It took former Swan Hill resident Holly Hargreaves less than a day to make her Tropfest nominated short film, Diary of a YouTuber.

The actor and filmmaker grew up in Swan Hill but now lives in Melbourne.

She said she knew since she was a child what she wanted to do with her life.

"I moved to Melbourne as an 18-year-old to pursue my dreams of becoming an actor," she said.

"Everyone is so creative in Melbourne, you're just surrounded by art."

Ms Hargreaves is a self taught filmmaker and began writing and directing her own short films to create acting jobs for herself.

"I just started making films and learnt from my experiences what works and what doesn't," she said.

After submitting films to Tropfest for five years (and rejected every time), Ms Hargreaves said initially she wasn't going to enter this year.

"I said to myself that I wasn't going to make one this year, but it came down to the day submissions were due and I just thought, 'why not'," she said.

"You never know, you just need to make what you want to make.

"Being selected for Tropfest has been a dream of mine for a very long time, so it was awesome to hear I was a finalist. It's a really great platform for young filmmakers.

"Getting into the top 16 was just awesome, but just being there and being a part of it will be amazing."

To read more about this story, grab a copy of Friday's Guardian (February 3).