My co-writer and co-producer Vic Hunter and I met over 20 years ago on the verandah of Bob Randall’s house in Mutitjulu beside Uluru.

Vic made me laugh so much and we have been friends ever since. When Vic told me he had a dream to have his community in the remote West Kimberley co-design and co-build their own houses because it would create good liyan (feeling) for everybody involved, I knew instinctively we could support his vision with a comedy, feature film.

We set about writing in 2013. It’s been a long journey and one that has been supported along the way by Wayne Blair and Keith Thompson as well as our funders Macquarie Bank, the Baxter Family Foundation and Peter Joseph, AM. More recently we have been supported by Mark Coles Smith and Lisa Scott as well as Screen Australia.

Vic and I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have so much support. We are also very excited by the story we are creating which we hope will be a funny and entertaining film but also one that is a blueprint to create positive change in remote Aboriginal communities, together.

As Vic says, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people have been travelling side by side like railway lines for too long, never meeting. We hope Desert Fish brings us closer together so we can create a better future for everybody and an understanding that many values inherent in Aboriginal culture can benefit us all.