Howling Dingo Films

What is Oh Brother?

Written by Emily Komiyama, Oh Brother is a 30 minutes psychological thriller that follows two reclusive brothers through their dysfunctional relationship. Their lives are changed forever when they confront an intruder in the night.

A quietly intense story, the screenplay was inspired by Emily's love for claustrophobic thrillers and one location films. Using Nicholas Cage's twins from Adaptation as inspiration, the story was conceived when Emily was in film school, and over the years, the screenplay has won awards in festivals all over the world.

The screenplay caught the eye of director Vee Shi, who was drawn to the film because the script explores the very fundamental nature of human relationship that he has always been interested in, which is how we inherently rely on each other to survive as a species, and who we are as a person is shaped by our experiences and interactions with others.


Who we are:

Howling Dingo Films is a young, up & coming production company in Melbourne dedicated to telling great stories by diverse Australian voices. Having successfully produced a number of ambitious short films, HDF is ready and excited to take on its biggest project yet with Oh Brother.

Emily Komiyama – Writer


Having developed an interest in film at a young age, Emily started getting involved in short films at the age of 13. She chose to follow this passion in university, completing a degree in Film Production at the SAE Institute in Perth. Over the years, Emily has written multiple award winning screenplays, and has even met with production companies internationally to pitch TV pilots.

Vee Shi – Director


Vee Shi comes from a background of Design. Having attended RMIT in Melbourne, and later realised his true passion lies in film making . His training in design had certainly shown in the state of perfection that he aims to achieve with his films. Vee cares about all aspects of the filmmaking process, and he believes in using film as a canvas for Ideas. He has worked on Oh Brother with writer Emily over many months in ensuring he can bring their joint vision to life in the best way possible.

Bashir Towdiee – Director of Photography


Having attended film school in New Zealand, Bashir has honed his skills as a DoP working on a number of short film projects. He has worked with Vee in the past, and they plan to continue their working relationship on Oh Brother, consolidating on their shared visual aesthetic.

Liam Lacy – Producer


Liam found his passion for film and storytelling whilst studying Criminology at university. He’s now undertaking a film course at RMIT University. In a few short years, he has taken great initiative in writing, directing and producing a number of films, made both locally and overseas. After reading the script, Liam knew he had to do whatever it takes to make Oh Brother come to life.

Anthony Sharpe – Malcolm


Best known for his role as Cecil Yates in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Anthony's extensive career also involves appearances in City Homicide, Stingers and Blue Heelers. We're stoked to have him onboard and Anthony will no doubt add plenty of experience and talent to the production.

Lloyd Bissell – Phillip


Lloyd has plenty of short film experience under his belt, as well as appearances in Jack Irish: Dead Point, Neighbours and City Homicide. Lloyd brings plenty of experience and versatility, thanks to a background in film and theatre.

Filmmaking isn’t a cheap endeavor – you only need to look at Hollywood’s enormous budgets to see proof. But as independent filmmakers, our goal is to tell great stories no matter what, and so we do what we can to cut costs wherever possible. Everyone involved in this project has been gracious enough to lend us their hard work and dedication without pay. This truly is a passion project for all involved.

But still, there are some costs we simply can’t avoid, in order to do the story justice, and to ensure everyone involved is well cared for in the process. As such, the below items are the unavoidable costs that we will incur in the process.

Insurance - $200

Our biggest priority on set is to make sure our cast and crew are safe, and that in the unlikely case of injury, that they will be taken care of. The least we can do for everyone volunteering their time is to ensure they are kept safe and protected.

Whilst we will do everything we can to make sure we operate a safe set, we have to prepare for the unexpected, and so insurance is a necessary expense that we simply cannot avoid, particularly on a project that is this ambitious.

Location hire - $1500

In the interest of authenticity, we intend to rent a real house where the two brothers live. This will lend a sense of realism, and is also cheaper than building a set, which is common on larger budget films. Renting homes is never cheap, and especially so for a short period of time.

Production design & special effects - $800

Malcolm and Phillip aren’t your everyday people, and their home isn’t your everyday, generic home. Production design enables us to bring in props that the characters have in their home, to visually portray these unique characters.

Additionally, without revealing any spoilers, we do have some special effects in the film that will need to be made for the film – as such as we need to pay for the cost of materials and fabrication of the special effects.

Catering - $500

The best cast and crew is one that is well fed. Especially given nobody is getting paid, the least we can do is provide everyone with delicious, healthy food on set.

Pozible rewards and fees - $500

Pozible is such a fantastic platform that enables independent creators to source funding for their projects, enabling the creation of amazing, unique projects that would otherwise never see the light of day. Understandably, in order to continue this amazing service, Pozible takes a small fee from each successful campaign, which reduces the total amount we actually receive from this campaign.

Additionally, we want to give back to everyone who pledges their hard earned money for this project, and fulfilling these rewards does cost money – creation of DVDs and Blu-Rays, printing quality posters, etc.

Additional funds

The above is the absolute minimum we need to make this film, however any money we receive on top of our goal will allow us to make this film even better –
- Better Production Design
- Professional sound mix
- Custom film score
- Festival submission fees

Having invested our own time, hard work and money in studying our craft and creating smaller film projects in order to constantly improve as filmmakers, we want to apply those skills in bringing this amazing script to life. We are also putting in our own money to make this film a reality.

We have already invested in equipment, and nobody is getting paid for the shoot. The amount we are asking for is the bare minimum we need to make this project a reality. Every cent you put in will be spent on making this film the best it can be. And it will be an intense, thrilling and engaging film that YOU helped create.

Questions

What if you don’t raise the $3,500? Will you still take my money?

Pozible is an all-or-nothing platform, meaning we only get money if we reach (or exceed) our goal. Your pledge is taken only after the success of the campaign.

Whilst we’re confident that we’ll reach our target, in the event that we don’t make our goal, we receive no money, and your money won’t change hands.

So don’t hesitate to pledge! And share this project with your family and friends so they can help us reach our goal.

How do I know you’re not just a bunch of kids playing with our money?

Well, for starters we’ve spent years of our lives dedicated to formally studying filmmaking, and investing our own time and money in developing our skills. We take this very seriously, and intend to make the best use of the resources we can get in making the best film we can possibly make.