Tony Radevski is an independent Australian writer, director, producer, and artist. Owner and Creative Director of RNTM: Runtime Pictures, Tony started in documentary, directing The Prodigal Son for SBS. Funded by Screen Australia and Screen NSW, it screened internationally and won Best Short Documentary at 2006 IF Awards and Most Popular Film at Flickerfest. Other documentaries include Broken (Sydney Film Festival), Part One: Love (nominated for Best Short Documentary at the St Kilda Short Film Festival 2013). He produced and co-illustrated the animated documentary Chip, which won an AFI/AACTA ‘Social Shorts’ Award in 2015. His collaboration with producer Pete Ireland, titled ‘Risen’, is nominated for five awards at this month’s FirstGlance Film Festival. We had the pleasure to speak to him about the film, his career, and more!
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. How did you get involved in the film industry?
I studied filmmaking at university and made some awful films there. The kind you work really hard to get into the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) and then work equally as hard to remove five years later. During my studies, I took on lots of technical roles, like camera and editing. Mostly because my ideas were never chosen for production (they were dreadful).
When I left, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was super inspired by my documentary classes and, at the time, there was some drama going down in my family (long-short of it: my uncle hadn’t spoken to his son for 15 years because he is gay. My auntie spent her time caught in the middle, trying her best to be a committed wife to a stern Eastern European husband, and a loving mother to a queer son. My uncle got some news about his health that wasn’t so great, and he realized (albeit very slowly) that time was running out… so he reached out to his son again). I was so fortunate that they were open to me documenting their journey, one that eventually turned out to be a half-hour documentary for TV, titled The Prodigal Son . Mind you, I was closeted myself during the three years I followed their story, which added its own complexities.
So that was my first “official” start in the industry. I then played around with some animation projects, and later, fiction work. Thank goodness my ideas, and my writing got better!
What was the emotional drive to becoming a writer/director and working in the industry?
My initial drive was to tell good visual stories, which is pretty obvious, kinda dumb, and basic. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve really settled into my own identity – accepted my sexuality, familial relationships, and heritage – which I felt oppressed by for most of my young adult life. These areas were always in opposition and could never exist concurrently.
This acceptance majorly impacted my point of view as a writer/director too. I am now passionate about telling stories that explore my heritage in a modern context and speak to my experiences with confidence and objective criticism. My work has since become stronger, and more personal.
Looking back, I think I started in documentary because I was afraid to tell my own stories. I loved the connectivity of visual storytelling, but I found it much easier to portray the drama of others’ lives. It is only in recent times that I have begun to pursue fiction, reinforced by my selection at Berlinale Talents (Berlin Film Festival) in 2017. This experience shifted things for me professionally and personally, and my path became clearer. Since then, all of my stories have drawn on the previously hidden elements of my own life (from sexuality to cultural patriarchy/misogyny, to familial drug addiction and abuse, to mental health).
I have reached a point where I can use these experiences (even if it has been selfishly therapeutic!) to develop stories that are impactful and compelling, and can challenge perceptions and create change. My stories champion diversity and highlight the complicated/intersectional nature of familial and personal relationships. My stories promote understanding and empathy and build bridges between opposing views. I strive to have audiences meet in the middle.
Who are your biggest influences?
First and foremost, the biggest influences are the women in my life… from my mother, to my sisters and aunties, to my friends. In terms of industry influences, there are too many to list. But I will say, I love creatives who break the patriarchy, who make films in the face of injustice and unbelievable obstacles. People who weren’t given a platform or a silver spoon and broke through by pure determination and passion. I love storytellers who create personal narratives which also have something to say about the world… who are critical about their subject matter and understand the importance of nuanced storytelling.
Please tell us more about your collaboration with Pete Ireland and Opening Act Films?
Pete has produced many of my projects over the last ten years. We started on a little doco a decade ago, and have since worked our way through to high-end, high concept drama. We’ve managed to have some pretty awesome filmmaking adventures, and collaborated with a bunch of super talented creatives. We also both like celebrating with a drink at the smallest of victories, so I’d say that makes us pretty compatible.
