YESTERDAY’S news has never felt so fresh for Bacchus Marsh filmmaker and director Steven Tandy.
The 21-year-old’s first short film, Yesterday’s News, has been accepted by film festivals in California and Florida.
Tandy (pictured), who graduated from Swinburne University at the end of last year with a bachelor of film and television degree, said the inclusions were a major breakthrough.
“The industry’s so hit and miss and there’s not many jobs, so it’s pretty much about who you meet along the way,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m hoping if there’s the right producer or distributor in the crowd and they enjoy it, I’ll get my chance.”
Tandy said Yesterday’s News was filmed on an $8500 budget – savings earned from many hours working part-time at a Bacchus Marsh supermarket.
“It’s about a guy working the graveyard shift at a 24-hour petrol station and all the weird characters that you get lurking around the streets at those times,” he said.
‘‘But it’s got more to it – it’s about isolation and fear and violence, in 13 minutes.”
The film was shot over five nights at a petrol station in Darley.
“They close at 8.30pm, so we went in after close and shot until four in the morning, every night,” he said.
“It’s set against a news story about a kid getting bashed to death … all the characters that come in offer their own interpretation of what happened.”
Tandy has shot a documentary about the Avenue of Honour, and he filmed the Great War Committee’s centennial awareness day on Saturday.
He’s also made music videos for local group APES and has another short film in the works.
Tandy is using a crowd-sourcing website to raise funds for his airfares to the festivals in the US.
Details: pozible.com/project/8112
