Renovating Swallow Cottage grew out of something of a midlife crisis — both a creative one (why haven’t I made a long-form work? I need to make a feature film before I die!) and a more existential one - looking ahead towards mortality and thinking about what we fear about death, what we value in life, and what we hope to leave behind.

At the same time, DIY renovation YouTube channels had somehow infused themselves into my brain, and I realised they could be a great device for a found-footage horror story - a family films themselves renovating an old cottage for their fledgling online channel, but inadvertently begins filming a haunting.

The decision to make a found-footage film was partly pragmatic, it’s a genre that can be achieved on a very low budget, but I was also excited by its potential to be raw, spontaneous and intimate, and less confined by the rules of traditional filmmaking. We approached the project in that genuine spirit of low-budget filmmaking - embracing the resources, people and happy accidents we had at hand. We used just three principal actors and one extraordinary location, which itself began shaping the story. We discovered the cottage was full of swallow nests, so the swallows found their way into the mythology of the film. We used props, costumes and technical gear we already owned and allowed those limitations to become part of the creative process.

It’s also my first feature film as a writer, director and producer. After making many shorts and web series, this is my chance to take a big creative leap into long-form storytelling, alongside a small, passionate and talented Tasmanian team. It gives all of us the opportunity to build skills, gain feature-film credits and create something ambitious from the resources available to us here. Most of all, we want to make a distinctly Tasmanian film that can fly out into the world and find an audience.

We’ve made the movie. $25,000 can help us finish it.

Principal photography is complete. We managed to get this far through the extraordinary generosity of our cast, crew and supporters, and a small production budget contributed to by around 100 crowdfunding donors. We now have a 90-minute assembly of the film - it exists!

We are now seeking $25,000 to go towards getting Renovating Swallow Cottage through post-production and out into the world. The funds raised will go directly towards picture editing, sound design, colour grading, visual effects, music and final mastering/deliverables.

Every donation brings us closer to a completed film that can be submitted to international festivals, be seen and enjoyed by audiences in Australia and beyond, and become part of the legacy of Tasmanian storytelling.

Rebecca Thomson is an award-winning Tasmanian filmmaker whose work moves joyfully between documentary, comedy and horror. Drawn to stories that balance mischief with emotional honesty, she delights in monsters, the grotesque and the uncanny as playful ways of exploring the wonderfully messy business of being human.

Her films include Cupcake: A Zombie Lesbian Musical, The Jelly Wrestler, Women Of The Island, There Is No “I” In Island and horror short A Green Affair, which just last year screened internationally and received awards including Best Short Horror at Tucson TerrorFest, Best Editing at FilmQuest and a Special Mention at Grimmfest.

Rebecca is also an active member of Tasmania’s filmmaking community, having been involved with various committees, events, and supporting opportunities for other filmmaker and women working in screen. Renovating Swallow Cottage is her first feature film as writer, director and producer — and the biggest creative leap of her career so far. If you’re going to have a midlife crisis, you may as well make a horror film out of it!

www.rebeccathomson.com.au