A year on from Sri Lanka’s first lockdown, we are starting to see the fruits borne from the seeds of creativity that were sown during that challenging time. Many businesses and concepts instituted during that first lockdown are turning a year old, and through celebrating that milestone, we are also able to take a look at progress.
One of these concepts marking their first birthday is Junkyard Theory, which marked its first birthday on 31 May. Founded by indie filmmaking company High School Junkies Founder Akash Sunethkumara, Junkyard Theory began as a webinar series featuring filmmaking personnel from all over the world working in Hollywood on the movies that we see and enjoy on the big, or as is the case now, the small screen.
What began as a series of informal chats grew over the course of the year to become an educational platform, with Junkyard Theory now offering advanced short courses in core aspects of filmmaking like film production development, basic screenwriting, film editing, VFX and motion graphics, and shooting action.
Brunch chatted with the brains behind Junkyard Theory, Akash Sunethkumara, for more.
What started Junkyard Theory?
The concept began in 2020, somewhere in the middle of the first lockdown. High School Junkies had recently completed shooting The Knight Out, and we couldn’t go out and make more movies. I started seeing so many people going live on Facebook and Instagram, and initially, Junkyard Theory was a knee-jerk reaction to all the other content out there at the time, most of which was pretty negative.
I wanted to flip that narrative and put out something more valuable and positive, and I realised that I have these connections from Hollywood, so why not go live with them for people who are interested in filmmaking to listen and learn from?
I started by reaching out to my mentor from when I was doing my master’s in film, David Worth, who immediately agreed to come on board; and we started going live, speaking about his 40-plus-year career in the film industry working with names like Clint Eastwood.
Following our first session, I started reaching out to various other connections and Junkyard Theory started gaining momentum. I began to reach out to people saying I’ve had so and so on board so far, would you like to be on it, and the responses started coming in; people on the other end of the world were also in lockdown and looking to contribute however they could. It was the perfect opportunity, because the line was open on both sides, and soon the prominence of our guests began increasing too.
How did you come up with the name Junkyard Theory?
I wanted to set Junkyard Theory apart from High School Junkies (HSJ), because they do different things. HSJ is an entity that makes movies, while Junkyard Theory is a more interactive, and now, educational platform.
I’ve also had this idea in my head that if the Junkies had a location per se, it would be a junkyard. Look at it this way – are there any rules in a junkyard? Or a theory on how you assemble something out of scraps? No. It’s the same with filmmaking. While basic rules and tenets define film structure, the everyday filmmaker with bare minimum resources at his disposal cannot be too bothered with having to abide by the rulebook, because there is no particular theory in a junkyard. It’s filmmaking without theories, without rules, without boundaries, without limitations. That’s what Junkyard Theory is about.
Junkyard Theory is now a year old. What has the response been like?
The response has been quite positive. To be honest, there isn’t a large filmmaking crowd in Sri Lanka, but it is growing. When we started, we used to go live on Instagram, but we switched to Facebook Live at the start of 2021. We haven’t had massive numbers because it is a niche market, but we have a small, steady audience. It’s long-form content, with each session going on for about an hour, and now, we upload each session on to YouTube as well.
We’ve had some feedback from outside Sri Lanka that people prefer the podcast format for this kind of thing, where it is audio instead of video, and we are working on creating a podcast of a single episode. Personally, Junkyard Theory has never been about shares and likes, it’s been a chance to speak and work with veterans, and I feel that is how our audience sees it too, because they are able to hop in and speak to these professionals and ask them questions.
It’s also not a one-way street; our guests are always very interested in what we are doing in film in this part of the world, and I have found that they are always willing to take a look at the work we have done as well. This is partly what led to Junkyard Theory becoming an educational platform.
What are some of your favourite Junkyard Theory memories? 
One stand-out memory for me is getting Richard Norton on the show. I come from a martial arts background, my dad introduced me to Richard Norton and his films, and I grew up watching him. Being able to reach out to him and get him on board was really cool. Equally prominent was getting the cinematographer from Jurassic Park to be on Junkyard Theory.
Junkyard Theory has now evolved into an educational platform. How did that happen?
The educational side of it started in partnership with a friend of mine, Andrew Sean, who also has a YouTube channel imparting filmmaking knowledge to his subscribers. There is a strong demand for filmmaking education in Sri Lanka, with a crowd that is very willing to learn. Last December, we decided to experiment and held two free educational webinars online that saw a turnout of more than 300 people tuning in.
What we covered were the basics of cinematography, and to make sure we were giving more to the participants than other people could, we brought in Hollywood talent – a dedicated panel of guest speakers to share their expertise. These are people who are working on the movies that we watch on the big screen. It’s the most contemporary and practical knowledge we can gain. There is an academic side to filmmaking, yes, but it is also a vastly practical field that requires a lot of creative problem solving and working with people. At the end of the day, our guests, who are part of big budget productions, use techniques that are not so different from what we do as indie filmmakers. Their approach is very simple, and they can tell you how to get things done, how to work with people, and how to approach and solve problems creatively.
What participants get is a very hands-on approach where they can ask questions in an interactive setting. We ask each participant to come up with five questions for each speaker, and to look at their body of work beforehand so they can get the most out of it.
The turnout for Junkyard Theory’s educational sessions have been very good. We’re the only ones in Sri Lanka, and probably South Asia, approaching filmmaking like this. We hope to expand it into physical classes as soon as we are able to because, again, filmmaking is a very hands-on craft, and learning the knowhow is not always something you can do online.
We want local filmmakers to be able to interact with international filmmakers and make connections. We want Sri Lankans to be able to go into any film industry anywhere in the world, which is why we also encourage working in English, because it is a global language, and we want to encourage global growth.
What’s next for Junkyard Theory?
We have a team of five people handling the educational side of things, looking at getting guests into our live webinars, who can then feed into the educational platform as well. We’re working on getting a diverse group of filmmakers together, not just Hollywood talent, but also from the UK and Europe. While I personally don’t like the term “film school”, at some point in the future, we may look into opening an academy of some kind.
For more information on Junkyard Theory and to follow what they do, please visit their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/junkyardtheoryofficial) or follow them on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/junkyardtheory/).
