Farmer Mitchell East is used to playing with passion fruit, not plastic toys, on his Manjimup farm in the south-west of Western Australia.

The city, which until recently was known for its logging industry, is also known as the food bowl of the Southwest.

Instead of being on his Willarra Gold property, the third-generation farmer spent a weekend coming up with stories using a variety of children’s toys.

East was part of a team that attended a writers’ workshop and planned a television series to highlight the resilience and dedication of their region.

The passion fruit farmer has been named production liaison and describes himself as the link between the farmer and the filmmaker.

“Although we are a small part of the world, we want to show on our screens how farmers face the constant challenges and changes in our industry,” East said.

From the farm to the cinema

East said the project would be driven by community spirit.

“I went from thinking about the idea on my tractor to taking it to the Southern Forest Food Council boardroom,” East said.

The Southern Forest Food Council secured the funding through the state government’s Native Forestry Transition Community Small Grants Fund.

The Food Council is a non-profit organization that works to represent local farmers and agricultural businesses in the South Forest region.

Laura Bolitho is the general director of the food council.

“We are in the process of transitioning from closure to the native forestry program, it was a major industry in our area,” he said.

“So now we have development funds to create a documentary or a television series and then film a pilot.

The regional ‘echo chamber’

Thanks to the funding, the Southern Forest Food Council was able to appoint a production team.

Having grown up on a farm, producer and director Bec Bignell said she had always been interested in telling regional stories, but wanted to reach a wider audience.

“What I’ve seen working with farmers in the regions is a real frustration that these stories just stay in the regional echo chamber,” Ms Bignell said.

The Kojonup-born creative said the weekend writers’ workshop was an opportunity to hear personal stories from the region.

“It’s about making sure we can optimize this, so it’s not just another glorified ad campaign,” he said.

“We’re looking at different people and different perceptions, we want our story to have a long-term impact, regardless of what we decide to show.”

Introducing your pilot

Having previously created film and television, Bignell said the pilot episode they pitched to major media organizations had to be high quality and compelling.

It’s stories like those of local commercial bee farmer Mikey Cernotta that the team wanted to hear.

“I don’t come from a typical farming background, it’s something I fell into,” Cernotta said.

“I was an underground miner in the Goldfields, it was my wife who wanted to have just one hive, so I became totally fascinated by what beekeeping can offer.”

Although being behind a lens wasn’t the honey producer’s favorite pastime, the owner of Pemberton Honey Co wants to see what a project like this could do for regional and metropolitan audiences.

“It’s easy to pick something off the shelf and not understand what goes into producing it,” he said.

“Hopefully you’ll also meet some great people you can relate to, because that’s what makes this region genuine: genuine, sincere people.”