The Focus on Ability Short Film Festival with Creative Director Ryan Goodwin.
Welcome to the tenth episode of The Brain Game Changer podcast. I am your host Melissa Gough. In this week’s final episode of Season One, we had the wonderful opportunity of speaking with the Creative Director of The Focus on Ability Film Festival Ryan Goodwin.
As it enters its 14th consecutive year, Nova Employment presents this festival, asking filmmakers to “Focus on the Ability” of people with a disability and tell a story on film for the world to see. In this interview, Ryan shares how the opportunity presented itself to work for Nova Employment and how CEO Martin Wren birthed the idea of the festival which has grown tremendously. He talks us through its first years and how it is now globally recognised as one of the largest short film festivals. We discuss some examples of previous films and winners, both here in Australia and overseas, and how you can play your part in creating awareness about such a worthy and wonderful event.
Throughout this interview, it was evident that Ryan is passionate about such an amazing concept that has changed so many lives and created such heartfelt and positive awareness.
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Melissa Gough 0:08
Hello and welcome to an episode of The Brain Game Changer: where heartfelt stories, awareness and education can change the game. Each week we delve into the experiences of amazing humans, advocates and organisations from all walks of life, who share their adversities, the triumphs after tragedy, the milestones and those brain game changing moments right here in front of the mic. Through this journey together, we may find that we can learn some valuable tools, knowledge or education that will lead us into becoming game changers for ourselves, or someone around us or even for our community. My name is Melissa, thank you for inviting me into your space. It is great to be with you.
Melissa Gough 0:54
Welcome to the final episode of Season One! We have so enjoyed the experience of all the wonderful interviews. I feel really humbled that we had the wonderful opportunity to finish this season, speaking with Creative Director of the Focus On Ability Film Festival, Ryan Goodwin. As it enters its 14th consecutive year, Nova Employment presents this festival, asking filmmakers to focus on the ability of people with a disability and tell a story on film for the world to see.
In this interview, Ryan shares how the opportunity presented itself to work for Nova Employment and how CEO Martin Wren birthed the idea of the festival which has grown tremendously. He talks us through its first years, and how it is now globally recognised as one of the largest short film festivals. We discussed some examples of previous films and winners, both here in Australia and overseas, and how you can also play your part in creating awareness about such a worthy and wonderful event. Throughout this interview, it was evident that Ryan is passionate about such an amazing concept that has changed so many lives and created such heartfelt and positive awareness. Now let's get into the interview.
Melissa Gough 2:19
Good afternoon, Ryan, and welcome to The Brain Game Changer podcast. It is wonderful to have you with us.
Ryan Goodwin 2:24
Thank you, Melissa, I really appreciate you giving us this platform to talk about all things focused on ability.
Melissa Gough 2:31
There's many hats to you, and we're going to discuss all of them. Before we start, I'm just going to share how I came about The Focus On Ability Short Film Festival. I happened to be watching SBS one evening. I'm a bit of a sucker for their cooking shows. Then the advert came on for the film festival, and I sat there curious as anything just going ' I have never heard of this festival. 'Then I literally got on my computer straightaway, researched and found it absolutely fascinating. I'm just really grateful that you guys have agreed to talk with us, and I look forward to sharing all this wonderful information about the festival with all our listeners.
Ryan Goodwin 3:13
Yeah, I'm glad you found us and look forward to this chat.
Melissa Gough 3:16
As I ask everybody, we get a bit of a backstory about who we interview. So I'm just going to ask you a little bit about your upbringing, where you're from, your studies and how you segwayed into this industry.
Ryan Goodwin 3:30
Yeah, so this is probably one of the first for me, I'm more sort of the person on the other side of things, so let me see how I go. I grew up in a small town outside of Rockhampton town called Gracemere. So I think I've still got that small town roots within myself, even though I grew up there. Then I moved overseas when I was 18, I moved to London, I was looking to see the world. Did lots of travelling, and just really broadened my mind and my perspective. You know, growing up in such a small place, it has some wonderful benefits. I mean, you've got that really community feel, but sometimes you can fail to see the world on the scale that it is. So I put myself out of my comfort zone travelling overseas, just mixing with all different kinds of people from all walks of life, I think, gave me a better understanding of the world.
