Yolandi Franken is a Film and TV Producer, TV host, and industry all-rounder and has been in showbiz since the turn of the century. She produced three feature films; Turbines (Amazon Prime), Tabernacle 101 (USA Cinema release, Amazon Prime, Tubi, Google Play, Apple TV, Hulu), and Streets of Colour, two TV series; The Fast Lane (South-East Asian Broadcast) and Miss Multiverse Australia (Amazon Prime, Tubi), a three-part documentary series called Yols Discover, and hundreds of shorter format stories. Her works got accepted into many prestigious film festivals and received over thirty festival wins..
She joined WIFT (Women in Film & Television) Australia and is currently the Board Secretary, NSW Board Member, Co-Chair of their NSW Events Committee, and Chair of their Virtual Arm. Apart from her duties on the board, she is involved in organising face-to-face and virtual events and workshops with industry leaders, educators, suppliers, funding bodies, and guilds. She personally had the privilege to work with Disney, Niki Caro, Mandy Walker ASC ACS, Steph Power, Jill Bilcock, Bonnie Elliott, Arri, Panavision, APRA-Amcos, all the film guilds, and many more.
Yolandi is a Company Director of WISE (Women In Screen Enterprise) which is an organisation that creates opportunities and offers training and development for Australian women of colour. WISE works in close collaboration with Australian Film Agencies and training organisations such as AFTRS.
She is currently also the Editor-in-Chief for FilmCentral Magazine, an online and print magazine that brings film news to film lovers.
In 2014 Yolandi started a charitable film festival called Cause Film Festival which she ran for three years before passing on her role as Festival Director. The festival is still running and has housed some of Australia’s most talented filmmakers and actors.
Her experience in front of the cameras is also vast. She hosted Teal Wings, Indie Film World, Yols Discover, The Fast Lane, Miss Multiverse Australia, and Miss Multiverse International. As far as acting goes, she had a number of smaller roles in Australian TV series and Films and even in the Hollywood Blockbuster, Kingsmen – The Secret Service. In her younger years, she was also known as a model and ended her modelling career after representing Australia thrice on an international level in Mrs. Globe, Mrs. World and Miss Multiverse.
She is an avid MC and is often asked to host and MC live events. Some of the events that she hosted include Liverpool Council Annual Festival with an attendance of 15000, Cancer Council’s Relay for Life Launch, The Thirlmere Festival of Steam, Kidney Health Australia’s Fundraiser, and a large number of film festivals, fashion shows, beauty contests, and corporate events.
For her work in the community, Yolandi was nominated Australian of the Year in 2015.
She worked in countries such as China, Hong Kong, South Africa, India, Dominican Republic, and the USA.
TV1 News recently caught up with Yolandi to discuss her journey in the entertainment industry and here’s what went down:
What is your motivation as a filmmaker?
In short, giving audiences an escape from the real world. I just want to give the world more stories to love. But I also love the process of creating films, both creatively and the generally considered “boring side” of producing. I don’t have a creative mind that can create something from scratch, but I have an absolute passion for creativity and the creative industries. So being a producer allows me to apply what I am good at in order to bring the creative works that I love to live.
What generally inspires your interest?
I believe in being true to yourself, and for society to be true to itself. For me, if there is a story that I connect with, I feel passionate about bringing that story to the world. If it is something I believe in, something I feel will make a difference in the world, or just simply make people laugh and have fun, I want everyone to share in it.
I have to come clean here, I am a workaholic. But I also have an intense love for life and want to live it to the fullest and experience everything. Shows that I host and produce, such as the Yols Discover series is something I create so that I can not only entertain others, but it also gives me an opportunity to do the things I love and want to explore. Because trust me, being a workaholic, I will never otherwise get an opportunity to do the things I love.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Well, Producing is really the non-creative part of the process, but it also doesn’t mean that I don’t WANT to be creative. This only applies to scripted content, but one thing that frustrates me is that I am not naturally creative. I have so many great ideas for films, but I do not have the ability to flesh out the details of the story. I am therefore always reliant on others to write the story for me, or for scripted stories to come to me.
Luckily on Streets Of Colour, I had an amazing writer and director, Ronnie S. Riskalla. It is actually his story, but I was there from the start to brainstorm with him and had the opportunity to be part of every draft. See, I cannot create something from scratch but I can add pieces and I can comment on what I like and don’t like. He was generous enough to allow me to do that.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to viewers what they want?
A bit of both. This is showBUSINESS. If you create content that people don’t want to see, it is not good for business. So the more you can create what people want to see, the better. Saying that I am always trying to be original in the approach or to add something original. You still want to be distinguishable from other similar content. I will however never create something I don’t like or don’t agree with.
Occasionally there will be a project that, in reality, you are making for yourself and to scratch a tickle within yourself. For these projects, you don’t want to consider what people want to see and whether it ends up being successful or not, is not the priority.
If you could tell your younger film making self anything, what would it be?
Study accounting. Don’t even taste filmmaking, because it is like a beautiful addiction that you can never escape. No in all seriousness, I would say to not be scared of failing and rejection, the quicker you can become desensitised to that, the faster you will grow in the industry.
What was an early experience where you is learned that filmmaking had power?
I can’t recall a specific film, but I remember realising when I was very young that the seeds that get planted in films and TV Shows can make a big difference – in a good or bad way. Seeds that get planted while you are absorbing the content you love will grow much bigger than seeds planted when you are being preached to. People don’t realise the power that content has.
Can you tell us more about your latest project?
Carmen & Bolude received development support from Screen Australia and was invited to the MIFF 37, South Market. It was also the only Australian film invited to the TIFF – International Finance Forum. It is currently in the late development stages and will be filmed in 2022 in Sydney, New York, and Lagos. It is based on the lives of the writers and actors, Michela Carattini and Bolude Watson.
New Kid at School (working title), is also in late development and is scheduled to shoot mid 2022. It stars some big-name international cast and already had worldwide distribution.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
“Live in the moment”. I sometimes struggle to do this because I am always thinking about what is next and seldom reflect on what was achieved or what greatness I am experiencing at the moment. But the times that I do live in the moment, I feel great and peaceful, and content. I am currently working on doing that more often.
What advice would you give to a newbie filmmaker who wants to make it in the industry?
Get experience and get credits, no matter what else you have to sacrifice to get it. That is how you learn and that is how you get your name out there. In the film industry, the first thing people want to know when considering someone is what credits they have and what the projects were (not where they or what they studied). Secondly, this industry is all about networking and who you know, so make yourself visible. If you are always at the front of people’s minds, you’ll be the first one they call for a job. But don’t be annoying or harass people either.
What are your future plans?
I just want to keep creating bigger and better projects that get seen by more and more people. It’s simple. If I can make a difference in the world through the stories I help tell, I’ll die happy.
Photo Credit: Tony Palliser/Studio 49
