Through Lily's lens

Searching for Daisies and finding the magic in collaboration

On set, in the editing suites and writers’ rooms of Bond’s film and television studios, the next generation of filmmakers are honing their craft.

Bond alumna Lily Boisvert wrote, produced and directed her film Searching for Daisies in the final year of her Bachelor of Film and Television degree. It was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2024 EMERGE Gold Coast Film Festival and is in contention for Best Short Film at the 2025 AACTA Awards, placing her alongside Australian film and television heavyweights.

Making the film was a year-long journey of inspiration, rejection, collaboration, and even words of wisdom from acting great Bryan Brown.

Lily takes us behind the scenes of creating her 'heart film', Searching for Daisies.

Unexpected inspiration

I come from a big family with about 12 cousins. Being the oldest, I’ve spent my life watching them and my younger siblings grow up. My intention was to write a film that highlighted the personalities of those young people I love. I didn’t realise what I was truly writing about until after it was done.

Searching for Daisies is the story of two children who meet in a rural neighbourhood, form an unlikely bond, and embark on an adventure, which fast becomes quite serious and forces them to unite and mature. It leads them to confront and question the true meaning of friendship and what it takes to make a home.

It took my Dad reading the script and pointing it out for me to realise I put a lot more of myself in the film than I intended. It centres on the characters, Daisy and Levi, but is also about my journey leaving Perth and moving to the Gold Coast during the pandemic. I had to go through a lot in terms of growing up quickly, and I came to realise the friends I made in my new home had become my family.

Lily Boisvert and Kaiya Thayn, the actor who plays Daisy

From pitch to production

I wrote the film in the first semester of my second and final year. It was my graduation film. All film students pitched their ideas to the class, which voted on the top 10, who then pitched to an industry panel. Only some of the films were greenlit.

The industry panel included people from Screen Queensland, industry directors, producers and writers.

I initially didn’t get through the first round and was worried I wouldn’t get to make the film, but the feedback given was invaluable. I took it all on board and fortunately was selected in the second round.

A moment captured from pre-production
A moment captured from pre-production

From there we went straight into pre-production. I built my crew entirely of Bond film students. It’s very much a community and everyone gets involved, with senior students taking on senior roles and more junior students assisting.

Jaz and Lily

Searching for Daisy and Levi

The casting was really important. I knew the film relied on the performance of the characters, and if we believed and cared for them.

Searching for Daisy and Levi

The casting was really important. I knew the film relied on the performance of the characters, and if we believed and cared for them.

I was advised to cast 12-year-olds who could carry the characters’ emotions but wanted to find kids who embodied them naturally. I wanted them to be themselves — nine-year-old kids — on camera.

I found Kaiya [Thayn], who plays Daisy, first. I met her through an acting class. She read the script and was the perfect balance of sassy and confident, communicating the emotion perfectly.

Tom [Walker], who plays Levi, was harder to find. I came across a video of him on Instagram, talking to camera about a film he’d been in, and just knew, that’s Levi.

Together, they were a firecracker. I'm so proud of them. When people watch the film, they talk about Daisy and Levi, which makes me really happy.

Tom, Lily and Kaiya smile at the camera in front of a petrol station

Lily Boisvert with Tom Walker, who plays Levi, and Kaiya Thayn, who plays Daisy

Quiet on set

The week before we started shooting, there was a moment where I did not think it was going to happen. We lost locations and crew, there were high winds and thunderstorms predicted.

It got to a breaking point where I was like, oh my God, I can’t do this.

When you work hard on something for seven months and, just the week before you hit all these obstacles, I lost faith in myself. But I had the most beautiful group of human beings around me — my cohort and the film school — who helped me get out of my head. People working on other films even came to help. They would drop things off or call and ask if they could get us ice, because we were shooting in 35-degree heat in the sun all day.

It was the hardest moment but it was also one of the best, because I felt so supported and knew that I had something really special here with Bond, my friends and team on the film.