Then I moved back to Australia and did some work around the country, but then ended up in Sydney. I spent the best part of 16 years in Sydney and now I've just moved up to Queensland. I've got a young family, so I'm looking to give them that sort of small town upbringing as well, I guess. Education wise, I studied journalism with a communications degree. Halfway through the degree I think I got more of an understanding of perhaps where the media landscape was going, where journalism was going in my mind, perhaps is where it has gone. In some instances, I think the clickbait journalism and the sort of sensationalist headlines are something that I didn't want to go down.
I had an opportunity, from Nova Employment. They approached the university that I was at. They were looking for somebody on a six week contract to come into the organisation and teach them some video communication skills, some presenting skills, things like podcasts were just sort of in their infancy stages. So I went there on a six week contract, loved everything that the business was about, met some wonderful people, and at the end of those six weeks, we had a mutual understanding that there was so much more that we could achieve. The CEO Martin Wren, which we'll talk about more in depth soon, said, "would you like to come work for us?" So I spent the time there, then my last semester of uni, and then yeah, started full time from there.
Melissa Gough 6:06
It must have been so reassuring to know that as soon as you finished university, there was a job waiting for you and that taster of experiencing the company, the organisation. It sounds like it was a win win for everybody! Can you explain to us what Nova Employment is?
Ryan Goodwin 6:23
Nova Employment is a disability employment service based in New South Wales, part of our tagline is the premier Disability Employment Service to not for profit charities. It's all about putting the needs of the clients first. The thing with disability employment, so it's a bit of a rabbit hole if you wanted to go down it, I guess. The philosophies behind Nova Employment are always achieving meaningful and life changing outcomes. I think there's sometimes outcomes within the industry that incentivize base rather than life changing. So coming from the nonprofit side of things, we could really focus on creating those life changing outcomes, jobs that award wages and conditions in the general community. So no sort of isolating work that can sometimes not lead to life, long lasting change.
Melissa Gough 7:25
Most of the employment that you're seeking for your clients, a majority of these clients have some adversities or some disabilities, is that the case?
Ryan Goodwin 7:36
Yeah, that's the case. So to be eligible, we like to see Nova Employment as a bit of an elitist service, so the elitist service is, you can't come to Nova Employment unless you've got a disability. So if you come to Nova, you have got a disability, we'll help you find a great job.
Melissa Gough 7:54
Ironically, I spoke to a different person that I'm interviewing for our next season, and they had heard about Nova Employment. I'm interviewing a woman with Down syndrome. I spoke to her mum, actually, and her mum, when I talked about Nova Employment, she's like, "oh, my gosh, an amazing organisation, I've heard of them.” She gave examples of other people who also recommended and gave great respect to your organisation, and we're very lucky that you're out there doing this.
Ryan Goodwin 8:18
Yeah, it's wonderful to hear that feedback. When I first started working for the company, part of my role was going out there and interviewing some of our clients and their employers. I think that was what got me hooked on the job because I was hearing these life changing stories and these life changing outcomes. And, I wanted more people to hear that to create more opportunities.
Melissa Gough 8:41
It's so brilliant that you're doing this. I'm going to segue from this amazing work that you're doing with Nova employment. We're going to talk now about The Focus On Ability Short Film Festival. Where was the idea born from?
Ryan Goodwin 8:55
Martin Wren, the CEO of Nova Employment, came up with a concept that Focused On Abilities Short Film Festivals. Then it was all designed initially to be around Sydney based high schools that operated within the regions that Nova Employment did. The first year of the festival, we had, I think about 16 schools participate, and that was all due to us calling up the schools letting them know. I think we had about a $1,000 cash prize that we were offering. Off the back of that we received some tremendous entries from the schools that really put their hearts on the line and told these amazing stories. I thought from my side of things, my job was done, that was the end of the festival, good result! Then Martin said, "let's go again," So we went again!
I think the second year, we went New South Wales schools, that was a success again, and then we opened it up to Australian schools and things just sort of snowballed from there essentially, because we ended up opening up internationally and now we're in our 14th year this year, we've had more than 50 countries participate, more than 2000 films submitted. That's kind of where we're at!
Melissa Gough 10:03
I've had the fortunate opportunity of also having a conversation with Martin, what an absolute Trailblazer, and he's such a storyteller as well! So I can understand why he wanted to bring stories and connections into film. What is the criteria? How does it work?
Melissa Gough 10:21
It's a short film. So a five minute or less creation, and it has to have a disability theme. So that can be, you know, focusing on the ability of people with disability, it can be telling us stories behind their disability, it can be people with disability acting within a scripted movie. So there's lots of range within that. I mean, we have had over 2000 films, I've watched them all, and I'm surprised by each film, they're all different. They're all got different stories to tell, the opportunity, and thoughts are endless. Everybody can participate worldwide. We've got school categories, within Australia and New Zealand schools, so people can submit work on behalf of the school. Then we also have open entrance, so anybody within Australia, and then we have International entries too, so definitely a fully inclusive festival.
Melissa Gough 11:14
So once someone or an organisation has submitted their film, it's obviously a certain date that it's going to be in by. What happens next?
Ryan Goodwin 11:22
Yeah, so all the films are submitted. It's generally a date within the middle of the year, I'll keep this open ended. That way, I'm sure this podcast is going to be a hit, so people are going to come onto this podcast at different stages over the next few years. It's a continual festival, entries close in the middle of the year, then we have about a three week process where I'm working my butt off in terms of getting those films ready, allocated up on our website, and then we have a launch. We have a week-long voting process, so people from all around the world can vote for their favourite films.
We also have a professional judging panel that cast a vote out on the films. Then we also have Nova Employment, the head sponsor, a great organisation also picks their favourite. So there's plenty of different ways to win. Then those films go live on that website, then for the next 10 years, we've created our film database that is the world's biggest disability film database. Some amazing things that have come from that. You know, people, their stories of some of the local children's hospitals that use our database in terms of education, some parents that have just received perhaps a diagnosis for their child, they type in what that diagnosis or what that disability is, they see some amazing content from our films, and you know, they've received that education and realise some next steps forward.
Melissa Gough 12:49
So tell us about that event. Martin did describe it, he goes, "oh, it's a glamorous red carpet event!" That was the wording he gave me. So can you tell us about it?
Ryan Goodwin 12:50
It's grown every year, apart from the last couple of years, but we're going back to it. Essentially, when you think of any great big film festival in the world, think red carpet, you think media or you see cameras, you see the opportunity for people to mingle, there's canapes and drinks and that sort of real great energy, pre show. Then we put some of the films on the big screen, where we've got people with disabilities that are performing. Then we also have to give out the awards throughout the night. So the energy and the buzz that continues on through. It really is amazing. It's definitely the highlight of our year!
Melissa Gough 13:43
It's amazing from where you birthed the idea to where you are now 14 years down the track and that you've created all these different categories. You're getting all these different entries from all over the world. When I checked out your website, you've got this beautiful part, it says Ryan's faves, Martin faves, and Paula's faves, and we'll get into who Paula is. Oh my gosh! You've got all these amazing sponsors but one of them needs to be Kleenex tissues! It wasn't because it was sad, it was because it was so beautiful! These films; the thought, the process, the ideas! When you've talked about these films and gone on your tour of promoting it, what sort of philosophy are you presenting to everyone?
Ryan Goodwin 14:27
Martin Wren's initial concept, that it was twofold, the idea behind it initially. When he wanted school students to participate, you would know that the minds of the youth are the easiest to influence. Unfortunately, once we get older, we get very fixed in our belief systems. The first important message was to let people know that within the school systems, people with disabilities need to be included. People with disabilities need to be part of the discussion. People with disabilities need to be part of everyday society, especially within, initially that school system.
We found with the festival, it had a two fold effect, it had students understanding disability, and then it also reduced bullying within those schools of people with disability because those barriers were being taken down, those stories were being understood. The next part of that was then the film's being watched from a wider community sense. So people who perhaps don't have much interaction with people with disabilities would watch these films and understand the barriers that sometimes may be faced. Sometimes the barriers that may be overcome, and understood, that people sometimes just need to be given an opportunity. The festival needs to help drive those opportunities, so that was what it was at the start.
