About Bunny
Lainey is an 8 year old girl who lives inside a fantasy cottage with her best friend, Bunny. Everyday, they play, have tea parties and read fairytales.
One day, Mr. Fox comes to the door and tries to lure Lainey out of the cottage to a place beyond the woods by promising to show her the truth. Lainey, brimming with curiosity wants to follow Mr. Fox beyond the woods, but is prevented by Bunny's outbursts and manipulation.
Because of this, Lainey's fantasy begins to crumble; her world turns cold and dark as reality starts to seep in, and she chooses to leave the cottage and Bunny behind.
Lainey follows Mr. Fox and comes face to face with the terrible reality that lies beyond the woods.
Why Support Us?
Bunny is a short film that will form the capstone of our Bachelor of Film and Television at Bond University. As our graduation film, we will be looking to use this project to showcase our skills and talents at a number of local and international film festivals, and hopefully to assist us in launching our careers in the industry. We are passionate film makers who want to make sure our work is of the highest quality and to do that we need your help to make our dreams a reality. Without the required funding, our production won't be of the standard that we are striving for and we want Bunny to be the best that it can possibly be. Your contributions will mean the difference between us making a good film and making a truly incredible film.
What We are Asking For
Our team has tried to keep costs to a minimum and all of our crew are volunteering their time and effort. But making a film, even a short film still costs money, and that's where you can help.
We need a total of $10K to cover our filming, equipment hire, location hire, casting, catering, set design, costume, props, and post production costs. We would be extraordinarily appreciative of any contributions you can make to assist us in reaching our goal.
What Your Contribution Gets You
We really appreciate your support and contributions to help us make our amazing short film, Bunny. We want to make sure that through your contribution, you get to share our journey and experiences and become an extended part of the team. We have put together a range of perks that we hope will do just that. We have everything from a simple shout out, through to exclusive updates, signed posters, film credits, an invite to the cast and crew screening of Bunny, and Associate Producer and Executive Producer Credits. Obviously, some of those perks, like credits and invites to the cast and crew screening will not be available until after the film is complete. Rest assured however, you will receive all of the perks promised to you for your contribution, and we will keep you up-to-date with estimated delivery times for any perk that can't be delivered immediately.
Not interested in the perks and just want to make a contribution to our campaign? Just click on the 'Back It' button on the top right hand side of the page and you can just nominate the amount you would like to contribute
Our Fabulous Crew:
Caitlin McGann - Writer/Producer
Hailing from Western Sydney, Caitlin is currently in her fifth semester of Bond University's Bachelor of Film and Television. She has a keen interest in writing that stems from her life-long love of books, and is an aspiring Producer/1st AD. While she has had no previous experience with producing prior to commencing her studies, she has taken to the role quickly and was awarded First in Class for the Producing 1 subject as part of her studies. Caitlin is highly organised and dedicated, not afraid of taking on large and demanding workloads. As a perfectionist, she holds herself and those around her to extremely high standards. The combination of these traits and skills will ensure that the project is completed to the highest possible standard, and will be delivered on time and on budget.
Writer/Producer's Statement:
My original inspiration for writing Bunny was my research into American Insane Asylums during the 1950's. Upon writing the script, I realised that the internal journey of Lainey was a far more interesting subject matter than her treatment. At its core, Bunny focuses on two issues that I am deeply passionate about: Escapism and Domestic Violence. Bunny takes the standpoint that the confrontation of truth is the end of innocence.
Lucy Hazel - Director
Based on the Gold Coast, Lucy is currently in her 5th semester at Bond University and thrives with creativity. Her first role as a Director was a high school theatre production that was praised due to its originality and twist. Since then, she has aspired to use her creative skills and apply them in the film industry. Lucy has know that she's wanted to pursue a career in film since grade 10, when she took her first film studies class. There was something so natural in the way she understood it. In 2013, she won an award in high school for Best Group Production. She hopes to build upon this knowledge and experience to ensure that Bunny has and equally successful result.
Directors Statement:
When I first read Bunny I immediately became attached to it. There was something about it that I could relate to. Growing up, fairytales were a huge part of my childhood, and these tales have taught me valuable lessons over the years; the most important being that not every story has a happy ending. The screenwiter and I are close friends and have worked together on other projects before. With this film, my goal is to capture that fairytale innocence through Lainey as the majority of the film's action is in her mind. Seeing her father's violence towards her mother has corrupted her innocence and she attempts to suppress this by hiding in her head and searching for happy endings. Lainey soon realises however that life's not a fairytale.
Rhys Jones - Director of Photography
Beginning his studies in 2015, Rhys has worked on several university projects as both a grip and best boy. As a result, he has grown a passion for cinematography, and wants to convert that passion to his first major role as DoP. Rhys will draw upon experiences from university films, TVCs, Documentaries, and his work as a freelance Videographer for weddings, concerts and company seminars. This experience will aid him in achieving the best look for the film.
Thomas Evans - Special/Visual Effects
Thomas is a 5th semester student at Bond University and has worked as a supervisor of VFX for multiple Bond University grad films over the past two years. He won the Overall Winner for BUFTA 2014 and has an extensive background in stop-motion animation. He has been consistently making short films since the age of 12 for his youtube channel "forlorncreature" which has gained over 18 million total views. His background in animation and out-of-the-box thinking lends itself to bringing life to the non-human characters of Bunny.
Our Amazing Characters and Cast
Isabella De Carlo as Lainey
Sweet and innocent, Lainey is an 8 year old girl who looks at life like a fairytale.
Isabella is 10 years old. She has studied acting with NIDA and Australian School of Performing Arts, Film & TV since 2013. She has studied all genres of dance including CSTD Theatrical Performing Arts with Theatre & Dance since the age of 3, and receives vocal coaching from Renee Emery and Janette Kircher. Isabella's interest in the arts has grown into her true passion and her skills continue to grow with experience. She is so excited to be cast in the lead role of 'Lainey' for this film and is thrilled to be working with such a dedicated and professional director and film crew.
Sienna Johnston as Bunny
Imaginary friend and favourite stuffed toy, Bunny will do anything to keep Lainey locked in the cottage and away from the truth.
Sienna is a 9 years old. Her journey into acting only began 11 months ago with an offer of a role in the TV mini series 'We Were Tomorrow' to be aired in 2017. She has since been cast for numerous short film and television roles. She has also been involved in an Anti Film Piracy campaign to be released and judged in late 2016. In recent times she has been offered roles in the Australian feature films 'Into Black' and 'Dunamis' Sienna aims to make a name for herself in Australia and has her sights firmly set on Hollywood. She is really looking forward to the challenge of recording the voice over role for Bunny.
James Fitchett as Mr. Fox
Mysterious and sly, Mr. Fox wants to lure Lainey out of the cottage and guide her back to reality.
James graduated from Bond University with a Bachelor of Film and Television and is currently undergoing a Masters of Philosophy and Film. He has worked on various commercials, short films and features behind and in front of the camera. He currently works for Southern Cross Austereo as an announcer for the radio stations Sea FM and Gold FM.
Bunny Teaser
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand if you are unable to donate to our project but by spreading the word about Bunny, you can still make an extremely valuable contribution to help us achieve our goals and make an amazing short film.
So Tweet it, Facebook it, Instagram it, Tumblr it, or just plain old tell your friends about it!
Every little bit helps us to achieve our target so we can make Bunny the best it can possibly be.
https://www.facebook.com/BunnyShort-Film
https://twitter.com/BunnyShortFilm
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/bunnyshortfilm
https://instagram.com/p/BMKbbprDP3t/
Thank you so very much for all support and best wishes.
Team Bunny!