Kaela Halatau

Our Story

TORN is an upcoming short film about a young woman who struggles to balance her home life, as the primary caretaker to her youngest siblings, with her ambitions as a pre-medical student. Only through learning to accept the help of those closest to her, will she be able to find balance. 

TORN is a collaboration between the WA Screen Academy and Aboriginal Performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Our Cast

This short film will be starring the 2019 Aboriginal Performance class at WAAPA. They have been working closely with our writer and director to create this wonderful story. 

WAAPA Aboriginal Performance programe

This course assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to gain admission into mainstream theatre training programs in Australia, and to enhance their ability to audition for and perform roles in theatre, musical theatre, television and film.

This project is a showcase of our emerging indigenous talent coming out of the WAAPA Aboriginal Performance program.  Supporting this project helps not only with the making of this film, but also helps support these fine actors and the program at WAAPA.

The Crew

Dumi Mashinini - Writer

Dumi Mashinini is a chartered accountant turned producer/writer who gave up a career as an auditor to pursue his passion for the screen. As an African Australian, he's been grateful for the opportunity he's received to work on a documentary and drama revolving around the African Australian community. He expanded his skills this year when given the opportunity to write the drama The Docks and to collaborate with the Aboriginal Theatre group on a short film. On completion of his Masters in Screen Studies degree, Dumi hopes to continue to tell the stories of underrepresented communities in the future.

Caleb Whitehurst - Director

Caleb graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Media Arts, majoring in screen and sound in 2010. For the past seven years, Caleb has worked teaching young children all aspects of filmmaking and filming live theatre at French Woods Festival, a performing arts camp in upstate New York. Working with children spurred his desire to work in film, as their imaginative ideas challenged, stimulated, and invigorated him to create off-kilter content. He hopes to find a happy middle ground where teaching can still be a part of his future while being able to get his own projects off the ground.

Kaela Halatau - Producer and Editor

Kaela is currently studying for a Bachelor of Media and Communications at the WA Screen Academy, specialising in editing, producing and sound. Kaela previously completed an Advanced Diploma in Screen and Media (Digital Cinema) at North Metropolitan TAFE, where she was the editor on the short comedy titled Perfect Pie, Imperfect Life. Whilst at Screen Academy, Kaela has taken on three head of department roles over four different projects and has enjoyed pushing herself to produce the best work possible. She has appreciated the opportunity to expand her skill set, and looks forward to taking what she has learnt at the Screen Academy as she enters into the screen industry.

Eric Khazrik - Co-Producer

Eric concluded an advanced diploma course of Screen and Media (Digital Cinema) at North Metropolitan TAFE in 2018. Currently doing his Bachelor degree at WA Screen Academy. The student film he produced and wrote, whilst at TAFE, was screened at the 2019 Revelation Film Festival. As an international student from Brazil, Eric changed his career from Management to Film because of his love for storytelling. He hopes to keep working on producing and writing after completing his degree.

Jessica Russell - Cinematographer 

In 2016, Jessica graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts with a Bachelor in Performance Making. After working on several theatre productions in varying roles, she undertook an internship at the International Theater Amsterdam during which she decided to shift 

her practice to focus on directing. From there, she returned to Australia to study at the WA Screen Academy, also concentrating on cinematography. With a background in physical and devised theatre, Jessica hopes to bring a new perspective to film direction and the collaborative process.

Haresh Chandra -Sound Designer

Haresh is a musician turned filmmaker. He has an Advanced Diploma in Digital Cinema from North Metropolitan TAFE and is currently studying at the Screen Academy for a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Screen Studies. His specialization are in sound and editing. He has worked on two short dramas in the past, Perfect Pie, Imperfect Life and I am Wolf, as Head of Department for Sound. Haresh spends most of his free time attaining skills and knowledge in post-production, including VFX, title design, colour-grading, and composing.

Brandon Fisher - Sound Recordist

Brandon Fisher is currently studying for his Bachelor's degree, majoring in sound at WA Screen Academy. He previously completed an Advanced Diploma in Screen and Media (Digital Cinema) at North Metropolitan TAFE. He has prior experience in directing, scriptwriting, production design, and other various roles in film such as broadcast, commercials, and promotional videos. Brandon is the sound designer on the Screen Academy film The Docks and is dedicated to creating engaging soundscape for audiences to enjoy. Brandon plans to continue developing his craft in all fields of the film industry, in hopes to thrive and tackle every challenge that lies ahead.

All of the funds raised will go towards making TORN the best possible film it can be.

In order to make the best possible film, we will need additional financial support to cover the following:

Camera department truck hire. There is a lot of equipment to move from location to location, and we require hired vehicles to achieve this.

Art Department. To make the world of our story we need to purchase: props, costumes and items to dress the set. The art department budget will ensure that no part of our screen looks empty or boring 

Catering for the crew. We will be shooting over 4 days and need to feed our large crew and cast. 

Camera equipment. There us a specific look we would like for this film and achieve this we need to hire out particular camera equipment.