RSPCA Victoria & MQFF’s short-film comp about cat desexing

The winner of De-Sexy Snippets, a short-film competition run by RSPCA Victoria in collaboration with the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF), has been announced today, with filmmaker Clay Waddell topping the public vote with the film ‘Copycat’.

Conceptualised to communicate the importance of desexing cats and the associated positive impacts on animal welfare, the four finalists’ films in De-Sexy Snippets received more than 750 votes collectively. For receiving the most votes online over the past three weeks, Waddell has been awarded $5000 in prize money.

With a simple yet effective concept featuring an office photocopier, ‘Copycat’ closes with the lines “BE A COPYCAT. GET YOURS DESEXED.”

RSPCA Victoria Head of Prevention Rebecca Cook said the organisation was thrilled with the level of engagement and conversation sparked about an important welfare issue as a result of the short-film competition.

“Desexing your pet is incredibly important as it prevents unplanned breeding and unwanted litters of animals. However, it is an ongoing challenge for us to communicate that message in a way that resonates with cat owners and makes them act.

“I would like to congratulate all of our De-Sexy Snippets finalists on making films that are engaging, entertaining and impactful, as well as delivering the animal welfare message,” Ms Cook said.

The finalists received funding to make their 30 second short film following a submission process in 2021, before they were opened to a public vote.

The four finalists’ films are:
• ‘Copycat’ – Clay Waddell
• ‘De-Sexy Your Cat’ – Emmanuelle Mattana
• ‘Be Sexy, De-Sexy’ – Lucy Davidson
• ‘One Conditional Love’ – Mary Gillen Blythe

You can still view the De-Sexy Snippets films now at rspcavic.org/mqff