Then as the years have gone on, I think from my side of things, I understand what my skill set is. My skill set isn't the amazing talents that are on show. My skill set is helping this vehicle move along, and then people can watch the films and we can create change from that. Initially, yes, we work with Nova Employment. So the long term goal was for employers to watch these films and create employment opportunities for people with disabilities. As the years have gone on, we've seen the opportunities in all walks of life, whether it be sporting opportunities, school opportunities, film opportunities, in terms of being on the big screen, and it's all about inclusion, that's their message is simply just inclusion. That's kind of like the philosophy behind it.
One of the things that you've touched on is that we get to do these screening events around the country, and we've done them worldwide. Part of my role is to then create the playlists for these events. What I have noticed within the events is, you can kind of really mould people's feelings within that hour, hour and a half space because the films can be funny, they films can be inspiring, and I understand the word inspiring and inspiration when it comes to disability can be a tricky one. I'm not actually talking about, you know, a person with a disability just getting out of bed, is all of a sudden inspiration, I'm talking about a person with disability that is climbing Everest or is achieving amazing things in the musical space. I'm talking about inspiration that anybody would feel within that category. Then you've got highly emotive films or films that make people cry, and then we've got educational films. So understanding the power of the film that we're pushing across, and the rollercoaster of emotions that that can create.
Melissa Gough 17:48
I'm going to share an example. When I did have the wonderful opportunity of speaking with Martin, he explained the process of one of the films that young men entered . I don't remember the name, but he talked about the journey that it created for this man and he had done very well with the film he wanted in his category. Some of the prizes and some of the opportunities that you have is that he was then able to present it at a different film festival in LA. He went on to write other films after it. Then ironically, on his sort of, I don't know world tour that he decided to take it, he ended up at the Cannes Film Festival, and both of these films got bought. He made a lucrative amount of money and then decided to retire! I mean, who knows where these opportunities can take us?
Ryan Goodwin 18:40
Yeah, absolutely.
Melissa Gough 18:49
Now, earlier I mentioned Paula Duncan. For the listeners out there, especially the global listeners, she is one of Australia's most iconic TV industry actors who's been in some really significant shows throughout the decades. I mean, I'm of that age, I remember Prisoner! Like you I lived in England for nearly 15 years and it's iconic over there. Cell Block H it was called. So how did someone like Paula come into contact with your film festival?
Ryan Goodwin 19:23
Paula Duncan is not only a wonderful actress, but she's a wonderful human being. We had some interaction with Paula initially through Nova Employment. Nova Employment, were sponsors are an event that Paula Duncan promotes. Paula has an Order of Australian Medal that is associated with her great work in fundraising for different community organisations, but she's got a real specialty and a real love of raising funds and awareness for people with disability. So there was a really great synergy there. We got to talk to her about the film festival, and obviously her charity work, and we realised that these two are a match made in heaven. So we've brought Paula on, as an ambassador for us. Paula links us up with some amazing sponsors and judges and gives us some really great industry recognition. Paula has been a wonderful asset to the festival and has really helped us get to the stage where we are now.
Melissa Gough 20:25
That's brilliant. It's funny that you mentioned the sponsors and prizes. The prizes are really impressive. Can you give some examples of what they are?
Ryan Goodwin 20:33
The biggest prize for Australian listeners is that for Australian participants this year is a new car. So we've given out a brand new car for the last few years. Last year it went to a community organisation called The Sunshine Troop. So that's a disability dance theatre group based on the Sunshine Coast. They were ecstatic , to have received that vehicle!
Melissa Gough 20:56
Aww, I have no doubt!
Ryan Goodwin 20:58
We have some amazing cash prizes. We've also got money that can't buy industry experienced prizes. So we link aspiring filmmakers up with directors. I'm talking about directors that have done some amazing work, some current directors on tv series like Home and Away and Neighbours. We give them those one on one opportunities. Then with schools, there's printing equipment, camera equipment, the list goes on. We have over $100,000 in cash and prizes. I don't think there'll be many film festivals, short film festivals, particularly in the world that are bigger than us in terms of the prizes. The sponsors have been amazing and helped us get to where we are.
