To bring Ben Hall’s story to life in a 30-minute film documenting the infamous bushranger’s final days, the production team are hoping to raise $75,000 by Monday, July 7.

Forbes Shire Council has pledged $10,000 in support of the Ben Hall movie, bringing the project a step closer to reality.

The film’s writer, director and producer Matthew Holmes is ecstatic that Forbes Shire Council is so willing to back the project.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Forbes Shire Council has jumped on board,” he said.

“That’s what I wanted from the very beginning and to be able to get it is just fantastic.”

With Forbes Shire Council’s generous pledge, Mr Holmes said they are nearly halfway to meeting their goal of $75,000, with a total so far of $35,191 from 166 backers.

“We’ve got about $1,500 to go before we’re at the halfway point,” he said.

“We’re almost there - hopefully the next day or two we’ll see more come in and we’ll be working pretty hard to get there.”

Mr Holmes said Forbes will reap the rewards if the film goes ahead.

“If we can raise the rest of the money it’s going to be a really good asset for Forbes to have this film,” he said.

“We can finally bring this story and characters and history to life.

“People seeing it beyond Forbes will hopefully get really interested in this history and story and start discovering it for themselves and when they do Forbes will be a place that people will go to find out more and visit his grave and see where he was killed.

“I’m hoping this will bring Ben Hall back into the limelight and spring tourism interests.”

Forbes Shire Council’s general manager Brian Steffen said council are more than happy to support the project.

“Ben Hall is such a big part of our culture and history and it’s great to represent that in a modern movie,” he said.

To make the film become a reality, Mr Holmes is calling on individuals to pledge their support through Kickstarter, an online fundraiser for independent creative projects.

“The next week will be a big turning point and we just want to urge people to jump online and pledge $10 or $20 because that’s what we need most now and that’s what will get us there,” he said

“We’ve had lots of big pledges but we’ve depleted most of our options for big pledges now -we’ve had over 160 backers and to have raised over $35,000 with that many supporters is really good. It’s now up to individuals - anybody who wants to see this film should pledge.” If the production team doesn’t make the $75,000, the film won’t go ahead. To pledge a donation, go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendofbenhall/the-legend-of-ben-hall-an-australian-western-30-mi