BUILDING AN ETHICAL FILM PRODUCTION STUDIO

“Be the change you want to see.” – Gandhi

Growing up, my biggest dream was to become an actress. I had this vision of winning a prestigious award like the gold Logie (I know, I know, it sounds outdated now, but back then it meant the world to me). Despite my father’s disapproval, I was determined to “make it in the industry.” So, in 2012, I graduated from university with a bachelor’s degree in social science, majoring in criminology and sub-majoring in sociology (I know, quite the opposite in the arts, right? But hey, my journey was never meant to be easy).

It wasn’t until 2013, when I was 22 years old, that I finally could attend acting school. Excitement and pure joy filled me. This was the beginning of my journey to fulfill my dreams, or so I thought. The first year of acting school went smoothly. I attended my classes diligently, paid my fees as I went, and even took additional courses in business, believing that it would be beneficial for my acting career. I couldn’t see how anything could go wrong; after all, I’ve always been taught that hard work pays off and that we can achieve anything we set our minds to. So, I poured my heart and soul into my education. I prioritised attending every rehearsal, working part-time at the school to establish a connection with the artistic director, and absorbing all the knowledge I could that may lead to opportunities in the industry.

At the end of the year, we had a camp and an awards ceremony. To my delight, I won two or three awards for the best improvement. I saw this as a sign and used it as fuel for my second year. But other things that happened at the camp really had me questioning the artistic director’s behaviour and conduct. However, I tried to brush it off; I didn’t want to get invested in his drama, even though, by that stage, he was a father figure to me and I was his personal assistant, which meant I oversaw his text messages which made me more knowledgeable about his secrets than other students. However, I proceeded with my second year, choosing to overlook it. During that year, I made the daring decision to ask the director what he thought about me “making it” someday. Keep in mind that I am a young, aspirational, really sensitive, a little naïve, and extremely sheltered girl whose father didn’t support her dream of being an actor, and he was the school director, saying he’s my acting father. I wanted some encouragement and reassurance that I was on the right path. Instead, he turned around, looked me dead in the eyes, and said, “Look, Nicki, you are very talented in comedy and in drama, but you just don’t have the face for the screen.”

I’m not going to lie; my little eight-year-old self just broke inside. I felt absolutely shattered to know that it wasn’t my talent but, in fact, my looks that would prevent me from making it in the industry.

By my second year, my grades started to drop significantly. My third, fourth, and even fifth year, saw me develop a drinking habit as more personal parts of my life began to surface (something for another time).

Rumours continued to grow about the director of the school, that he was sleeping with students, which seemed to be unspoken and even sometimes boasted about amongst the students, and although no one spoke out or confronted the director, there was almost a complete consensus that it was fine, and as long as they wanted it, no one should say anything; “none of our business.” This made me even more rageful with his behaviour and hypocrisy, and yet I stayed?? Why? I was hoping to graduate and become the best actress I could be because he’d continually sit us down and convince us into believing that his teaching is the only true teaching to get us where we wanted to be.

I finally left the school in 2017 and began my healing process, which many didn’t understand I needed. “You left; who cares about what happened?” However, they didn’t spend over 60 hours a week with him, have him constantly in their ear, insult you, call you names, and humiliate you in classes that you paid for.

Oh! Payment-wise, this is the breakdown of working and studying with him. I started working for free for 6 months, worked my way to free classes and $5 an hour, and after several years there, I ended up with a maximum of $15 an hour, and at that rate, I paid for my classes again, as he was now paying me a “full wage” and couldn’t afford to let me have a “full wage” and classes for free. (For my US readers $5 an hour AUD is about $2.50-$3 USD an hour and after 4 to 5 years there I worked my way to $15AUD that’s about $8-10USD and thus had to pay for my $1500AUD ($977USD) every 8 weeks.)

In 2017, I started becoming aware of the ‘me too’ movement, which exposed the misconduct of individuals in the US industry. The stories didn’t surprise me. In an industry where status, money, and connections give you so much power, the vulnerable souls that desire to make their dreams come true only breed more cover-ups and silence from the people within so that they don’t lose their own status and place in the industry.

Today, I reflect over his words, his treatment towards me, and the value he attributed to my hard work, all while receiving so little pay, and I’m livered at how I let someone make me believe all this about myself and about my worth. But I realise that had I not been so desperate for approval, reassurance, and validation from a male father figure, this wouldn’t have happened. I now know that external approval means absolutely zilch and that your dream is YOURS and yours alone, and no one can tell you whether you can or can’t make it happen. It’s up to you to believe in yourself, not through the validation of others. Which is something I’m still working through, in my healing journey. As I continues to learn how this all relates to childhood traumas for daddy to love me, my intergenerational trauma on my mum’s side on how she was neglected and mistreatment by her parents and finally the historical trauma that still lives in many women throughout the generations of mistreatments by males towards women, particularly for me as a Greek-Cypriot woman who grew up believing her purpose is to always be under a man, that men know best, that they are the leaders and we are the followers, and so much more which I hope to bring to light through our future films.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE INDUSTRY

I’d like to believe Australia is more ethical on this topic, but I don’t know. This school is right here in Australia, and it continues to run today. While I haven’t been on professional sets, many of my friends and people from acting school who are in the industry or have ‘made it’ tell me, “Nicki, you have to play the game.” Basically, follow their rules and sacrifice your morals because the only ethics and morals that matter are the ones with the connections and money in the industry. Offend them, upset them, and your chances are out the door, and they’ll shut you out of the industry forever. This is even easier in Australia, as the industry is so much smaller and more connected.

