Toronto Film School has students come from all over the world to study in its various creative diploma programs, but never had the admissions team seen someone go to the lengths David Rawlings has to try to get to Toronto.

“We have many amazing students from all over who have unmatched passion for their chosen field of film or acting, fashion or design,” said Andrew Subryan, Toronto Film School’s Director of Admissions. “But, this is the first time we have seen a possible student from across the pond mount a very ambitious crowdfunding campaign with the goal to study Film Production with us in Toronto.”

When the Toronto Film School’s Admissions department, who had already accepted Rawlings into the program, came across an impassioned Hubbub video that Rawlings had posted online, Subryan said the school was moved to help him.

“We were so impressed by David’s ambition and passion that we decided we wanted to help him achieve his goal,” Subryan said. “That passion and dedication is exactly what we want to see in our students here.”

So, after many meetings and a flurry of planning and plotting, the Toronto Film School announced to David that they would, by way of a bursary, match any funds he could raise, up to a maximum value equal to his tuition.

“From there, it’s going to be up to David and the community to raise the funds,” Subryan said. “But we have faith that will happen and we can’t wait to see him in Toronto.”

Rawlings is a 34-year-old English Language teacher and freelance filmmaker from England.

“I’ve always been interested in films, even from a very young age. I distinctly remember being about 5 years old and choosing to watch the Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on TV rather than going out and playing with my friends,” Rawlings said. “I was fascinated with how they put this film together, and it’s what started my passion for films.”

Rawlings studied media arts and over the past few years he has producing promotional videos, wedding videos and the likes.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on some big productions, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and much smaller productions, including my own full horror feature,” Rawlings said.

But, now he has his sights set to taking his passion to the next level by coming to Toronto, Ontario to study Film Production at Toronto Film School.

“Attending the Toronto Film School will give me the knowledge and skills I need to establish myself in this industry,” Rawlings said. “It will help my development as a filmmaker, and will also give me access to the industry within North America. Toronto is a hot bed for film and TV production, and I know I will put in the hard work. I have the determination and motivation to network to establish contacts within the film production industry.”

But, in order to come to Toronto, Rawlings needed to raise funds and to that end, he mounted a crowd funding campaign on Hubbub.net where he is soliciting donations to go towards his studies in exchange for rewards like Press Start Art and a call sheet from the aforementioned Tim Burton production, Alice in Wonderland.

You can check out Rawlings crowd funding campaign here: https://hubbub.net/p/rawkyroo And follow his journey on Social Media with the hashtag #GetDavid2TFS

To find out more about the Toronto Film School and it’s programs visit www.torontofilmschool.ca