Maltese film-maker Luke Zammit.

A Maltese man has taken to the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to raise funds for his short film to be produced in America for his thesis project as part of a Master of Fine Arts in film production at the Full Sail University.

Moviemaking is not new to 25-year-old Luke Zammit, who has been making short films and other video projects since he was 14. One of his early projects was a 50-minute film called War Zone, which he made with the help of around 40 of his school friends.

When War Zone was done, they rented and sold out a 300-seat cinema at the Eden complex.

That project was followed up two years later with a full feature film called Dark Alliance. An even bigger theatre was rented for the screening of this film, which was once again sold out.

As Mr Zammit’s studies progressed further, he turned to shorter films due to the limited time available to him.

Now studying at the Full Sail University in Florida, Mr Zammit has already made three short films and worked on many others in different roles.

The short films he has worked on this year have already been entered into a number of festivals including the Orlando FilmSlam, the Rome Cinema DOC festival, the Los Angeles Cinefest and numerous Maltese film festivals.

His latest film will be the first time Mr Zammit directs in a professional environment.

The crew will be composed of 60 fellow students, and industry grade equipment will be used.

The film, Magic Mouse, is about a downtrodden office worker who gains the ability to manipulate the environment around him using his mouse cursor.

The budding director is currently busy raising funds for the film. The university has provided his team with a budget of $2,000 and all the necessary film equipment, which alone would have cost $20,000 to rent.

A screenshot from his Indiegogo campaign.

I am very happy with the talent we have on board for the project.They took the script and really brought the characters to life

An Indiegogo campaign has been launched, raising $4,600 from Mr Zammit’s friends, family and fellow students.

Apart from sourcing funding for the film, Mr Zammit discovered that finding filming locations and actors for Magic Mouse was harder than expected.

The prospect of leasing office space to students to shoot a short film for four days was a hard pitch to real estate owners, he says.

Eventually someone with the ideal space who showed interest in the project was found and brought on board.

Laws and a lack of financial incentives mean very few films are actually shot in Florida and finding actors was a struggle. After two nine-hour casting calls and a number of call-backs, Mr Zammit says he finally struck gold.

“I am very happy with the talent we have on board for the project. They took the script and really brought the characters to life,” Mr Zammit said.

The production of Magic Mouse will continue over the next four months. “We are currently in the pre-production stage, preparing all the necessary arrangements before we go into production next month.

“This will be followed by two months of post-production for editing, visual effects, sound and colour,” Mr Zammit explained.

The film is not a mere university project that will be left to gather dust once completed.

Magic Mouse will be distributed to many film festivals globally. Mr Zammit is aiming for the production to be selected for the most prestigious tier-one festivals around the world.

His university is permitted to submit to the Emmy and BAFTA student short film categories.

The film already has an online following, with its Facebook page already reaching 700 likes. The film also has a dedicated website and Instagram account.

Magic Mouse will be released on Vimeo following its time on the film festival circuit.

http://Magicmousefilm.com

http://Facebook.com/magicmousefilm

http://Instagram.com/magicmousefilm

About Luke Zammit

Born in February 1992, Mr Zammit earned a degree in computer science and artificial intelligence at the University of Malta, followed by a master’s degree in telecommunications.

Filmmaking was an ongoing passion and hobby for Mr Zammit growing up.

Spending a year in America has allowed him to hone his craft. “It has been my dream ever since I picked up a camera,” he said.