When I understood Australia’s game, where you had to put on this façade that you’re all sunshine and roses, that everything is perfect, and that you’re so grateful to be in their presence, you couldn’t look at people as human beings and say that they were your equal. In fact, I had one person I met tell me, “I’m willing to kiss as many arses as I need to, so I can make it in the industry.” I thought to myself: working on a film is dedicating hundreds of hours to a project as a team. Do I want to work in an environment where no one is themselves, everyone is trying to please one another, and no one is saying what they feel? Of course, we may creatively have different viewpoints, and the director’s vision will have the final say, but that’s when it hit me: I didn’t want to work like this; I wanted to work with authentic people and create an encouraging environment, not just for growing film skills, but for creating an environment where we saw each individual grow as a human as well. That way, we learn and better ourselves instead of pretending to be perfect or subordinate, which will only inflate an ego while shrivelling another soul. That won’t help us grow nor give us space to learn and expand our thoughts and behaviours; instead, it creates hierarchy and competition.

Working on our ideal sets is about speaking freely, addressing people when we feel uncomfortable, including producers, and making space to not just have a loving and safe discussion about an issue but also to encourage the growth of our soul.

LEADING THE WAY TOWARDS A NEW ERA IN THE FILM INDUSTRY

This is one of the many reasons why I have initiated this fundraiser. I aspire to establish a film production that allows me to grow not only in my external and professional capacities as a producer, director, writer, and filmmaker, but also as an individual. I envision a workplace where we support and encourage one another to love ourselves and others.

Throughout my career, I have dedicated countless hours and endured exhausting shifts, often working over 20 hours a day for my superiors. But for what? A simple compliment on a job well done or a fleeting smile of approval. I do not want this for others. Instead, I yearn for an environment that empowers people to love themselves enough to say no to things like exploitation and to work diligently with reasonable breaks and shift blocks. I desire a place where everyone’s voice is heard without the fear of losing their job, and where we can grow ethically, morally, and spiritually, fostering a connection with a higher power (I call God).

To achieve this, we must deviate from the toxic standards that have plagued Hollywood, as many have previously exposed. Below, I have outlined some of the practices and beliefs that have been revealed, which I firmly believe contribute to the toxicity of the industry.

SOME OF HOLLYWOOD STANDARD PRACTICES:

• God is Taboo

• No Morals

• No Ethics

• Profit comes first

• Lying is ok if it’s getting you up the ranks

• Compromise truth to keep your job

• Stay silent about issues so you don’t interrupt the status quo

• Drugs and alcohol are glorified or normalised.

• Sycophantic relationships over real and deep relationships

SOME OF OUR VALUES:

• God must be present, people must desire a relationship with God (Higher power, Source, etc)

• Want to discover Gods Morals & Ethics

• Want to discover Gods Truth of topics, not what we feel is the truth or right.

• Willing to always put safety and wellbeing (Spiritual, Mental, and Physical) above profit

• Be open, transparent and honest

• Voice opinions, even in error, to keep dialogue open to resolve all issues, this means no gossiping.

FILMING:

• Value others, and do not use power and influence to do unethical things to others.
• Approach working hours for filming ethically; this includes: Not exceeding 8-10 hours a day

• Allowing proper rest without compromising wellbeing, self-love, or the love of others to get the film shot on time, with no exceptions. (I understand that this is already a rule, but many don’t follow it, and there is an exception clause where they can work overtime, just get paid more to be abused. This is not taking self-love into account)
• We propose that instead of hourly payments or a flat rate, we’ll seek volunteers only. In order to find those truly passionate about the project, and not just viewing it as a pay check job. However, volunteers will be given a percentage of what the film makes plus residuals once we find a way to make residuals work for all cast and crew, according to the amount of work each individual contributed to the film.
• The residual part of the plan still needs to be fully developed, but it is vital in enabling industry people to finally obtain passive income and enjoy the rewards that many actors, writers, producers, film productions, and some directors have reaped from their films.
• It must be clear that this is also how the directors and producers will be paid, keeping it fair across the board.
• The individuals that will be paid differently are the investors, who will be paid the amount they invested and up to a 20% one-off payment from the net profit of the first box office release and no residuals.

While we are growing and learning what a loving and ethical film industry looks like we’ll continue to add, change and adjust our practices to better everyone involved. This means we will add more as we forge ahead and take the steps to move the industry into a more loving and safer environment and a fairer payment system for all.

If you desire to be involved in a more ethical film industry as a professional, without the continue facade or if you’re just a movie-lover who has heard about the number of unloving behaviours in the film industry and desire to help change it.

Then please consider donating to our cause in starting-up this film production.  Every amount counts. Head to KO-FI to donate. For more information, head to our website BSE. 

Final Note: After writing this blog, I discovered a lot about my fear of talking about God. Which has inspire me for my next blog post topic: Talking about God. I’ll explore why I have always hesitated (and often still do) talking about God in the people outside my direct family (dad, mum and siblings) and hope to share what I discover about my own journey towards finding god, and growing a desire for a relationship with god. Stay tune, and hope you join me on my adventure towards, god, my passions and BSE stories that will hopefully inspire a desire for all of us to become better people. 

Please Note: While God holds utmost importance in our production, our stories are not solely faith-based. They will always contain the gentle whisper of God through hope, redemption, and instil moral and ethical values into our audience’s hearts. Our goal is to share these stories across a diverse range of genres, including sci-fi, crime, thriller, mystery, and family-oriented narrative.