By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
JAKE Alway never saw his name up in lights. He wanted to be the one behind the camera instead.
When the 17-year-old from Fountain Gate Secondary College first started playing around with a camera in Year 6, he never really thought he’d become the budding young film-maker he is today.
But at 12-years-old, it’s hard to see the future.
“Ever since Grade 6 I’ve been getting more serious with it. It started with me just making YouTube videos with friends,” he said.
“My friends and I were just mucking around. Later on it got more serious, I started making little horror and action videos.”
Last month Casey Councillor Wayne Smith allocated $325 in ward funds to Jake for him to take part in the Film Matters Summer School course at Melbourne University next February.
Cr Smith discovered Jake’s film-making talents when he taught him Year 9 media at Fountain Gate Secondary. Jake worked extremely hard on a 30-minute video which ended up receiving an A+.
“He (Cr Smith) saw a couple of my videos on YouTube and always thought I could take it further, but at that point it was more just a hobby,” Jake said.
“But he remembered and came and asked to support me and I told him about the course.”
Jake is no stranger to a busy schedule, having worked a part-time job at Hungry Jacks in order to fund the three cameras he now owns. Having been announced as school captain at Fountain Gate Secondary, his schedule won’t get any lighter.
Now as he heads into Year 12, Jake plans to turn his humble hobby into a film-making career after several years of success and development.
As well as creating his own YouTube channel with over a million views, he was also a finalist in ACME’s ‘Seen It’ film awards this year for a film titled ‘Fighting Back’.
Jake describes the short film as a motivational piece that follows the life of a girl who finds comfort after breaking up with her boyfriend through her passion for sport. It’s a far cry from Jake’s early work and a sign of his evolution as a director.
The stage is well and truly set for Jake, and the camera is ready.
