Mark Edwards, Sarah Jayne, Cory Corbett, Ivan Malekin, Andrew Walsh, Tom Vogel, special thanks! Monthly film festivals Comfy Shorts and West Side Shorts, and annual film extravaganza Made in Melbourne Film Festival were also direct inspirations for the Connect Film Festival.

Special thanks to Mark Edwards who stepped in like superman on the day, and, watching me flail in the A/V booth, with grace and humour took over 100% of the A/V duties on the night. Mark is an exceptional sound professional well-known in the Melbourne indie film community. That he voluntarily hid away in the A/V booth during this event in order to help me out means more than I can express. And what was even better is that he did so with goofball humour that included making fish faces with Photo Booth on big screens during the intermission!

Special thanks as well to Sarah Jayne, who offered help continuously and when I finally accepted her offer only hours before the event stepped in like a gracious midnight elf and transformed the remaining duties with grace, style and panache. She responded to everything from helping me frame “official selection” awards to strategising a voting system that was less insanely complicated than the one I arrived at the venue with– a form that looked much like the infamous “butterfly ballot” that resulted in the most ridiculously confused results in U.S presidential history. She managed to streamline the logistics of Connect Film Festival while gracing the room with her gorgeously stylish presence, and later answering questions about her stunning Directorial Debut, Dusk, as well as several other films to which she brought her experienced stylist vision to Art Direction.

You can connect with Sarah Jayne’s work at: https://www.facebook.com/sarahjayne.visualartist?fref=ts  in addition to the information about Dusk elsewhere on the Connect Film Festival site. Or, as always, feel free to contact me for a connection at: connectfilmfestival@gmail.com

Andrew Walsh, Tom Vogel and Ivan Malekin also gracefully stepped in during the event and helped out with everything. Ivan and Sarah Jayne also helped provide a triple-checked vote count!

Without Cory Corbett and Ally Riches this idea may not have even occurred. They have wildly encouraged my most tentative interests in pursuing filmmaking, and offered great creative and professional support.