In a Newtown populated by vegetables, one awkward Onion struggles to blend in at a party of much cooler, younger veggies.

Interview with with co-directors Christopher Burke, Hannah Bath and Mikey Owen

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

We’re three friends - a writer, a producer, and an animator - who planned to make a fun kids cartoon but ended up with a bunch of socially inept vegetables living in Newtown. I guess you write what you know.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Have you ever been to a party and struggled to fit in? Well you should relate. Also, you’ll learn a valuable lesson about ‘Pinot before grass’.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film explores identity, sexuality, the gap between Gen X and Gen Y and poses the age old question; can a vegetable ripen twice?

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

After we knew what sort of show we wanted to make, we spent a big afternoon brainstorming until we had a shape we all liked. Then Chris went away and wrote a rough draft and brought it back to the group. After several rounds of feedback and a few more drafts, we ended up with a shooting script we were all happy with.

We gave our super talented actors the freedom to improvise a bit in the booth and it led to some real nuggets of gold. In post, we were lucky enough to work with Shane Vancuylenberg, from We Love Jam Studios, on sound design/foley and with Helen Grimley on the score.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We’ve asked friends and family for feedback, and they all seem to enjoy the idea of vegetables with social problems. We were worried that some of the more graphic scenes of veggies in compromising situations might be confronting for some, but nobody’s complained. Yet.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The feedback has been positive so far, so we’ve effectively learned nothing. Waiting for the critics to rip us a new one!

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Our friends are sick of hearing us talk about Going Vego, so it’s time to move onto a wider audience!

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

At the moment we’re developing the short film into a longer run series - there’s lots more vegetable groups to explore in Newtown. We’ll do our best to find some funding for the series then, hopefully, go make it. And if/when we do, we’ll be looking for loads more collaborators across the board.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

We hope people laugh, cry, and never look at a chilli the same way again.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

What’s the difference between Gen X and Gen Y?

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

The three of us are developing Going Vego into a comedy series, so you can like the Going Vego page on Facebook for future news on that one. Chris is also currently developing a comedy series called CatGod with the help of Scripted Ink. Hannah is also an actor, and performs improvised comedy around Sydney. And Mikey is an animator on the rise, flirting with the idea of one day drawing fruit.

Interview: February 2017

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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Going Vego

In a Newtown populated by vegetables, one awkward Onion struggles to blend in at a party of much cooler, younger veggies.

Length: 7mins

Co-directors Christopher Burke, Hannah Bath and Mikey Owen

Writer: Christopher Burke

Producer: Hannah Bath

Animator: Mikey Owen

Key cast: Guy Edmonds, Sam 'Bazooka' Campbell, Shubha, Hannah Bath, Edan Lacey

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):

Funders: self-funded

Where can I see it in the next month?

Tropfest Australia, 11 Feb