By Amanda Diaz
The frustrated businessman battling his artistic urges is almost a cliché.
Entrepreneur Ben Kumanovski has found a way to balance the corporate with the creative.
“I know a lot of people that are either left brain or right brain,” he says.
“But I like to get involved in both parts. If you don’t work on the business side, there won’t be any creative projects to work on.”
After graduating from JMC Academy in 2006 with a Bachelor of Communications majoring in Digital Television Production, Kumanovski founded video production company called Global Pictures at the age of 24.
“I figured I could either go and try to find a job in the industry, or I could do something different.”
Having grown up in Wollongong, Kumanovski had enough contacts through family connections to begin generating work.
At first, Global Pictures was run out of home, but a year later they had their own office.
“I guess we were a bit lucky,” he admits.
Since their humble beginnings, the production company has expanded- their list of clients includes Toyota and BHP Billiton.
But it has only been this year that Kumanovski has had the chance to tap into his more artistic side, the reason he “got into it in the first place.”
The company’s first creative project was shot earlier this year.
Their short film Storm in a Teacup was inspired by Tim Burton’s recent interpretation of Alice in Wonderland.
It follows a runaway bride’s encounter with a quirky collection of characters at a tea party and features Sydney based actors including Kumanovski’s younger sister Jessica and Australian Idol alumnus Axle Whitehead.
Sparked by Burton’s version of Wonderland, the film was shot almost entirely on green screen.
“We had this huge green and we only ever did corporate work on it,” Kumanovski says, who wrote and directed the film.
For a production that relied so heavily on modern technology, the crew went out of their way to ensure the setting appeared timeless.
“We wanted to give it a golden, old fashioned look,” says Kumanovski.
“You don’t see an ounce of technology.”
The film has been entered in a number of festivals including Sundance.
Global Pictures aims to embark on more creative projects in the future; Kumanovski recently entered a trailer in Movie Extra’s Webfest competition.
Part of the reason he enjoys juggling corporate and artistic ventures is because of the variety it offers.
“It’s great to be able to do something different everyday,” he says.