David Black interview with Tom Vogel for The Australian Short Film Network
Tom Vogel is a stalwart of the local indie film scene in Melbourne. He ran a short film night called Westside shorts for 12 years and has been prolific as both a filmmaker and actor. His IMDB shows 38 acting credits going way back to 2002, 26 producer credits and 19 for directing.
Today, I’m chatting with Tom and want to find out more. A lot more!
DB – Hi Tom, thanks for making the time to chat to me. There is so much ground to cover here so can I ask you where did it all start with your filmmaking? What got you into it and what are your motivations?
TV – I was always interested in filmmaking and while working casually as a bouncer I saw an advert in “The Age” for an intensive one week filmmaking course on how to make a short film on a micro budget. I decided to take a week off from nightclub security and I ended up making my first ever short film called “The Angry Penguin”. It was a bit of a mess as many a filmmakers first effort is, but it’s stood the test of time and has become a bit of a cult classic. It was selected at the Melbourne Underground Film festival that year and came close to winning Best Short Film.
The reason I say it was a bit of a mess was not because of the end result, but the challenges faced on the film shoot. It’s a big mistake having four directors on a short film. We were also all producers on the film and it’s where I learned that you face so many hard yards in making a short film. This was at a time where I had no idea on how to edit, or handle a camera. Therefore we paid people who were skilled in certain areas for each stage of the film as needed.
Unfortunately most of the creatives involved ended up not seeing the film all the way through which is understandable when you realise what a hard slog filmmaking actually is.
This was back in 2005 when youtube was in its infancy of its first year. Nowadays some people just slap it onto youtube, but it’s nothing compared to seeing your film being screened in front of an audience
DB – With your films, I want to start off with one that I saw a few years back that blew me away. “Mabowezi” is very different to the rest of your films. Can you tell us a bit about that one?
TV - “Mabowezi” is a short film screenplay by Richard Marvin who I have collaborated with three times now. He sent me his screenplay “One in a Million” back in 2008 through email.
We were both thankful to have found each other as in 2009 it was selected for Tropfest, the biggest short film festival in the world.
He initially sent me “Mabowezi” and I didn’t like the script. Richard had no problem with the initial rejection and asked me to pass it on to fellow film directors which I did. They also all passed.
I think two or three years passed and I was cleaning my Inbox in my mailbox and came across the email with the “Mabowezi” script. I re-read it and images came flooding into my head and I had a different take on the film. I could see the irony of two whining kids in Australia surrounded by all their electronics while their African counterparts are struggling just to get clean water.
It is different to my usual films which are usually full of black comedy. Then again it seems light hearted compared to my other films but people seem to forget two kids get eaten by a lion in the film.
DB – Looking at the full body of your work, there is a style that comes out, even though there are those ones here and there that are different. In general, how would you describe your style and approach to film making?
TV – I think my body of work is eclectic, but I lean subconsciously towards black comedy and scripts with a twist. It gives me a kick to know that the audience were unable to guess the ending of some of my films and dark humour has always been a part of me.
Ideas come sporadically into my head. It could be a newspaper article, life experiences or something I have read about.
It’s actually hard for me to get motivated. One way I have found for me to get motivated is with pitch deadlines or film festival competitions. An example is just recently with the Rode Film festival. I got an email that the deadline was drawing to a close in two days. I thought "too late", but then I remembered I had shot something for it back on 2019 and had some issues with the sound recording. Back then, I gave up on it and never submitted it. I had another look and was able to tweak the sound and then got stuck into the edit and had the whole thing completed in a day.
Motivation seems to get harder the more you get older. The hunger seems to subside.
DB – it’s hard to choose a film here and there from such a big body of work, but “One Second” certainly stands out due to the number of laurels on the poster. It’s a very serious film with an unexpected twist. Let’s chat about that one for a bit.
TV – The idea came from a life experience. Like most parents I had a terrible moment when I could not find my son who was about three at the time when he wandered away at a playground. He wandered into a plastic pipe and I was distracted for a moment and did not see he had walked out the back. I was waiting for him to come back out and was shocked to find he was no longer in there.
After five minutes of terror and calling out for him he was found by another parent who had found him wandering unperturbed near the water’s edge in Williamstown.
Long story short. Some years later I wanted to add something to my acting showreel. I thought reenacting this scene would be a great addition for my showreel. I started writing the scene when on the news a story broke of a woman who had driven her kids into a lake. I pondered on how any parent could do such a thing to their own flesh and blood.
That’s when the lightbulb came on and I merged the two ideas. So the initial scene I was writing became a three page script which turned into a six minute short film which went on to a huge amount of festival selections.
DB – The recent lockdowns have affected a lot of filmmakers and I’m sure they have affected you too. Have they changed your outlook on things and your future plans?
TV – I’ve been very vocal being against the lockdowns and I believe they have done more harm than good. I am also very disheartened by the segregation and division which is now part of our community and it horrifies me. There are many people in the art community whose bullying tactics have disturbed me and I will be holding my distance from them in the future.
I am sorry to say that I believe we have a few more years of darker days to come.
Filmmaking is a collaborative art, but the way the world is I have found more solace retreating back into acrylic abstract painting and drawing which I have found again after many years. I also don’t need to organise as much and there is no need for collaboration.
This is giving me solace during a period in history where so many of us are divided and people are unleashing hate instead of understanding or empathy
DB – It has been great chatting to you today Tom. Where can our readers find more of your work?
Redemption https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYNnoQGkNY0
One in a Million https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAERHtS-bkA&t
Heart of a Lion https://vimeo.com/115946681
One Second https://vimeo.com/20841750