WHAT IS THIS?

'Forging Ned Kelly’ is a 20min short film in which a modern-day Ned Kelly chooses to start a revolution rather than pay his unfair parking fines. We are shooting in historic locations around regional Victoria from 23th-28th July, followed by 6 weeks of post-production, and a premiere screening in Melbourne at the Australain Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in early December 2016.

AND WHO ARE WE?

We are Freeman Trebilcock (writer/director) and Sonja Milovac (producer), both completing out Masters at the Victorian College of the Arts.  This is our graduate film, and our first shot at making something that gets noticed in the film industry.

WHY WE'RE ASKING YOU?

As independent filmmakers we don't have all the resources at our fingertips, but we do have a story that we feel is worth telling.  Only through your support can we get this film made and make sure it finds an audience. 

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FILM SYNOPSIS

"When FREEMAN gets a call from his mum telling him the Sheriff has come to arrest her for his unpaid parking fines, he has no idea what to do. Unable to pay, and faced with gaol as his only other option, he runs off to the bush. There FREEMAN learns about Ned Kelly, the Eureka Stockade and the centuries-old fight for Sovereignty in the face of oppressive laws. Slowly his fear turns to anger. As the power of Ned Kelly’s spirit overtakes him, FREEMAN puts on the Ned Kelly armour and heads back into the city, ready to take on the government and fight for a fair-go. Only this time he’s got a pocketful of coins for the parking meter."

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

"In December of 1854 three big things happened: Australia’s greatest Bushranger Ned Kelly was born; The Eureka Stockade was crushed by the red-coats, and my great-great-great grandparents settled in country Victoria.  For years now I've been fascinated with the myth of Ned Kelly. He divides Australians. Was he our greatest Bushranger, or a cop-killer who needed to be brought down? Regardless, he has now been immortalised more than any other Australian figure.

Forging Ned Kelly is my attempt to re-tell the old myth in a new way. In doing so, I have weaved together Ned’s story with my own. But what do Ned and I have in common? My biggest run-in with the law has been a bunch of unpaid parking fines... Well, this is exactly where the film starts, with an injustice everyone can relate to. And it ends with me storming into Parliament in copy of Ned’s own armour, ready to take them on.  This part we are doing for real.

The style of the film is docu-fiction. It will combine present-day documentary footage with dramatic construction and Archival material from the 1906 Story of the Kelly Gang.  It’s ambitious in scope, although the final product will be only 20mins in length. Shot in regional Victoria, around Daylesford (where I grew up) and Ballarat, I hope to connect with locals to help get the film made. I am also working with a skilled Cinematographer and a gung-ho Producer to realise this vision.

In short, Forging Ned Kelly will be a playful outlaw tale, where we dig up the old  Bushranger myth in a fun new way."

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DIRECTOR  -  FREEMAN TREBILCOCK

Freeman Trebilcock is a documentary filmmaker based out of Melbourne, Australia. A life-long love of film has informed a personal style that is richly layered, colourful and energetic. Having grown up in the small country town of Daylesford, Freeman is interested in real people and their stories. It was this passion that led Freeman to undertake his Masters in Documentary Filmmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts. His work at the VCA looks at multi-narrative storytelling and the function of self-reflexivity in documentary. Freeman also freelances as an editor and cinematographer and produces online video content for commercial clients.  Using his skills Freeman hopes to re-awaken the tradition of good storytelling by my making work that is powerful, authentic and universal.

PRODUCER  -  SONJA MILOCAV

Sonja comes from an arts and design background where she enjoyed numerous roles within the creative and fashion industries in Australia and Europe, spanning for more than a decade. Her passion for moving images has been engraved from an early age and has had a profound influence on her perception of life - as it is, itself, a moving image, constantly in action. She is engaged with collaborative creative projects within film, television and commercial world. Her credits include 30 min short film, ‘Memor’, screened at ‘Festival De Cannes 2015 Court Metrage Short Film Corner’, theatre play ‘Little V’s Terrible Tea Party’ at 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, TV Pilot for Discovery Channel Turkey. She is currently Master Student of Producing at prestige Victorian college of the Arts.

Camera, Lens & Equiptment hire: $1200

Food & Accomodation:  $800

Props & Costumes: $650

Travel & Fuels costs: $350

Film Festival Entry fees: $500

We are going to get this film made nomatter what.  But so far the challenges include securing locations for filming, and rights to archival material.  We have managed to overcome each issue we've encountered so far.

Some stills from the production so far: