Deejax voox, mes amis

Summer has rolled around again - we are promised thunderstorms this evening but it's absolutely cloudless right now in Canberra. Packed up my studio today - slight feelings of regret, but its purpose as far as Yowie goes is over - I've used it to do all of 'Kevin's artwork'. I was sent an art props spreadsheet by Kylie and looking at it I realise I still have a lot to get done - tomorrow I will go searching the Kingston markets from an old cricket bat and transistor radio. These are getting hard to find! Today the producer, production manager, DOP and Director are all going in a car together up the Blue Mountains to do location scouting. Hmm, hasn't this sort of thing happened before?? About a year ago!? Anyway, hope they don't fight! Marie paid the deposit on the accommodation today; a grand's worth, so the whole thing better not fall over again. Producers and directors seem to have radically different personalities. This evening I will go with my children up Red Hill and do another fake Yowie video - we'll see if we can find a kangaroo carcase and do a 'vicious Yowie eats innocent kangaroo' scenario - then put it on Youtube. I am afraid it will be extremely hot when we film; with me in a yowie suit now heavily padded with extra fur to make it look more convincing. Probably we'll do it early in the morning, and I think the yowie scenes can all be done in one day.

The script is now tighter and more inclusive - every character gets a payoff, including the poor female Yowie, and the whole thing is now 14 minutes. Considering it was once 47 minutes I think I've done pretty well, though the audience will have to pay attention to get every segue and nuance, whereas before it was quite leisurely. Too leisurely. A lot of people have rallied round and offered cheap deals or free work on the raw footage, which is very generous of them. Last week I met with the head of screen australia ACT division, and she suggested we may be able to get money from the government for post-production marketing. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath, having had no help from government ever, for anything. In fact you have to really successful before they give you any money - when in fact you don't need support any more. Still, she was very positive and energetic and something good might happen this time.

I had a brief look at their website. As an example take 'permission for shooting on location.' For this you need to approach three groups right off the bat: the land owner, the local council and the ACT government. Then of course there are fees, deposits, local council officer on the shoot, traffic management plan, waste management plan, health and safety plan, evidence of vast public liability insurance, etc, etc. This is before you actually get permission, which is always conditional. It's enough to drive you mad. This is why there are only two kinds of films: crappy short films (needing no permission 'cause they're filmed on a rainy afternoon in your granny's bedroom) and features, in which a vast army of people within your film company's structure can take on the vast army of bureaucrats opposing them. Nothing in between. Very sad. Mustn't harp on (I always say that after I've been harping on). But we're closer than ever now: actors, DOP, accommodation, some permissions, props and script. What more could a first-time filmmaker want? Footage in the can, that's what.