Former South West resident Sophia Armstrong has come back to her roots to be part of the 2021 CinefestOz Festival.
Ms Armstrong graduated from Bunbury's Manea Senior College in 2014 with her eyes firmly set on a career in film, and has ramped up her ambition to succeed in the competitive industry in recent years by spearheading a number of projects across Western Australia.
Nestled in the South West region for most of her life, Ms Armstrong's small-town background has been no barrier and has instead acted as an inspiration-driving tool for her numerous film endeavours.
Now CinefestOZ's short film coordinator, Ms Armstong began her journey at Curtin University with a Bachelor of film before moving into a Master of Screen course at the WA Screen Academy in 2019 where she specialised in directing and producing.
Since then, Ms Armstrong has assisted on a range of projects with well-known production companies Cockatoo Colab and RUSH Films that enabled her to bolster her experience in the industry.
She also recently co-produced the Screenwest funded short film Tooly with RUSH Films founder Cody Greenwood, worked as a Crowd Assistant Director on It Only Takes a Night, and is in development producing for a web series called Out of Here.
She said growing up in a regional town had helped her succeed in film.
"It taught me how to be resourceful with what you have which is essentially how we work in this industry," she said.
"It also gave me great tools in how to work with a range of people, personality types and ages because you get to know such a broad spectrum of people really well growing up in such a small town."
In 2021, one of Sophia's most notable credits has come from her time Associate Producing, first Assistant Directing and Production Managing on the Screenwest funded web series Homespun.
CinefestOZ is proud to announce this much-loved film will be included in its full film program next month to be screened at Grand Cinemas Bunbury on Saturday, August 28.
An In Conversation lunch with the film team at Waters Edge Café and Restaurant in Bunbury will follow the screening of Homespun, enabling film buffs to hear the inspiring stories, struggles and triumphs of how the WA production was brought to life.