Tom Antolini and Stephanie Lim

COACH

‘Coach’ evolved from an idea to tell the story of my father and what it must have been like for him to try to connect with me through my mid teens. While the film is quite different to my own life, a lot of similar moments and characters are present.



I remember moments growing up where I would read football articles in the newspaper with completely no interest just so I could talk to dad about it over breakfast. At the same time, dad would come down to the beach with me and watch me surf for half an hour or so, probably as a way to get to know me as well. When I would chat to him about surfing, he always tried to seem interested, but I always felt that he was doing it to try and be involved in my hobby.

My father is a great man and so is Martin, the father in the film. Martin just wants what he thinks is best for his son Jim. When his wife Anna was alive, the family ran in a smooth and familiar manner. However after Martin’s wife died he lost that emotional bridge between him and his son. Martin, now a single parent, is confused and utterly desperate to keep the house and family life the way it was before Anna passed away, but no matter how hard he tries he just can't get it right. Subsequently, his relationship with his son hits an all time low and it's only then Martin realises that in order to connect with his son he must first accept him. 



I know that there are hundreds of campaigns happening right now, so I guess your question is, why support this film?

Well, even though this is my graduating film from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), and on a surface level it’s obviously for my assessment, it actually means a lot more to me than that. By actually telling this story I've discovered more about the relationship between my father and I, and developed a deeper understanding of him as a result of it. While working on the film I'm constantly surprised at how much I still continue to learn about my father, especially all the challenges, obstacles and just plain attitude he must have really struggled with while getting me through my mid-teens. 'Coach' is a really personal and powerful story for me, but the reason I want make this film and share it is because I believe it's also a universal story about disconnection, personal identity, and, the need for love and acceptance within the family unit. This, coupled up with the ever present risk of losing your loved one forever is a reminder to me how fragile life is and the how important it is to hang in there through the good and bad because you never know whats around the corner.

TORQUAY
I chose Torquay as the setting for ‘Coach’ as I spend a lot of time there, and still continue to experience the amazing sense of community first hand. This is Martin and Jim's world. This is the place where this father and son desperately try to hold on to each other through their loss and grief,  and eventually find acceptance and hope with each other.

I also think to juxtapose the dramatic intensity of the story against the stunning coastline of Torquay, in the middle of winter, will create a uniquely emotive feel and visual theme to the film. While planning for this film Steph and I have already been blown away by the support and generosity of the community of Torquay and are thrilled to be able to showcase Torquay to the world via 'Coach'.  

We're also holding a 'Casting Call'  (auditions) in Torquay on June 1 at Surf Coast Secondary College and hoping to attract actors and non-actors alike from the area. We feel casting and shooting locally (Torquay and surrounds) means the actors will bring with them a comfort and familiarity with the community and surfing, and give the film and its characters a naturalistic, authentic feel. Actually one of our scenes is in a surf shop with Martin (the father in the film) and the Storeman, and we are stoked to confirm 'Gally' of Torquay Surf Academy (TSA) will play the Storeman, with the scene actually being shot in TSA as well!

Our filming dates are confirmed for 11-15 July 2014 and as we are shooting in Torquay it means our most expensive costs in making the film will be food and accommodation for our eighteen essential cast and crew. 

Tom has put in $3,000 of his money so far which will cover; some of the location costs; more food (as we have a football team worth of extras for one day); petrol to get us to and around Torquay from Melbourne for seven cars; costs to set up our 'Unit' base for duration of shoot; a storage locker to start stockpiling our props and Unit requirements prior to and for the duration of the shoot; and festival entry fees. We'll also personally absorb all Pozible service fees and Rewards administration costs.

The funds raised through Pozible will go directly toward necessary costs related to shooting on location in Torquay for eighteen essential Cast and Crew from the 11-15 July:
- $ 1,800 - accommodation - at Bells Beach Backpackers for crew during the five day shoot 
-$2,700 - food - sourced locally from the town and the towns providers 

The majority of the meals will be prepared and cooked by us, meaning it will keep our food costs down substantially but we do still need to purchase the ingredients to make the meals with. However, we are a pretty tough bunch so we don't need fancy food and catering, just enough to keep us healthy and happy. Without these we will have an extremely cranky, sleepy and hungry team. 

Luckily as we are both Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) students and this is Toms graduating film, we will be post-producing the film at the VCA which will save us a lot of money. Sometimes post-production can easily turn out to be more expensive than the shoot so having access to the facilities and the expertise of our lecturers at the VCA means we can really give a well-realised film a quality finish to submit to national and international film festivals. 

We really appreciate your time in stopping to have a look at our page and taking a moment to read our story. You're obviously considering whether to support the project or not so this in itself deserves our humblest thanks for even entertaining the thought. Either way, have a look around, check out our Rewards and heartfelt thanks again for stopping by. We hope you decide to join the family and be a part of this project.

If we can raise the funds for the cast and crew sleeping and eating we don't see any problems. 

We feel that we are working pretty damn hard to make sure that on the week of the shoot everything will fall into place and run smoothly. We have a great crew, a generous community in which to shoot, all the equipment we need and as the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is a part of the University of Melbourne, we have stringent guidelines we have to follow to ensure everything is done within a compliant and professional manner. 

Additionally, as VCA students we are privileged to have incredible support and expertise from our lecturers, and the school as a whole which gives us the best opportunity to realise the vision for this film cinematically.