Robert Baird has announced his short film Drafted, won an award for ‘Best Film’ last week, at the Western Australia Screen Academy’s 2021 Gala.
Robert grew up in Harden and worked as a journalist at The Harden Express 14 years ago, before continuing his career as a journalist working in broadcast and print media.
He now lives in Western Australia, working as a part-time newsreader, freelance journalist and a new director on the Perth film scene, all while completing a Masters of Screen Studies at Edith Cowen University.
The Western Australia Screen Academy Gala show-cased seven short films produced by students, to a sold-out crowd, with Drafted being named the academy’s best short film of the year.
The cast and crew said that they were overwhelmed with the response, and grateful to have had the opportunity to share it with the world.
Robert told The Times that he was ‘stoked’ when his first ever film received an award.
“I have never actually made a film before. It is a pretty tough transition really going from media into film making,” he said.
Drafted explores the gala’s 2021 theme of Rise Up, by following the story of aspiring artist, Mark who is drafted into the National Service during the Vietnam War and is forced to make a life-changing decision.
“He has to make a decision between his ideals as a young 20-year-old and his family honour, which is within the military,” Robert explained.
“The film explores moratorium and conscription as opposing forces, and how they tore families apart,” he said.
Around 30 people worked on the production of Drafted, with $6,000 fundraised for some basic expenses.
The Drafted team struggled to produce their short film during Perth’s second lockdown, and Robert said that the COVID-19 restrictions limited their time to put the film together.
“We got it shot in four days. It was not a lot of time. We really hustled to get it out,” he said.
The film debuted at the gala and is expected to be featured in various film festivals throughout the county in the near future.
Rebecca More
