A Brighton-Le-Sands filmmaker who won the 7 Second Film Competition at Tropfest this year hopes the prize will ignite his new production company – Fussy Films
Ben Kumanovski’s film In-Laws was judged by Tropfest juror Rachel Griffiths as the standout film that encapsulated the theme of ‘nothing to prove’ in the shortest time — just 7 seconds.
His film In-Laws, about a defiant wife serving up fairy bread for lunch to her in- laws won the director a long weekend away in a Holden Equinox and a $2,000 prize.
More importantly the win and the exposure through Tropfest will prove a huge boost to the recent launch of his new commercial production company Fussy Films.
Fussy Films partners exclusively with advertising agencies looking to produce commercials and online content for brands.
‘‘From a commercial production perspective winning the Tropfest Holden 7 Second Film Competition shows my ability as a director to tell a story under the pressure of a tight timeframe,’’ Kumanovski said.
Kumanovski said he enjoyed the challenge of the Tropfest 7 Second Film Competition.
‘‘Commercial production is where I cut my teeth as a filmmaker. But commercials are typically 30 or 60 seconds long,” Kumanovski said.
“It’s easy to tell a story in 30 seconds. Even easier in 60. When I saw the opportunity to tell a story in 7 seconds I really wanted the challenge.’’
Fussy Films is the result of many months of planning between Kumanovski, his wife Melissa and long-time collaborator Patrick Rohr.
In mid 2017 the two completed a half-hour film starring AACTA award winning actress Cheree Cassidy, which was shot and directed by Ben and produced by Patrick.
It was the final instalment of an anti-domestic violence campaign that the two have worked on in partnership with Sutherland Shire Family Services for the last two years.
‘‘We spent a few months just thinking and rethinking our business name and finally after feeling like nothing was right, it occurred to me how much of a perfectionist I was, and how fitting the word fussy would be for our production company,’’ Kumanovski said.
‘‘I take great pride in my work and I wanted our business name to reflect a piece of me.”