Welcome to yTeamer’s Supporting yTeamers !
Our new blog is a way that our community can stay connected with each other and stay updated with all the initiatives, projects, campaigns, and other cool things our yTeam are getting up to. It’s also where you can find out the best ways to support these yTeamers on their endeavours. In this month’s edition we’re featuring ‘Girls With a Curfew’, from Maybelline San Juan in SA and ‘Boxing Day’ short film from Leigh Schilling in VIC. We asked them to answer some questions so that you can learn a bit more about how everything started, what their challenges have been, and how you can support them!
Girls With a Curfew (GWAC)- Maybelline San Juan, SA yTeamer
A dreamy car conversation that transpired into a tangible business. We wanted youthful, diverse voices in the media. So rather than waiting for a seat at the table, we built our own. GWAC is a platform for elevating BIPOC voices within Adelaide’s creative bubble. We’re here to change the narrative about Lil’ Ol’ Adelaide by showcasing and celebrating all things Lifestyle, Fashion, Culture & Events.
What do you love about the yLead community and why do you keep contributing and connecting?
I love that by joining in on the yLead community you’re connected with hundreds of like-minded yet diverse individuals. We all bond over the fact that we’ve experienced the yLead magic and go on to create the same experiences for the upcoming young leaders. I will always keep contributing because yLead is my family and the positivities that you give, returns to you twofold.
What is your ultimate goal? You know, the big one, if failure is no option? Dream big, we are here to support you!
Personally, I would love for GWAC to produce shows for festivals. It would definitely begin small scale at the Adelaide Fringe and the SALA festival but ultimately would love to tour productions across Australia.
Similarly, Tamara would love GWAC to produce written publications and have articles featured in magazines both small scale like Frankie, and large scale like VOGUE.
We also want to take GWAC on tour not only around Australia but also around the world. New York is definitely on our vision board, and we are manifesting this every day
What is the biggest win that you have had?
Having our friends being instantly so supportive and embracing of our idea. They have been our biggest cheerleaders and without even launching, got us to 100 followers, which sounds small, but is so significant to us.
Tell us what inspired you to start your project?
As all good ideas do, ‘Girls with a Curfew’ or ‘GWAC’ was born out of a dreamy car conversation between my best friend (of 15 years!) Tamara and I. What began as uni talk quickly transpired into trying to navigate our place as young, filipino women in our field of the creative industries. We were both beginning to make a name for ourselves in our respective spaces, Tamara in journalism, and myself in festivals. We didn’t see ourselves in the media, so rather than waiting for a seat at the table, we decided to build our own.
GWAC is a platform for elevating BIPOC voices within the creative industries. We’re here to change the narrative about Lil’ Ol’ Adelaide by showcasing and celebrating all things Lifestyle, Fashion, Culture & Events.
What has been the biggest challenge (so far) that you have faced?
As we’ve only just launched our biggest challenge was just coming up with our name and branding. But we do anticipate juggling consistent content creation with uni and between the both of us, our 6 jobs, as the biggest challenge.
What is something that this whole process has taught you?
Two is greater than one. I always knew that Tamara and I would work together in a creative capacity and rather than waiting for an opportunity to we’ve created something that is so perfectly tailored to who we are and how we work. There’s a sense of safety and confidence when we work together, which we wouldn’t have if working alone.
How can we support you?
It’s as simple as following us on social media! The small actions of dropping a like and a comment on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook makes the biggest difference.
Check out the GWAC Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/girlswithacurfew
From there, you can access all other socials such as TikTok, Facebook and more where you can share their content, give it a like, and stay up to date with the cool stuff they get up to!
‘Boxing Day’ Short Film – Leigh Schilling, VIC yTeamer
I’m the writer/director of a short film called Boxing Day, shooting at the end of February! It’s my graduate project for uni, the culmination of my last four years of learning.
What do you love about the yLead community and why do you keep contributing and connecting?
I love how diverse the community is, and also the shared belief that everyone has in the power of the experiences we provide. It’s rare to get a group of people who differ so widely in experience but are so like-minded, supportive and committed.
What is your ultimate goal? You know, the big one, if failure is no option? Dream big, we are here to support you!
This film is ultimately my stepping stone into the industry post-uni, so I’m aiming for it to screen at as many festivals and reach as many eyeballs as possible. If I could get it accepted into a big, highly regarded festival like MIFF, Berlin or SXSW, that’d go such a long way towards establishing myself as someone to watch for potential future investors.
What is the biggest win that you have had?
Finding and casting the lead actors was a massive win and really exciting. Seeing your words come to life in front of you, spoken by a person who looks and moves just like what you’d imagined in your head months before, is an incredible feeling. It was also a really significant production milestone for us.
Tell us what inspired you to start your project?
I’ve been working on the script on and off for about three years now, and it was initially born out of a desire to write a set of characters and situations based on memories I had from my childhood. Last year I pitched the story to a panel of lecturers and it was fortunate enough to be one of only a handful selected to be made!
What has been the biggest challenge (so far) that you have faced?
Finishing the script was a massive challenge! But recently, we had a bit of a situation develop quite suddenly and it seemed as though we were going to lose our most important location. My producer Phil and I were working the phones pretty frantically for a while, but we managed to rectify the issue and lock in the location.
What is something that this whole process has taught you?
The absolute importance of teamwork. My team has been so important to the development of the project – there’s simply no way to make a film like this on your own. It’s taught me to be willing to delegate, trust in peoples’ talent and intuition and focus instead on guiding everyone in the right direction.
How can we support you?
Making a film is really expensive – if you’re in the position to, you can donate to our crowdfunding campaign (https://igg.me/at/boxingdayshortfilm) to help cover some of the costs of production! Every little bit helps, and there’s also some great perks depending on how much you choose to contribute.
Otherwise, you can follow along via our socials, and give our posts a like and share:
Facebook – https://m.facebook.com/boxingdayshortfilm Instagram –@boxingday_shortfilm)
Some very cool initiatives and projects in our first edition of the yTeamer’s supporting yTeamers blog. Make sure you head on over to both Maybelline’s and Leigh’s socials and give them a follow, like, and share their content to spread the word about the amazing stuff they’re doing!
If you know of any of our yTeam doing some incredible projects, campaigns, starting businesses, writing music, etc., and you would like to “dob them in”, please email George at george@ylead.com.au. Let him know who is doing what so he can reach out and we can support each other the best we can!
