Short film The Spa was funded in the last ever round of Metro Screen and Screen NSW's Breaks initiative.
After screening at the Sydney Film Festival’s Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films and the St Kilda Film Festival, The Spa made its international premiere last week at the Palm Springs International Shortfest.
Writer-director Will Goodfellow, a graduate of the 2014 AFTRS Master of Screen Arts program, travelled to Palm Springs with his film. He calls it a "a festival that truly values the filmmaker experience".
Starring Chris Haywood and Jay Laga’aia, the short is a "bittersweet comedy about the unusual bond that forms between a lonely retiree and the spa company employees who deliver his new spa".
For producer Lucy Gaffy, the success of the film is itself a bittersweet experience as the recent arts funding cuts have seen the closure of Metro Screen, the organisation wholly responsible for making The Spa possible.
“It is such a shame that Metro Screen is no longer with us to share in The Spa’s success. Its closure has left a crucial gap in the development pathways of Australia’s future screen practitioners and one that we will surely start to see the effect of in coming years.”
The Spa screened in the G'Day section of Palm Springs, alongside the likes of Matt Day’s Perry and Bryn Chainey’s Kill Your Dinner. The G'Day showcase is sponsored by the Australian Consulate General, G’day USA and Ausfilm.