The Jason Cycle

The Jason Cycle is a 14 minute stand-alone version of a film produced by Readymade Productions for the Drug & Alcohol Services Council, the WA Ministry for Justice and the South Australian Film Corporation. The film (aka Ending Offending) was designed to help young prisoners with a history of alcohol-related crime avoid re-offending. 

The story of centres on Jason, a young man with a history of alcohol-related crime.  He's already spent three months in prison, and although making some effort to control his drinking, he still hangs around with the same lads. One night, after a few too many, he's finds himself involved in the violent robbery of a bottle shop... and is soon caught. 

The client brief was to produce a 10 minute film to be used in a training course for prisoners, however it soon became apparent this would not be effective. In consultation with the clients, Readymade Productions expanded the program to 32 minutes, structuring it in six parts to integrate with the training course. Part One covers the basic story and ends with Jason's arrest. Each subsequent Part presents new scenes, revealing further details to evoke different issues associated with alcohol-related crime (and in particular repeat offending) and provide greater insight into Jason's behaviour and the choices he faced along the way.

Engaging and emotive, it manages to effectively reach its difficult audience, and was a finalist at the 1998 ATOM Awards.