MUSWELLBROOK teenager Gerry Loadsman’s HSC drama film was so outstanding it was selected to screen at the Board of Studies’ OnStage events in Sydney in February – until a 20-second version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow got in the way.
A few days before Christmas, and a few weeks after learning he was one of the state’s top HSC film students, Mr Loadsman was phoned to say it couldn’t be screened because the clip over the credits breached copyright.
“I was gobsmacked. I thought, I’ve just told my entire town I’m going to be on OnStage, and now I’m not,” he said.
“The woman who rang gave the reasons, but I didn’t have a chance to say much. I thought, they don’t get how much of an impact this has on me, my school and a small town like Muswellbrook.”
Mr Loadsman’s film, My Pretties, references the musical Wicked and the movie The Wizard of Oz, and tells the story of how Elphaba turned into the wicked witch of the west. An acoustic version of the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow, from The Wizard of Oz, sets the scene in the opening credits.
Mr Loadsman was the first St Josephs High School, Aberdeen student whose film was selected to be shown at the prestigious OnStage, without a nomination process, because he achieved a 30/30 HSC mark.
He chose a Somewhere Over the Rainbow clip, and snatches of two other songs with potential copyright problems, after discussions with his drama teacher, Louise Stokes-Chapman, despite knowing that OnStage requires films to have copyright approval.
“We decided artistic merit and achieving the best HSC mark had to be the priority. Somewhere Over the Rainbow over the credits sets up the film,” Mr Loadsman said.
Mrs Stokes-Chapman said she was astounded when Mr Loadsman was advised by phone, and only a few days before Christmas, that the film could not be shown, and she immediately phoned Education Minister Adrian Piccoli’s office and the Board of Studies.
“OnStage is a showcase for students, and if Gerry can’t have his film shown it’s an opportunity lost. We’re always teaching our students to aim for excellence and he did, and achieved it, and then this happens,” she said.
Mr Loadsman’s offer to mute the offending music section was rejected by the Board of Studies because it would set a precedent. But Mrs Stokes-Chapman referred to a similar issue a few years ago when a section of an outstanding student’s film was muted because of a copyright breach.
On Thursday the decision was reversed and Mr Loadsman’s film will be screened at OnStage from February 4, with sections muted.
