By KATH GANNAWAY
WARBURTON filmmaker Matthew Holmes was on solid ground when he pitched a new film to the audience at the Warburton Film Festival two weeks ago.
They had just sat through his chiller ‘The Artifice’ to huge applause. Winning the Technical Excellence Award further proved his credentials.
Holmes has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $75,000 for his next venture, The Legend of Ben Hall.
The 30-minute film will focus on the final days of a bushranger he says has a greater story to tell than Ned Kelly, and will serve as a launching pad to get a full-length film financed.
As writer, director and producer, Holmes has a huge personal investment in the film.
“The hope was that The Artifice would demonstrate my ability to tell a story and evoke emotion; that’s what the director’s job is, to make a connection with the audience,” he said.
Holmes founded Two Tone Pictures in 2005 and has teamed up with Wolf Creek creator Greg Mclean and international sales agent Michael Favelle on another film venture ‘Territorial’.
That project received development funding from Film Victoria and in Mclean’s words is “…highly original cinema that will give full rein to Matthew’s creative skills as a prodigiously talented filmmaker and storyteller”.
It’s all underpins his Kickstarter campaign for Ben Hall.
Holmes says they are looking to the public to make the film happen by pledging towards the project – from as little as $20.
“It’s a do or die scheme; if we don’t reach the $75,000 we cannot make the film,” he said.
As of last week with a closing date of 7 July, the amount pledged was over $30,000.
Holmes said there were incentives for backers, and if the target amount was not reached by the target date, no money was called in.
“The thing about Kickstarter is that a $20 investment is perfect,” he said.
“It’s about lots of people putting in small amounts to reach the target.”
Larger amounts are, of course, welcome!
Check out the Ben Hall Kickstarter fund by visiting www.kickstarter.com and searching ‘Ben Hall’.
