Death is tragic, scary and morbid. And whilst there’s a truth to this it’s not the only viewpoint you have to have. I also believe that death is one of the most beautiful aspects of life. It’s the ultimate equaliser, the most universal truth we know and, if viewed with a fresh perspective, the most inspiring force to truly live life by.

A few years back my anxiety got pretty bad and my life spiralled. I was so concerned about leaving a legacy, being “successful” and having a clear purpose that I burnt out. Career choices, relationships, cities to live in — I questioned it all, and didn’t know what to do with my life. This fear of the unknown crippled my ability to make any decision and ultimately led to some pretty heavy panic attacks.

Someone suggested I write to clear my head so one day, sitting alone, I penned a poem titled We’re All Going To Die, and I finally got a life guarantee. I know that sounds super morbid but it was actually the most pivotal moment for me. I realised that if we’re all going to cark it some day then the rest of life is a mystery and that’s where the beauty lies. There’s no point in trying to evaluate every situation and live with an expectation that you can control it all. Life will throw you curveballs. There’s going to be good times and shitty times, but if we’re all going to die then why not go for it. Death is the ultimate perspective check.

It was originally just a poem I wrote for myself. This became an illustrated children’s book for adults before becoming a short film. At this point I’d put in so much effort that I wanted to deliver the message to people in a way that left them thinking and talking about the message for a long time after and a book launch or film premier wasn’t going to cut it for me. So the festival was born. The multimedia festival is only for one night and is being described as an amusement park for your soul. A place where you can come and think, talk and interact with fear, but in a super colourful, humorous way. There’ll be art installations, music, panel discussions, immersive experiences and a film festival. There are over 100 artists and crew bringing this independently funded festival to life which is bloody special.

I’m probably similar to Wayne in terms of festival knowledge and what it takes to actually make it happen. Naivety can be the biggest blessing and curse. Thank god I’ve found an amazing experienced crew who vibe on my vision.

The biggest challenge is funding and working on such a large scale project with a tiny crew. I purposely chose not to get any corporate sponsorship or  grants as I didn’t want an external force to water down the message. That decision has meant I’ve had to fund it all independently by draining my entire life savings and run a Kickstarter campaign to try and soften some of the blow. It’s so much work, but so rewarding.

My book and short film (both titled We’re All Going To Die) are definitely very close to my heart because they’re based off the original poem. But I’m most overwhelmed in those moments when I stand back and watch over 100 artists, volunteers and producers willingly help me pull this festival together, just because they believe in the project and the message. This tells me that maybe, just maybe, this message is an important one.

I’m quite annoyingly pedantic so I didn’t just ask my mates to help me out over a beer. I spent weeks creating a 70 page overview of the project with the most detailed illustrations and imagery. I even had the whole thing branded all the way down to the logo. So when people opened the pitch document I guess they realised that I was serious about this project. So many people responded to the message, because fear and those internal monologues exist inside all of us don’t they? Also, if you’re going to get artists to contribute then you have to present the idea to them visually, they’re suckers for a good colour palette.