A young woman wakes late and sprints through her day to deliver ‘the money’ to a mysterious stranger. As odd encounters and escalating obstacles block her path, time seems to reset around her. Fast, frantic and playful, she races fate itself, discovering timing is everything and nothing is as it seems.
One For The Money, the debut short film by Australian husband-and-wife duo Maddy Tyers and Jimmy Eaton, was shot with a cast and crew of eight on an iPhone 17 Pro in four hours (plus many more in post).
It has also been selected as a 2026 Tropfest YouTube Wildcard finalist, one of ten films viewers are invited to like, comment and share before 14 February via the festival’s YouTube channel in order to determine which one is shown during the festival later this month.
We asked Maddy and Jimmy some questions about the film.
Can you tell us about One For The Money – what happens in it, and was this a new idea or something you’d been sitting on for a while?
JIMMY: I’ve been sitting on this idea for a while. It came to me almost four years ago when Maddy and I were helping our friend Harris move into a four-storey apartment block. I thought to myself ‘I would love to shoot something in this location’. Fast forward to late 2025 and we are shooting essentially a one-shot film in that very apartment block.
MADDY: The movie itself was heavily inspired by Tropfest’s signature item, the hourglass. We are both massive cinema geeks and our film is a love letter to the movies and electronic dance music we grew up with in the mid 1990s.
The film is littered with easter eggs paying homage to the very films that inspired Jimmy to go to film school. He’s a pretty clever boy, if I do say so myself.
It was shot in one continuous take. Can you talk us through the planning and choreography that made that possible?
MADDY: As an actor it was an awesome and very live experience, being able to just travel through the space in real time with no cuts – a super theatrical and immersive way of performing.
I think poor old Jimmy had a much more difficult job. He was director and DOP so he was running backwards through a public apartment block with people going about their day. When you see the film, you’ll notice that Jimmy is also actually in front of the camera in parts too.
He would literally run through the whole building, filming me and then just before he’s on screen, he’d hand the camera to his AD and then step into position right before the shot swings over to him. It was a real dance both on and off camera.
JIMMY: I love films like 1917 and the incredible TV series Adolescence. I also love to make it really hard for myself!
There were a lot of failed attempts at getting it all in one take. I backed into walls a few times. Even though we had their blessing to film, a few people who lived in the apartment building would walk out of their doors into the shot.
During a take, a lovely old woman walked out to tell us how excited she was that us young people were filming, which was hilarious. The apartment lift, which was about 10,000 years old, kept refusing to perform. They say never work with children or animals. Maybe they should add grumpy elevators to the that list too?
Why shoot on an iPhone 17 Pro, and what (if any) extra kit did you use (mics, gimbal, lenses, lights)? What would you do differently next time?
JIMMY: If Danny Boyle is happy to use an iPhone 17 to shoot 28 Years Later we figured it would be good enough for our little motley crew. They are so incredibly versatile to use and for indi filmmakers like us, way cheaper to afford.
They now shoot at 4K with a stabiliser in them that’s so good we didn’t even need our gimble. Sound was a real challenge being that we were shooting in a living breathing apartment block. With delivery trucks, vacuum cleaners and crying babies all creating a cacophony of sound, we made the choice even before shooting that all dialogue would be ADR.
MADDY: We are very lucky that one of Jimmy’s best men at our wedding was Brendan Croxon, an EMI award-winning sound engineer. Brendan has worked on shows such as Westworld, Lost In Space and Mr In-between.
Brendo agreed that given the very stylistic nature of the film, ADR actually worked in our favour adding to that 90s surreal vibe.
Some people will know you from your time as contestants on LEGO Masters. What did that experience teach you that unexpectedly helped on set, and what didn’t translate?
MADDY: I genuinely believe that all the hours of standing while we made LEGO on that show trained our quads for all of that running. We also filmed in a building called The Brickworks so there’s a bit of thematic divergence for you.
JIMMY: Yeah, for sure. I think 10% of filmmaking seems to be making the movie you want to make and the other 90% is problem solving. The lift, which is essential to the story, broke down two days before the shoot. It was the same in LEGO Masters.
When your LEGO falls apart you can either freak out and go home or you can just think, ‘OK, this is just a puzzle, lets solve it. Dare I say sometimes having the problem creates a completely unexpected outcome that makes it even better.
What does being a 2026 YouTube Wildcard finalist mean to you, and what’s this 12-day audience engagement sprint been like emotionally and practically?
JIMMY: We are so thrilled to have made it this far. We’re in such awe of everyone who has submitted. Saying that, we’re not out of the woods yet. Our film is now in what’s called the wild card selection. Our short and nine others are now on YouTube for you to watch right now.
Only one of them will join the 15 finalists, which is slightly brutal.
MADDY: This is where we really need everyone’s help. We are so proud of this film but that’s not going to be enough. We need you legends to help get us get over the line. Please watch our film, like it and comment. If we are lucky enough to make it through, we will do our best to mention all 10,000 people in our speech. Haha!
What are you working on next, and what kind of opportunities are you hoping this moment opens up?
MADDY: We’re not very good at sitting still. Last weekend, we shot our second film, written and directed by Jimmy and we film comedy sketches online every week. We’ve formed a production company Win Win (named after our two-year-old daughter Winnie).
Win Win is a place to pour our collective creative chaos into projects we genuinely want to make. It’s a home for playful ideas, strong characters, and stories that don’t take themselves too seriously.
JIMMY: I’m excited to meet fellow filmmakers and actors too. Our favourite work always comes from collaboration, especially with talented friends who share our taste, timing, and curiosity. For anyone wondering, yes our second film was also filmed in a single take. I really am a sucker for punishment.
Support One For The Money: watch the film and drop a like/comment/share to help its 2026 TROPFEST YouTube Wildcard run:
