Local Director Kaleb McKenna recently visited the College to present to our Year 11 and 12 Media General Production and Analysis classes. Kaleb is a Perth-based writer-director with a flair for fast-paced, heartfelt comedies.

His first funded short film Setting Them Straight made its world premiere at the Palm Springs Film Festival before screening on ABC iView. His follow-up short I Said Nothing won best Screenplay at both the WA Unlocked and Next Gen Film Festivals.

In the long-form arena, Kaleb co-wrote ten episodes of the Screen Australia-funded footy web series Four Quarters, which was produced by WBMC. Kaleb was also the second unit director of the feature films Top Knot Detective and Koko: A Red Dog Story.

Kaleb spoke to our students about what it is like being a director and writer, and the various roles and skillsets required to make shorts and feature films in the industry. He related his early career experiences, his breakouts as an emerging director, and working in the Australian media landscape as a writer.

Students were treated to an inside look at his planning and scriptwriting documentation for an in-progress work and were able to get a feel for practical processes such as screen testing and pre-production techniques.

Our students engaged with Kaleb on a range of topics and learnt more about how he became a director, his practical experiences within the industry, and how to work with special effects artists and other film professionals.

What a fantastic experience for our students – we thank Kaleb for his visit to the College and look forward to following his works in progress.