The Story

Heaven follows Tom, a shy and closeted teenager, who attempts to manipulate a game of seven minutes in heaven so he can confess his feelings to the boy he is infatuated with.

Dir. by Sam McGowan

Heavily inspired by the ‘80s rom-com, Heaven explores themes of desire, coming of age and teenage angst, and delves into the agony of young love. A high school crush feels simultaneously intense, agonising, ugly, and beautiful, and this film will find humour as well as sincerity in the unexpected intensity of these new emotions.

Queer coming of age stories that celebrate love and end in happiness are too few and far between, and sadly, underepresented on Australian screens. That's why Heaven is the type of relatable and wholesome short film the soul needs once in a while! 

The Project

What makes this project  exciting is that Heaven will be entirely shot on beautiful 16mm film. 16mm will not only add a beautiful texture and aesthetic to the film, but also allows us as film students to experience traditional filmmaking. 

While it’s a privilege to shoot on 16mm film, it’s expensive, as is all filmmaking! Heaven will be produced by a team of young and talented Swinburne filmmakers, but we need your help to make it happen! 

Donations + Rewards

Why should you donate? 

By donating to our campaign, you’re not only helping our dreams of making Heaven into a reality, and hopefully reaching audiences through the short film festival circuit, but you'll also be contributing to the arts and film culture in Australia.

In addition to our eternal gratitude, we’ve added some sweet incentives:

All donors will enter into a draw to WIN “The Perfect Movie Night” hamper … plus a lil’ something extra to express our gratitude: 

< $10 = Special mention in the credits + 1 entry into draw

$10+ = Special mention in the credits + 3 entries

$25+ =  Thank you email from the crew + 4 entries

$50+ = Custom 'Heaven' T-Shirt + 5 entries

$75+ = Personal thank you video message from the crew + 5 entries

$100+ = Early digital copy of completed film + 6 entries

(Each rewards tier also receives the previous tier rewards)

If you would prefer not to be credited for your donation then please let us know!

What’s in “The Perfect Movie Night” Hamper?

• 3 bottles of Scotchmans Hill Wine
• 6 pack of Mornington Peninsula Beer
• Selection of Cobs Popcorn

… the perfect recipe for a home movie marathon

The Crew

Meet our team:

Sam McGowan - Writer/Director

Heshi Wijerathna - Producer

Lawrence McCrabb - Director of Photography

Broderick McDonald - Editor

Noi Inthasan - Sound Supervisor

Zoe Francis - Production Designer/Costume 

And the rest of our talented crew: 

1st Assistant Director - Matt Bird

1st Assistant Camera - Prince Kanishk Nediyedath

2nd Assistant Camera - Marcus Mason

Gaffer - Francis Healy Wood

Best Boy - Alistair Green

Art Dept. Assistant - Lin Kerr

Production Assistant - Kasia Silva

Production Assistant - Aish Uddapanda

Continuity/BTS - Mischa Plant

Unit Manager - Michelle Keating

Stills - Isabelle Aimee

The Cast

Introducing our lead, Tom played by Indiana Williams:

Having trained at National Theatre, Brave Studios and Melbourne Actors Lab, Indi has featured in many projects including commercial work for Melbourne polytechnic, music videos with Nicole Millar, PEZ and 360 and an up coming special performance on Channel 7! 

...and the rest of our talented cast! 

Jake, played by Karl Richmond:

Karl is about to graduate from the Victorian College of the arts (VCA) with a Bachelor in Acting. He has featured in many short films for VCA including Medium (dir. David Park), web series Winging It (dir. Sarah Burrial). Catch him on stage in his last performance at VCA in Cosi, playing Lewis, and Desert 6:29AM as apart of the VCA Australian play readings. When not acting Karl enjoys beers, books and friends.

Jen, played by Mikhayla Dennis:

Mikhayla is currently studying full time acting at Howard Fine Studios. She’s worked on several short films and plays over the past two years. At the beginning of next, she is looking forward to the premier of a 30 minute slasher horror short which has just wrapped up shooting. Moreover, in March 2019 Mikhayla will be starring in an all female cast theatre production at MC showrooms.

Rebecca, played by Gemma Carfi:

Gemma is a Melbourne based actress and recent graduate from the Howard Fine Acting Studio. After an amazing year studying acting full time, she decided to try her hand at film making and is currently studying film at Swinburne University. Gemma is very excited to be working on her first professional Swinburne production and can't wait to be working with such a passionate team.

The Future 

We plan on entering this film into the short film festival circuit. We hope to share this story with as many audiences as possible, believing that Heaven will be a relatable and memorable short film. 

Thank You!

Heaven is a very special project to everyone involved. Queer coming of age cinema that celebrates love is on the up, but has been too rare in the past. You’re helping share important stories and make our filmmaking dreams come true. We’d love for you to join our journey on this very special project!

From the bottom of our collective hearts, Thank you from the Heaven crew!

In addition to the regular costs of film making (locations, equipment hire, festival entry and catering), a hefty portion of our budget is dedicated towards 16mm film. 

Filming on traditional celluloid film comes with additional challenges and costs such as processing, scanning and colour grading. Despite all of this, 16mm is a wonderful format for story telling and is no doubt worth every cent.