The last two years, we haven't been able to due to the COVID restrictions, but we're back this year, and back in future years with the red carpet events, so we get to showcase some of those amazing films on the big screen. We have some wonderful performers, and we just have a real celebration of the festival. Then, the festival will feature on programmes like SBS. SBS has been a great supporter of ours, that's kind of how the festival runs. We also do localised events. So we're back on the road again this year where we're doing screenings in most states around the country. Those events are always free. People that have been participants in the films, it's kind of my energizer, for every year. We put these events on, people turn up, they see themselves on the big screen, their film stars for the day. There's so many comments, 'best day of my life sort of thing.' It's people that are sometimes not given these chances and not given these opportunities, then definitely, are the stars of our festival and stars on those days.
Melissa Gough 22:43
You brought up a point that I was funnily enough going to ask you. Obviously, everyone in the world has been impacted in some way because of COVID. What did you have to do over the last two years? Did the festival still run? What was your process in organising it?
Ryan Goodwin 22:59
Yeah, so the festival still went ahead. You sort of had that sort of nervous period of time before entries closed, wondering if we're going to get entries this year. The message that we're trying to convey of inclusion is a worldwide message that something like COVID wasn't going to stop us. People wanted to tell these stories, people wanted to have the opportunity to use our platforms and we kept on. A lot of the festival was based online, we hosted the films on our website, so that process remained the same. We still actually had screenings in a couple of African nations that participated, I can probably tell you more about that as well.
We put together an online virtual awards night, so people around the world, I'm a bit like a stats person, so I was on there, I launched it. Then I can see, you can sort of track on YouTube and see where people are coming from and just seeing all these countries from around the world, people checking it out, it was a really great thrill! It gave us an opportunity to showcase those films and still present prizes in somewhat of an entertaining way, but you know, we're very much looking forward to going back in person, later this year.
Melissa Gough 24:12
You mentioned the word Africa and the film's and the influence of Africa. Can you tell us about that?
Ryan Goodwin 24:17
I mean, it's hard to believe when I think about the initial 14 years ago, Sydney schools, to the fact that how worldwide we are! I think I've been to Africa maybe five times now. We've been to the US a few times, we've kind of been around the world. For the African side of things, we've got what I would call maybe a sub chapter in Malawi, and now we've got a sub chapter in Ethiopia as well. Part of that is we've got people within those countries that are spreading the word 'Focus An Ability,' encouraging people within those communities to make short films and showcase people with disability within those countries.
Then we have an awards ceremony within those countries to really highlight their skills and abilities as well. Sometimes I pinch myself when I'm at those events because it is a small concept that's been embraced worldwide, it is amazing! Ethiopia last year was the first year we've taken that on. Ethiopia, funnily enough is the social media, number one social media user in the world.
Melissa Gough 25:27
Really?
Ryan Goodwin 25:29
Yeah, it's one of those countries that in some instances feels left behind, but they've got this really educated youth that are looking for a platform to tell their stories and share their work, so they've really embraced the festival. We had 33 films come from Ethiopia last year. We're probably going to get about 60 to 70 this year, and the stories that have been told are incredible! We had a red carpet event there last year. So I'd stopped ours in Australia, but nothing could stop Ethiopia! There was a civil war happening, because it's happening on the edge of the city.
Melissa Gough 26:04
Oh wow!
Ryan Goodwin 26:04
I was spending some time with our organiser and I was like, What are we going to do? I'm guessing we're gonna have to cancel and he's like, "no, that's fine." The Prime Minister had gone to the edge of the capitol to fight and I was like, what's gonna happen? He's like, "no, no, we just move into the daytime and it's fine!"
Melissa Gough 26:21
Oh my gosh!
Ryan Goodwin 26:22
I hosted a three day festival there where they had a bazaar, so what I called a bazaar. It's kind of like a market where people with disabilities show their wares. So people from all over the town came in and would purchase all these amazing artworks and things on display. Then they had local cinemas play the film's for a day, and then they had a big Red Carpet Awards Event.
