SAExREV: Guts & Glory: Financing Genre Films from the West

WA punches above it's weight in the arts, and yet, for genre filmmakers, it can feel like the smallest market. You've got the vision, but how do you fund elevated genre work when the decision-makers are 3,000+ kilometres away?

This panel brings together WA's most resourceful filmmakers alongside national industry voices who actually buy, program, and commission genre films. Together, we'll discuss the realities of independent film financing and the very real isolation of being a Perth-based producer in an East Coast-dominated conversation.

We'll dissect the difference between a film that plays well at a festival and a film that sells well internationally, and why the gap between those two is where most WA projects get stuck.

And we'll ask the uncomfortable question: what does a low-to-mid budget elevated genre film actually look like in 2026, and who in the world is buying them?

If you're an emerging filmmaker in Perth looking for your next step, then this is the talk you don't want to miss.

GUESTS:

Michael Facey (Filmmaker)

Kate Saparovich (Filmmaker)

Miley Tunnecliffe (Filmmaker)

Hudson Sowada (Dir: Fantastic Film Fest Australia / Umbrella Entertainment)

CHAIR:

Aaron McCann