Announcing Our First 2026 Festival Sponsors
Updated: 16 hours ago
Fifteen years of Western Sydney film, and a whole community getting behind us!
As we prepare for our anniversary season, we’re excited to introduce the first sponsors helping us bring another summer of local stories to the screen.
Strong partnerships are at the heart of Made in the West. They help us put films in cinemas, bring filmmakers together and create opportunities that continue long after the awards are announced.
Our Screen Sponsors help cover the costs of delivering the festival, while our Prize Sponsors donate equipment, services and opportunities for our award winners to use on their next projects. These generous supporters contribute in both ways!
Please put your hands together for our first announced sponsors of 2026.
Event Cinemas Liverpool
Our home cinema is welcoming Western Sydney film back for a big summer!
Event Cinemas Liverpool is supporting our expanded December screening program and inviting us back in February for a special new showcase season. Sunday afternoons at the cinema in Liverpool are going to be a must for anyone who loves discovering films made right here in the West.
We’ll kick things off with our Opening Night celebrations on Saturday 28 November, before the full program rolls out over the three weekends that follow. Then, after a summer break, we’ll return in February with more films, fresh perspectives and plenty of reasons to get together.
A huge thank you to Chris and the Event Cinemas Liverpool team for working with us to give local films the big-screen treatment they deserve. Seeing your work in a cinema, surrounded by your cast, crew and an enthusiastic audience, is something pretty special and we’re so grateful to keep sharing that experience with our community.
Screen NSW
Every great festival season deserves a spectacular opening, and Screen NSW is helping us deliver ours!
Their support through the Community Film Festival Opening Night Fund helps us kick off the program with a celebration that brings filmmakers, audiences and industry guests together for a night of films, awards and red-carpet photos.
Opening Night will feature a special selection of films, with the full program of short films screening over the three weekends that follow. Whichever session your film appears in, we want you with us on Opening Night!
Gather your cast and crew, get those photos, meet our VIP guests and celebrate alongside the community you’re part of. B
Thank you to Screen NSW for supporting a night that puts Western Sydney filmmakers in the spotlight and gets our 15th anniversary season underway.
Western Sydney University
We’re delighted to welcome Western Sydney University back as a Screen Sponsor, supporting our event costs and helping us create opportunities for emerging creatives.
As WSU alumni ourselves, we love seeing students make films, find their collaborators and take those first steps into the industry. Our partnership gives us opportunities to support that journey through student engagement projects, practical experience and creative collaborations.
Each year, WSU Design students help bring our festival identity to life! We love working with WSU's Burrow Design Studio our poster design project for the festival.
This year's poster competition led us to Vicky Xie’s kaleidoscopic artwork, which you’ll see across our entire festival campaign.
From the films on screen to the artwork introducing them, student creativity has an important place at Made in the West. Thank you, WSU, for continuing to support the festival and the next generation of Western Sydney storytellers.
Luke Walker Productions
If you’ve enjoyed our red-carpet interviews or seen our community celebrated on screen, you’ll know how valuable Luke Walker Productions is to Made in the West.
Luke helps us capture the excitement of Opening Night and red carpet interviews, as well as our on-screen hosts for the marathon program, bringing the people behind the films into the festival experience. His contribution means we can share more of our community’s personalities, achievements and enthusiasm with audiences throughout the season.
He’s also a longstanding Prize Sponsor, donating a four-day Director of Photography package to the winner of our Audience Choice Award. That’s an opportunity to work with Luke on a project in the year ahead!
The Audience Choice Award is voted by filmmakers attending the cinema on Opening Night, giving our filmmaking community a say in who takes home this prize.
It's one of the most highly coveted awards, because it takes a lot to impress a cinema full of filmmakers! We love hosting a live vote each year to find out who wins.
A huge thank you to Luke for the time and expertise he shares with us each year. Check out Luke Walker Productions’ work and keep them in mind for your next production!
Sydney Prop Specialists
Long-time Prize Sponsors Sydney Prop Specialists are stepping into the spotlight this year, joining us as Screen Sponsors too!
Their contribution is helping us film the hosted introductions that accompany our cinema programs, providing studio space and a spectacular setting for our marathon host. You’ll see the results up on screen throughout the summer, welcoming audiences into each program and introducing the films to come.
They’re also continuing their support of our award winners, donating one full day of hire in TV Studio 4 to the jury-selected Best in the West winner.
With a cyclorama, a large shooting space, kitchen and dressing room facilities, the studio gives the winner room to bring their next film idea to life.
Thank you to Sydney Prop Specialists for supporting both the festival experience and the filmmaking that comes next!
Panavision
Our audiences have an important job this summer, and Panavision is giving filmmakers another reason to encourage everyone to watch and vote!
Panavision is donating a $5,000 equipment voucher package to our People’s Choice Award winner, creating an opportunity to work with their team on a future film.
The People’s Choice Award is voted by audiences throughout the summer, both in cinema and online, with the winner announced at the end of the season.
Every screening is another opportunity for viewers to discover a favourite and get behind a local filmmaker.
Thank you to Panavision Australia for backing Western Sydney talent with a prize that will help turn the winning filmmaker’s next creative plans into production.
We'll be announcing the winner at our Closing Night Awards Party on Saturday 27 February - last year we held it at The Joan in Penrith and it was a fabulous way to end the season!
We can't wait to see who wins the hearts of our audience this to and takes home that final prize of the season!
Made in the West Creative
Behind the festival is our team at Made in the West Creative, planning and producing the screenings, building partnerships, coordinating the awards and bringing everyone together.
After 15 years, we’re proud of the home we’ve built for Western Sydney film, and even prouder of the filmmakers who keep filling it with thoughtful, surprising and ambitious work.
Each year brings new voices, returning collaborators and films that show what this region can do.
Producing the festival is our way of making space for that work to be seen, celebrated and connected with new audiences.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us build this wonderful community! We can’t wait to share this milestone anniversary season with you.
Wondering what can you do to show your love? Support these businesses that are supporting #WesternSydneyFilm with us!
These wonderful sponsors are the first in a long list of local businesses helping us deliver a festival season that celebrates local films on screen, and gives filmmakers opportunities to keep creating.
Please take a moment to explore our Sponsors & Partners page, visit their websites, follow their work and consider them when planning your next project. Supporting the organisations that support local film helps those relationships grow.
We have more sponsors to announce and our full awards and prizes list coming soon, so keep an eye out for the next update!
For now, save Saturday 28 November for Opening Night at Event Cinemas Liverpool, and make room for Sunday afternoons at the cinema across December and February.
Fifteen years of #WesternSydneyFilm and a whole summer to celebrate.
We’ll see you on the red carpet!