A child talks to a woman in a director's chair

Actor Kaiya Thayn and Director Lily Boisvert

A female and male student wearing headsets smile to camera

1st Assistant Camera Kiana Scrase and Gaffer Ian Brand

A woman wearing a headset holds a camera

Director of Photography Jasmin Naish

A woman wearing a hat and headset smiles in the forest, with a camera next to her

1st Assistant Camera Kiana Scrase

A young boy and girl sit smiling on a bed, the girl holding a map

Actors Tom Walker and Kaiya Thayn

A 50-hour deadline

We shot across five days, so it was roughly 50 hours of shooting time.

Going into filming, my goal was to make it fun for people. I wanted to have the best time on set, so they’d want to work with me again. Sometimes it can get quite stressful, so the experience was important to me.

We shot in chronological order, which is unusual for films. I really wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the film in a natural way, so by the end the actors felt more comfortable with each other, which reflected their journey in the film.

It was all filmed on the Gold Coast, at Coombabah Lakelands, the Hinze Dam, and family and friends’ houses. Our final scene was filmed at a petrol station in Murwillumbah, just over the border in New South Wales. There was an oval next to the station and, after we wrapped, we all ran and lay on the grass in disbelief we completed the whole thing in five days.

Four young people embrace in a forest and smile at the camera

Kaiya, Kiana, Tom and Jasmin

The cast and crew

The finishing touches

The editor of the film was Perry Briggs, who is from my cohort and phenomenal. He was given all the footage and nailed the edit almost immediately. Then, we spent a lot of time going through and making sure the comedic moments were landing. My teachers were a huge part of the process, helping me with the sound design and providing feedback.

The day before the film premiered at Centrescreen, we played a test screening of Searching for Daisies in the theatre. As we walked out, I said to one of my academics, Chris Boyd, we needed music at the end. We went back to the Bond Film and TV labs and Chris pulled up a track, popped it on the timeline and it worked so perfectly. We didn’t have to adjust it.

I felt so supported by Bond and by my academics Chris Boyd, Chris Fitchett and Darren Paul Fisher. Everyone wanted to help make the best film we possibly could.

The premiere

On premiere night, I wasn’t thinking about awards; I just wanted people to like the film.

I was sitting between my Mum and Grandma, who had come from Perth, and we were sobbing as the credits played. It was so special.

Lily and friends at Centrescreen
Lily and friends at Centrescreen

A still from the film Searching for Daisies

A life-changing nomination

I’ve watched the AACTA Awards for as long as I can remember.

I was at my friend’s house when I got an email saying Searching for Daisies was in contention for Best Short Film. I thought, this is crazy.

I was working on a TV show at the time, called Darby and Joan. It stars Bryan Brown, and he found out about my film because one of the producers told him about it. He ended up watching it with Rachel Ward, who was the director is also his wife, and they gave me feedback.

To be able to stand up next to filmmakers I’ve admired for years and see my name next to theirs on the website is really cool. I’m a student and among these incredible filmmakers.

The AACTA poster for Searching for Daisies' nomination

A life-changing nomination

I’ve watched the AACTA Awards for as long as I can remember.

I was at my friend’s house when I got an email saying Searching for Daisies was in contention for Best Short Film. I thought, this is crazy.

To be able to stand up next to filmmakers I’ve admired for years and see my name next to theirs on the website is really cool. I’m a student and among these incredible filmmakers.

The AACTA poster for Searching for Daisies' nomination
The AACTA poster for Searching for Daisies' nomination

Lifelong lessons

I learnt so much during my degree, but I think the biggest lesson is that when you have a good group of people around you, supporting your vision, who believe in you — and you believe in them — you really can do anything.

If you love the people you're working with, then you can do anything, because the film was super hard to get made.

Now, more than ever, I know this is what I want to do in the future. I want to make it happen.

I was awarded a Screen Queensland Assistant Director’s attachment after graduation, which allowed me to gain on-set experience working full-time on Australian and international productions. I’ve spent the majority of 2024 on set, being surrounded by the best of the best in the world.

I always find myself watching the director and being inspired for how I may work in that role one day. The film industry is uncertain, but I know it’s the industry I want to be part of forever.