From the psychiatric ward to the silver screen

Today, Thomas Tesoriero is a well-adjusted student at Participate Film Academy. But it wasn’t always that way.

My father died when I was 11,' Thomas recalls, 'and I found myself suddenly head of the family. I never cried at the funeral and that should have been a sign there was something wrong.'

As Thomas grew up, he started dabbling in drugs and petty crime. 'One day I was out with my mates and I just snapped. I walked home meaning to do myself harm. My mates were waiting for me there and they drove me to Callum Park Psychiatric Hospital.'

'The therapy wasn’t doing much good, then one morning we had a writing class. It was just me and a poor schizophrenic lady talking to a chair. The woman running the group read what I wrote and went, ‘Hmm, you should do more of this.’ Once I started writing down my thoughts and feelings, it was like a great weight came off me. I checked out a week later.'

Thomas’s writing led him to Participate Film Academy, where he joined the team working on a new student feature film. “I feel more and more confident about Green Fire Envy every day. We’ve got something really special here.'

He’s now got his sights set on the big screen.

Green Fire Envy begins production on 1 October 2007.