wish could survive on just the sweat, tears and love for the project from our crew and cast, but unfortunately, we do need some funds to make this film possible!
We need your support.
ABOUT THE FILM (In Short)
Jean, a reclusive housewife who is terrified of the outside world, begins to descend into madness when she suspects that her husband, Michael, is a serial killer. In her moment of escape, she must decide whose version of reality she chooses to believe.
For a longer description, scroll down to the end...
THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE
This film has an important message that we believe needs to be shared with the world. Through 'Ball and Chain', we hope to start a conversation about emotional and psychological abuse in relationships, and how they can be just as damaging as physical abuse. Although dark at times, the film ultimately tells the audience that survivors of abuse can find hope and resolve through valuing their own strengths, and maintaining an identity that is separate from their partner’s.
We knew that this story needed to be told when many of the people we have spoken to about this concept immediately said that they themselves had been in such abusive relationships or know someone who is. This is clearly a very common story for many people, particularly women, and yet it's not often one that is shown on the big screen. We believe that needs to change.
HOW YOUR MONEY WILL BE SPENT
We need your support to make 'Ball and Chain' a reality. By donating to this project, you will be helping to pay for:
1. Props, Costumes and Set Dressing:
The two main characters, Jean and Michael, live in a warped reality whereby the house they live in hasn't moved on from the 1990s. This means that we are going for a highly stylised retro look that involves completely transforming a very modern house into a whole other time period. It means buying awesome vintage props, fantastic outfits, wigs, shoes, furniture, etc. You name it!
2. Filming Expenses and Catering:
Making a film involves lots of expensive things. Hardware to store footage; office supplies and printing of scripts, call sheets, photos, and buying safety equipment. The biggest expense is catering, as we need to feed a crew of around 16 people every day for around 6-7 days. That's a lot of hungry mouths!
3. Marketing and Festival Entry Costs:
A huge portion of this campaign fund will go toward actually entering our film in film festivals in Australia and around the world. Each festival entry costs money, so your donation will help us actually put this this film and its message on more screens and be seen by more people!
Having our film be accepted at film festivals also builds the careers of our student crew members; if we win awards for our film, it will mean you've helped young up-and-coming talent take that next step to being noticed in the film industry and making even MORE great films.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Radheya Jegatheva - Co-Writer and Editor
You may have heard of Radheya's name if you've been to a few festivals in the last couple of years! Radheya is an award-winning filmmaker and creator of the world-renowned short animations, 'iRony', 'Journey', and most recently, 'The Quiet'.
Radheya co-wrote 'Ball and Chain' and is also the Editor. So you can only expect great things from this one!
Luisa Mitchell - Co-Writer and Producer
Luisa is a filmmaker who garnered over a million views on her first short film a few years ago, and has been madly working behind the scenes on various creative projects ever since! She also founded the Uni Goonies Film Festival, a student-made short film festival.
Luisa co-wrote 'Ball and Chain' with Radheya, and is the Producer. She is continuing to madly run around and trying to make a 12-minute film in less than a month. Mad!
Sebastian Howards - Director
Seb knows all the film references and could talk about movies for hours. He doesn't shy around from the weird, scary, beautiful and everything in between, and is directing 'Ball and Chain'.
Noah Jennings - Director of Photography
Sidonia Barwood - Production Designer
Owen Hearne - Sound Designer
THE CAST
We have already cast an incredible group of people who we know are going to absolutely kill their roles. Our two leads playing the husband and wife are:
JEAN - played by Nicoletta Dimas
A Screen Performance graduate from WAAPA, Nicoletta is a comedy and fantasy lover. She has acted on television shows like SBS and always brings insightful precision to whatever role she plays. When the camera rolls, the magic starts.
MICHAEL - played by Evan Williams
Also a WAAPA Screen Performance graduate, Evan has just wrapped up acting in his first two feature films, and is beyond passionate about what he does. He also does a very, very scary face.
ABOUT THE FILM (In Full)
Jean is a weary, shell of a woman living in suburban Australia with her husband Michael and the ashes of his beloved, departed dog Perry. She has stifling agoraphobia due to a fear of the outside world, and her mental state disintegrates further when she begins to suspect that her husband is a serial killer. In a moment of unexpected rage Jean destroys Perry’s ashes, and fearing violent retribution from her husband, must use a passion from her younger, happier years to distract Michael and escape.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Thank you in advance for your donation. This is a huge support for a film industry that is currently struggling as a result of the global pandemic and we need more art and stories to make our communities a better, more enjoyable place.
We believe that our film will make you laugh, pause to think, laugh some more, and still have our story in your head for days after you've left the cinema!
So thank you again for giving - we can't wait to share this film you. :)
Organizer
Luisa Mitchell
Organizer
South Perth, WA