Clay Waddell

THE FILM

SHEPHERD follows Darcy, an awkward 17 year old boy, on a drunken night out with his brother and team mates where he finds himself pressured to be the very type of man he despises.

The film is a study into the animal kingdom of men, exploring toxic masculinity and the idea of what it is to be a man within society. Shepherd explores the implications of the pack mentality and how it can affect the individual; what can happen when one is pressured by societal expectations, and how within it all, we can lose sight of our moral guidelines, who we are and what we want to be. 

THE TEAM

Clayton Waddell: Our director studied a Diploma of Screen and Media at RMIT before furthering his studies in the Film and Television bachelor degree at Swinburne University. Over the past 3 years of filmmaking, Clay has seen his films screen as part of the St Kilda Film Festival as well as the Made in Melbourne Festival. His passion for writing and directing was solidified in 2016 when he undertook his most ambitious project to date, SHARPS, which recently premiered at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Set in Melbourne in the 1970’s, the film follows a group of Sharpies and explores repressed homosexuality during the time period, whilst still feeling relevant and current, which is a tone that Clay strives to embed within all his films. Even though the films are set in the past, they still have a timeless feel and are accessible for an audience watching today. This element of his filmmaking brings him to Shepherd.

Tegan Rodgers: One half of our producing team, Tegan graduated from Swinburne’s Film and Television degree in 2016, having focused her studies on producing. Her graduate film saw her winning the inaugural Charles Herschell Fellowship funded by The Jolimont Foundation, allowing her to create a half hour documentary under the mentorship and guidance of industry legend, Richard Lowenstein and his team at Ghost Pictures. Since graduating, Tegan has taken on a teaching position in the department of Film and Animation at Swinburne University, has worked at Princess Pictures in Melbourne as well as at Ghost Pictures to help produce their upcoming feature documentary, Mystify, about INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. She has just also finished another short with MIFF Accelerator Alumni, Emily Dynes for their latest short film "To The Sea" set for release in 2018.
Tegan is passionate about creating diverse and real Australian stories in both documentary and narrative formats and hopes to continue to work with young directors to help them realise their visions to their fullest potential. 

Max Van Egmond: The other half of our producing team, Max has recently completed his study in Swinburne’s Film and Television degree. His time at university has seen him realise his passion in the filmmaking industry, following the path to producing. After making the move to Melbourne from his home town of Newcastle, NSW in 2014, Max has found his niche at university collaborating with like-minded individuals on films that tackle social issues he himself feels are important and need to be addressed.
Max's producing credits include: Sharps, screened at Melbourne Queer Film Festival (2018) as well as his first year documentary An Evening with Pam, which landed a spot in St Kilda festival’s “Under the Radar” section.

Alanna Raif: The Cinematographer of Shepherd recently graduated from Swinburne with a Bachelor's degree of FIlm and Television. Alanna has always known her passion lies behind the lens, and her time at university allowed her to explore and grow her craft of cinematography. After graduating, she jumped onto the set of Jack Irish Season 2 and continues to learn the professional ettiquette of the film industry, specifically within the camera department. Alanna’s DP credits cover a variety of technical and aesthetic styles, including Lavender (2017) a story about sisterhood,  Shepherd (2017) a coming of age drama about toxic masculinity, retro period drama Sharps (2016), and poignant documentary Ask A Muslim (2016). Her first short film, The Runaway (2014), was selected for Top Screen Australia 2015. Alanna was awarded a silver award at the 51st ACS Victorian and Tasmanian Awards for Cinematography for her cinematography of Sharps. 

Geraldine Docherty: Our editor Geri began the Film and Television course at Swinburne in 2015 after she realised her passion was for film and the visceral impact it has on audiences. Throughout her studies, Geraldine has taken part in numerous projects, including production designing graduate film ‘Salt In Wounds’ (Dir. Alison Adriano) and helping out with production design on Clay Waddell’s 16mm short film, ‘Sharps’. She also edited a short music documentary called “All The Stops” and it was here that she developed a passion for editing, believing the beauty of editing is in the power of timing. A cut one frame later can make a world of emotional and story-telling difference. Her experience within production design is also a strength in the edit room for choosing aesthetically pleasing shots. Since graduating Swinburne, Geri has been working as an editing assistant for Fancy Films, and has recently edited the music video for local Melbourne band IV League's latest release, Superstar.

HELP US

While Shepherd has completed its final production, we are now in the distribution phase with the film. In order to get our short film out into the sphere of festivals and the hands of industry professionals, we need some financial help to be able to do so. We believe our film has a great chance to do well on the festival circuit and we need the help of our friends, family and the greater filmmaking community to make this possible. We feel it is an important film to get out into the public eye as it contains an important message about the implications of ones actions, as well as tackles social issues surrounding mysogyny and homophobia.

Festival entry costs can range from US $25 to upwards of $100, and in order to really give our film a proper chance, there are multiple festivals that we need to be able to enter it into, both locally and internationally. We really need the support of you to make this a reality. After working on this film for over a year, from the conception of the story to the final edit, it would be such a shame for us to be stopped at this final hurdle. Even the smallest bit helps us get to our goal and there are some great prizes on offer for your generosity, as outlined below.

PRIZES

Prizes for donating include:

Postcards

We have on offer specially designed postcards, with various designs available for selection. They include our film promo poster designed by Studio Hi Ho (@studiohiho). Each of these designs can be seen below. 

Private Link to Film

Get ahead of the festival circuit and see our film before anyone else! Donate $20 to gain access to our film, as well as receive one of our postcards as an added bonus!

Photo Shoot

Another prize on offer is a portrait session with Alanna or Clay. Should you need headshots or even just a new DP, both of our talented photographers will spend time shooting you to make sure your best side is captured. Examples of both of their work can be seen at @alannaraif and @craft.single 

Totes

We also have on offer totes deisgned by Abbie Pobjoy, the filmmaker behind Female Filmmakers Club (@femalefilmmakersclub) - a Melbourne Based collective recognising and supporting female voices behind local film, tv and screen culture. We are still in the final stages of developing the design to print onto the totes but here are some of Abbie's previous drawings. 

We have completed this film on a very tight budget, but this does not mean the film cost us nothing. Each of our key crew members donated their own funds to make this film happen, and it could not have been made without each of them making their own personal sacrifices all for the sake of filmmaking. There are many costs involved in filmmaking, and even at a student level, these costs can (and will) snowball, and it can be very difficult for young creatives to bring their vision to fruition. The entire team pulled together to make this film possible, and this is why we need your help to get us over the line and into the festival circuit. 

Even now that the film has been completed, we require assistance for festival entry costs so that our film can have the life we know it deserves.