DRF project is running in development environment, expects to deploy to Render through yaml. The error message is as follows:

==> Running 'gunicorn core.wsgi:application'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/bin/gunicorn", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(run())
             ^^^^^
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/wsgiapp.py", line 67, in run
    WSGIApplication("%(prog)s [OPTIONS] [APP_MODULE]", prog=prog).run()
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/base.py", line 236, in run
    super().run()
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/base.py", line 72, in run
    Arbiter(self).run()
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/arbiter.py", line 58, in __init__
    self.setup(app)
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/arbiter.py", line 118, in setup
    self.app.wsgi()
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/base.py", line 67, in wsgi
    self.callable = self.load()
                    ^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/wsgiapp.py", line 58, in load
    return self.load_wsgiapp()
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/app/wsgiapp.py", line 48, in load_wsgiapp
    return util.import_app(self.app_uri)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/opt/render/project/src/.venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/gunicorn/util.py", line 371, in import_app
    mod = importlib.import_module(module)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1126, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 241, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1140, in _find_and_load_unlocked
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'core'

gunicorn is called in Procfile as follows:

web: gunicorn core.wsgi:application

have tried to change the module name to django_project.core.wsgi:application but the error persists.

I have tried to the following project structure:

django_project
django_projectcore
django_projectcore__pycache__
django_projectcore__init__.py
django_projectcoreasgi.py
django_projectcoresettings.py
django_projectcoreurls.py
django_projectcorewsgi.py # module is defined here? Why can't gunicorn recognise it?
django_projectmyapp
django_projectmyapp__pycache__
django_projectmyappmigrations
django_projectmyapp__init__.py
django_projectmyappadmin.py
django_projectmyappapps.py
django_projectmyappmodels.py
django_projectmyapptests.py
django_projectmyappurls.py
django_projectmyappviews.py
.env
.gitignore
db.sqlite3
manage.py
Procfile # reads "web: gunicorn core.wsgi:application"
README.md
render.yaml
requirements.txt

another potential problem area is yaml file:

databases:
  - name: my-database
    plan: free
    region: oregon

services:
  - type: web
    name: my-drf-app
    env: python
    plan: free
    buildCommand: "pip install -r requirements.txt && python manage.py collectstatic --noinput && python manage.py migrate"
    startCommand: "gunicorn core.wsgi:application"
    envVars:
      - key: DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE
        value: core.settings
      - key: SECRET_KEY
        generateValue: true
      - key: ALLOWED_HOSTS
        value: my-drf-app.onrender.com
      - key: DATABASE_URL
        value: postgresql://my_database_0jkb_user:oRsLKq[...hidden...]

have also tried to change the startCommand to gunicorn django_project.core.wsgi:application but the error persists.

can see my full repo here: http://github.com/lmcrean/drf-practise