In Depth with the Director - Greg Kelly

Tell us a little about yourself and your background in film making

I graduated from the Queensland School of Film & TV back in 2011 and since then I've been writing, directing and producing short films, music videos and such. Short film wise, stories about misfits and outcasts appeal to me, either comedy or drama, as long as they're decorated in oddness and honesty. Most recently Perfection won Best National Comedy at the Canberra Short Film Festival, so it feels to make people laugh too.

How did Perfection first come together as a project?

Perfection came about during one of those one hour walks during the 2020 lock down. It also coincided with a health scare I had at the time - perfect ingredients to get the creative brain brewing up scenarios. It's also a bit of reflection about what's important in life.

It's a wonderful combination of a dark topic with light hearted comedy. How did you strike the balance between aiming for pure laughs and exploring the emotions of the scenario?

I like to find humour in sadness. Not so much make fun of the situation, but more the people. Here I tapped into that relationship dynamic - how would these two different personalities handle a situation like this. I guess it's a disarm with humour and then deliver a meaningful message formula.

The process of making a film about making a film is fascinating, especially when doing so many takes of the same scene. How tightly scripted and directed were your 'outtakes' in the film?

We had a pretty tight script, but I love to allow time for some improv. I was very lucky to have Emma Drysdale and Seb Muirhead as our leads, and a lot of what you see in the film is them riffing. My favourite exchange between them “Hi Jessica, sorry I can't be there because I'm dead” Emma then disapprovingly replies in the background “Oh no, Adam”.

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?

Covid 19. We originally wanted to make this for a competition, but our lock down was extended and that dashed any hopes of meeting the deadline. But fortunately, it's taken on a new life as a festival traveller.

What projects are coming for you in the future?

I just finished another short recently called Hellbender – quite a personal short that explores failure, masculinity and imposer syndrome. In January we're shooting a drama short which I wrote and am currently producing.

Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?

Please go out and watch short films and support as many local film festivals as possible!