You wrote and directed the short film ‘Risen’, which previously won ‘Best Sci-Fi’ at the Oscar-accredited LA Shorts Fest and is nominated for five awards at the FirstGlance Los Angeles Film Festival. Please tell us more about the film and what viewers can expect?
‘Risen’ is a story about Sean and Lusi, who exist in a world overrun by the epidemic of a drug called RIZE, which makes your body float off the ground. It’s a proof-of-concept short film that I developed the film at Berlinale Talents Script Station, an initiative of the Berlin Film Festival, and it was very kindly supported by Screen Australia.
‘Risen’ does not follow a traditional narrative structure. Instead, the film presents TIME in a more disjointed way, hopefully unsettling the viewer. I want the audience to feel like they themselves have taken RIZE and are moving at a pace, trying to figure things out… putting the pieces together along the way.
One of the award categories the film has been selected for is ‘Most Imaginative Film’.Please tell us more about your creative process, from a project’s conception to the final edit.
Many of my ideas are drawn from personal experience or imagining ‘what if’ in a situation that I’ve experienced. In this instance, for ‘Risen’, I had a close friend who had a drug addiction but presented as functional. Few knew about his habit and I kept it a secret for a long while, out of respect for him. The impact of it was slow and insidious. Eventually, I confronted them and it didn’t go to plan (our relationship is still tense). The experience got me thinking, “what if drug use was something that you couldn’t hide… something visual and unavoidable, that society would have no option but to address”. The concept for ‘Risen’ was born.
This was about 6 years ago. I carved out about a week of time and locked myself away to write. I finished the first draft of the script, which wasn’t amazing but had the heart of the journey and my main character. I sketched out a few images from the world, to help me visually place my character.
I entered the script into the Short Film Script Station at Berlinale Talents, and it was selected for development. This happened pre covid, so I was able to travel to Berlin and collaborate with some wonderful creatives from around the world. I developed the script further through workshops and tackled another draft. At the time, my collaborator, Pete Ireland, and I were looking at opportunities for funding, and there was a Screen Australia fund dedicated to developing proof of concept films for features and TV series. So…. I worked on the script again, with a view to showcasing the potential of a bigger world, one for TV. Which meant a larger scope, and a few more characters, without sacrificing the protagonist’s journey.
We secured the funding and assembled a crew of ultra-talented creatives… a DOP, a production and costume designer, VFX team, and began to build out the world. As there was a load of visual effects in the film, we had to do lots of tests, in front of make-shift greenscreens.
When you work with committed and talented cast and crew, your film takes on a life all its own. The passion and skill everyone brings to the script gives it a life far beyond my imagination… the nuances, details, texture, DNA… all of that good stuff!
We shot it within a week, including one day of green screen, dangling our actors on wires!
Then in post, my editor and I cut two versions. The straight narrative, which we loved… then a more disjointed one, which we both felt embodied the tone, and felt appropriate, given the nature of the film. Our wonderful sound designers and composer created a unique aural world, one that was both beautiful and frightening. Then a considered color grade, shading the very different worlds of the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’ within ‘Risen’, sealed the film.
What advice would you give young filmmakers starting their careers in the industry?
If you’re a writer, try visualizing your work. How does it translate to screen? Not every director needs to be a writer and vice versa. If you feel like you don’t have something specific to say, but possess the spark of a visual storyteller, play play play! Grab a camera, even your phone camera, and shoot a scene with friends, edit it, add music. Learn the ropes. There are a heap of apps and YouTube videos that can help along the way. Learn about the “rules” of filmmaking so you can break them. Watch a heap of films, new films, older ones.
Think about the films you like watching… why do you like them? What makes them special to you? Enter your work into local film festivals to start, and test the waters. As terrifying as it can be, it’s great to get audience feedback. Some talented filmmakers leap out of the gate with their premiere work while others simmer, make mistakes, and learn. Everyone’s path is different, both creatively and in terms of ambition. Don’t mimic anybody or compare yourself to others’ successes. Enjoy the journey.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am developing the TV series for ‘Risen’, which is pretty exciting! I am also writing a few feature films that have been whirling around in my head over the last few years.
Where can readers find out more about you?
You can check out my website: www.rntm.com.au and connect with me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/tony_rad.
Images provided courtesy of Tony Radevski and Pete Ireland
About Author