Melissa Gough 26:44
It's admirable to hear you talk about that situation and this country in the midst of a civil war. They're like, Oh, no, no, no, this show is gonna hit the road! How admirable, how amazing! I'm going to share an example of one of your films from Africa. It's a beautiful boy and his limb difference, and he's working out who he is. He wants to join the local sport group, you know, but it's difficult for him, it's challenging, then he meets someone and watches them dance, and their limb differences as well. He ends up practising, learning, and becoming part of this dance organisation. They have been featured around the world. But it also leans into his mum's words. She initially thought that she had been sort of, I guess, 'cursed' is the word that she'd used. Then at the end, she says, “my beautiful son has a gift from God." You know, again, the tears are running because it's beautiful. It's just so heartfelt and so amazing, and he's so raw and honest. It was just beautiful on all levels.
Ryan Goodwin 27:57
Yeah, that's one of the amazing stories. I mean, I've met Blessing, so he's known as Blessing and he is from Zimbabwe. I was in Zimbabwe, I think about five or six years ago, and we decided we wanted the dance troupe to perform. So his dancing skills are just out of this world!
Melissa Gough 28:17
Yeah, I can't put it into words his ability, you know. Also his mindset, he was always determined to make the most of his life in what way he could.
Ryan Goodwin 28:28
So people can just type in 'Walking Tall' Focus On Ability into their Google browser, they'll find that film.
Melissa Gough 28:42
I just want to ask, I know this is a loaded question, and on your website where you put Ryan's faves, you've seen hundreds, you've seen 1000s of films over the last 14 years. What are your favourite films or what film stays with you? It's almost asking you which one's your favourite child, I guess. But are there some films that just sort of automatically come to you?
Ryan Goodwin 29:02
Or yeah, that is a favourite child kind of question. I think it, I think it changes I mean, I've been heavily impacted by a number of films and it changes over the years. Unfortunately, we've lost some of the film stars over the years, some of the films have ended up being sort of tribute pieces. The parents had got in touch, and they were so happy that their child had been part of the festival because they'd got this keepsake then. So things like that can heavily impact plus meeting the people within the films, I think sometimes I change my opinion as well. I mean, I've got a young boy at the moment. He'll start school in a few years. There's a film, I'll talk about one in particular. There's one called Jack Outside The Box. A young man on the spectrum and he had trouble within the school system being bullied. He is an incredibly intelligent, young boy who then turned to homeschooling and had a very supportive family. He tells his stories and how life is starting to open up for him, now that he's sort of understanding what his skills and abilities are. That's such a beautiful story, but it's also kind of its motivating one, you know. I want people with disabilities not to go through those hardships within that schooling system. So the more education that we can provide on this platform for people to understand that we need to be inclusive, bullying is not okay. Yeah, so that's, that's one that's probably stayed with me!
Melissa Gough 30:36
We've come a long way from where we are, but we've still got a long way to go. I'm going to make a connection to the film that you've just said, because another one that I watched, it was with a beautiful boy named Marcus. He does a video of a timeline about his life of living with autism. So obviously, he must have gotten a young boy to act like him when he was younger. He does a dialogue of his early thoughts and understandings of that he was different and the questions and the things that he asked, I'm going to read out some sort of comments and questions he states, "does God have autistic moments? That was one question he asked. Then he says," I'm fascinated by normal people, I find them weird," and I think he's got a point. Then he also said, "the word normal, it's just a cycle on a washing machine." "I was convinced no one would love me on this planet, we're not broken, just different." So powerful. It's life changing!
Ryan Goodwin 31:32
Yeah, absolutely, and yeah, that's wonderful dialogue. It's a wonderful message, and it's one, I mean, I know Martin has pointed you in the direction of that film, that's one of the ones that's really stayed with him. Yeah, that was made by a local school within Sydney, Kellyville High School, their regular participants in the festival. They really understand what the festival is all about, and what the festival is trying to do. They tackle a range of topics every year, and yeah, they come up with some amazing messages and highlight messages such as Marcus.
Melissa Gough 32:15
Going forward, what are you hoping that this film festival is going to do? What's on the horizons?
