It's really easy to make a short film. I should know.. I'm a writer who had no idea how to hold a camera until I somehow stumbled into a Kino Sydney screening 2 years ago. A relatively new arrival to Australia, I'd come to Sydney with the intention of following my creative dreams and immersing myself in a community of like minded individuals. Yet when I met the Kino crowd, I knew I was really at home. After spending several months watching the short films of others, made using the kino spirit of 'having a go', on no budget, without permissions, payments or the other constraints that money brings, I arrived at Kino Kabaret determined to make a short film. Kabaret in Sydney is a weekend long event in which filmmakers team up and make as many short films as they can over 32 hours. I had nothing except a vague, over ambitious script idea. I finished the weekend with three short films. I acted ( badly), wrote, directed, produced and even cobbled together some work on Final Cut Pro. Conveniently at that Kabaret, I also met Jason, my partner in life and in film. When we got together several months later, I knew my ( admittedly short) stint of tearing my hair out over editing software was over... I'd bagged me an editor and aspiring director! What a pairing... My organisational skills and screenwriting matched with technical expertise and grounding ( and a fantastic creative partner to boot). Jason's role into short film making began several years before mine, also via Kino Sydney ( a voluntary organisation of which we are now both association members). Without boring you, both of us are testament to the fact that hard work and drive will get things done more than all the film schools in the world. But now, it's time to take things seriously. It's time to make a budgeted short film as a calling card for what we can actually produce. Here's where you can learn all about it.