TV star home to shoot own film

Born and raised in Dannevirke, Jessica Grace Smith swapped farm life for the big screen but is returning home to shoot a short film. Photo / Supplied

Former Dannevirke farm girl turned Summer Bay beach babe Jessica Grace Smith is returning home for a new project to be filmed in New Zealand.

Ms Smith, who plays Denny Miller in Home and Away, is shooting a short film, Everybody Else Is Taken, which she has written and will direct.

The film follows the life of Mika, a keen sportswoman, bullied by the girls and never picked for a team by the boys.

Everybody Else Is Taken closely examines gender roles, what it means to be a boy or a girl outside physiology and how society tries to define those roles.

The film's key messages deal with bullying, tolerance, self-acceptance, courage, peer-pressure, exclusion and grit.

Ms Smith's Kickstarter page says she feels the "specificity" of this story will achieve a universal connection.

"This is an important story for young girls. The archetypes in this script live within us - I am the victim, I am the hero, I am the bully, I am the gatekeeper.

"I challenge the audience to look inside themselves at their own lives and consider what roles they are playing," Ms Smith said.

Since graduating from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 2009, Ms Smith has had significant film and television roles in Diagnosis: Death and The Devil's Rock, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and Sione's 2: Unfinished Business.

She has written, produced and acted in her own theatre show, set in the town she grew up in at the fish 'n' chips shop, which she intends to turn into a film. She enjoys all sports, playing hockey at representative level throughout her teens, as well as cricket and touch, and loves to watch the All Blacks.

Ms Smith is raising funds for the short film through a Kickstarter campaign and will film the project in the greater Wellington area. With 26 days to go, she has $3756 pledged of her $8500 goal.

-To donate, visit kickstarter.com/projects/1493690074/everybody-else-is-taken