Ryan Goodwin 32:22
Well, Martin would always say worldwide domination, and he wouldn't let me say anything different I don't think! Look where it's come from, and where it is today, I fathom to think where we may be in five or six years. We're gonna keep on doing what we're doing, being open to opportunities, being open to showcasing the festival in different areas. You know, just today, I was receiving films from France, I received films from Uganda. I received the film from Canada and some local schools. So the films are coming in, the stories are coming in, the viewers will come in once we showcase and people are addicted to this festival. I think that's probably one of the things that I feel the best about when it comes to the festival is the repeat business in some way, because we have schools that come back every year and keep participating. We have filmmakers that come back, keep participating. We have film stars that want to be in more films. We find that different organisations love to share the films and love to utilise the films, whether it be like I said, children's hospitals, whether it be schools, we've talked to different large businesses that open up their Friday meeting with a film from our festival just to kind of set the tone. So yeah, we'll keep doing what we're going to do, the festivals not stopping anytime soon. Hopefully, people like yourself keep coming across the festival and using this wonderful platform to educate and show more people that they need to check it out.
Melissa Gough 33:52
Trust me, I'm going to plug this to no end! The films we've talked about and the impact that this festival is providing for so many people. We've obviously talked about people who are submitting the films, however, is there the opportunity for people to come work with the film festival? Can people volunteer their time? How do people come on board to create more awareness and work alongside you?
Ryan Goodwin 34:16
The number one thing we need is people like yourself Melissa, more so people that sort of almost become our ambassadors for the festival. Tell your friends about the festival, tell your family about the festival, share our films online. The more people that we can have within our collective group viewing these films, the more people that can be educated and the more inclusive society that we can create. That’s the easiest thing people can do, it's completely free. Get on our website, check out some films, share the ones that you feel most influenced or most touched by and tell people your reasons for that. Share them on social media! We're on all the social media outlets at the moment. So yeah, that's how people can get involved.
Melissa Gough 35:04
Spreading the word creates awareness, having conversations, as Ryan has said, get out there, plug it, get involved, make a difference.
Melissa Gough 35:21
So the name of the podcast is called The Brain Game Changer: where heartfelt stories, awareness and education can change the game. What is one vital tool, one nugget of information or advice or awareness that you want to give our listeners?
Ryan Goodwin 35:36
Aww, that's a very good question. One of the things that I think is super important is understanding that people have challenges. Everybody has a challenge, everybody has a point of difference. I mean, there's no two human beings in this world that are the same, and I think we need to understand that we're not more important than the next person. I think we need to work together. I think there's lots of opportunities in this world to create division, and I think we need to understand that an inclusive world is a better world moving forward. So look after people, look after your neighbour, look after your friends, be inclusive of those that come from a different community that you may not think fits within yours. You know, people have got all the tools that we do, let's work together and keep working towards a better world.
Melissa Gough 36:30
Ryan, that is so well said. I think the world is a better place because organisations like Nova Employment, The Focus On Ability Short Film Festival, it's a beautiful ray of light, and we're lucky that you're in it.
Ryan Goodwin 36:45
Yeah, thank you very much, Melissa, thank you very much for taking the time to showcase this festival within season one. This podcast is going to be a big hit. So to be on Season one, we're very thankful for that opportunity.
Melissa Gough 36:58
But do you know what Ryan, I think in saying that, I'm going to put it out there right now. It'd be great to have you back to talk with us again, especially after the awards have taken place to get the feedback and to hear how it was very good to have you back.
Ryan Goodwin 37:13
Well, let's do it.
Melissa Gough 37:14
All right, great! Thanks very much.
Melissa Gough 37:16
I want to thank you for listening to this episode today and supporting The Brain Game Changer and the guests we interview. I hope it adds some reassurance or valuable tools no matter how big or small, that will continue assisting you in being the wonderful game changer that you are. The best way to support the brain game changer podcast is to like, share with family and friends or subscribe. So each weekly episode is easily available to you. I'd love to hear your feedback, and you can also find me on Instagram @thebraingamechanger. Drop in and say hello and check out the regular posts about awareness and education on various important topics and issues. Until next time, Take care.
