ScreenACT Newsletter

Micro Forté are currently developing some exciting new MMOG properties and are constantly recruiting the very best talent. We look for self-starters, people who can fit into our team environment, and who are able to contribute valuable ideas to a project.

Current positions include:

• Producer (Canberra)
• Lead Artist (Canberra)
• Senior Artists (Canberra)
• Senior Artist (Sydney)
• Senior Programmers (Canberra)
• Linux Programmer (Canberra)
• Level Designer (Canberra)
  

Please visit the Micro Forté Jobs page for detailed job specifications and application details - www.microforte.com.au/jobs/index.php.

ScreenACT omitted the above article in the 1 June 2006 newsletter and apologises for any inconvenience caused.

1 June 2006

Welcome to the June 2006 edition of the ScreenACT Newsletter: a source of information from the ACT Government for the local Film, Television and Digital Media industry and enthusiasts. We welcome your feedback and news.

Last month saw cinematographers from around Australia descend on Canberra for the Australian Awards for Cinematography, held here for the first time. The local branch of the Australian Cinematographers Society put on a series of events as part of a "Celebration of Cinematography" Festival to highlight Canberra's inaugural hosting of the Awards and key events in Australian film and television history. Congratulations to Robb Shaw-Velzen for his work on getting the Awards to Canberra and organising the festival around them. ScreenACT was pleased to have been able to support the launch event for the festival last Friday.

Congratulations to Bearcage Productions on recently winning a Grand Remi Award for Best TVC at WorldFest-Houston in the USA. Its great to see one of our local production companies being recognised for their talent and skill on an international stage. Bearcage's Michael Tear is also participating this month in Stage 2 of Enterprise Tasman (his experience at Stage 1 in March was reported in a previous newsletter). We look forward to hearing more about Michael's progress following Stage 2.

This month sees local filmmakers competing for the Capital Region prize in the SNOWYfest International Film Festival in Thredbo. Members of the ScreenACT team will be present at the event, so take the time to say hello if you are attending to see your film compete or just to enjoy the films.

Student filmmakers are also competing this month for CIT's annual Film and Television ("FAT") Awards. ScreenACT is proud to be sponsoring the prize for Best Script at this year's Awards. Best of luck to all the students taking part.

The Digital Content Industry Action Agenda forum will also be held this month in Canberra, on Friday 16 June. This is an opportunity for members of relevant industries to find out how the Action Agenda may impact them, what recommendations have been made and to participate in the discussion. We encourage members of our local industry to register your attendance.

An interesting seminar will be hosted this week by local group, FNI(A), on 3D and Special Effects. The seminar will be lead by one of the talented teachers from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE), Sebastian Perri. We are fortunate to have a leading digital media educational institution here in Canberra, so if you are interested in finding out about the role of 3D and Special Effects and how you can learn more through AIE, get along to the free seminar on 1 June.

Finally, don't forget the ACT Government's 2007 Arts Fund is open for applications - see article below.

Article submissions are due by COB 27 June 2006.
ScreenACT welcomes news stories, upcoming events and other items of interest from subscribers for inclusion in our newsletter.


Please ensure all articles are accurate and have been proofread prior to submission. ScreenACT holds no responsibility for the publication of inaccurate information submitted to it by external parties and reserves the right to edit and/or refuse articles at its discretion.

Articles should be submitted by email to screenact@act.gov.au with “Newsletter Item” in the subject line.

Past exhibitors at the Asia Television Forum (ATF) and prospective exhibitors for ATF 2006 are invited to attend a meeting in Canberra on Friday 9 June with Catherine Wong, Publisher of Television Asia and Asia Image. BusinessACT and ScreenACT worked with Austrade to support an ACT delegation of 7 members to attend ATF 2005 in Singapore.

Catherine is responsible for organising the Apollo Awards and the Asian Television Awards for both the magazines. In addition, TEG is tasked with the marketing of the ATF for Australia, US and Europe. ATF is organized by Reed Exhibitions, part of Reed Elsevier.


In addition to her role as Publisher of TEG, she has two other portfolios, Director of the International Sales Group and Publisher of the Manufacturing Group. She has worked in Reed Business Information Asia for 3 ½ years and has successfully launched 3 new magazines in the manufacturing group.

Catherine has more than 15 years of work experience in sales and marketing within the Asia pacific region. She has worked in travel, broadcasting and media industry. In broadcasting, she was instrumental for the launch of satellite channel into Taiwan and the marketing of TV programs to the global market.

Catherine will be meeting with production houses in Sydney on Thursday 8 June and those from Canberra on Friday 9 June, at a time to be advised. If you are interested in attending the meeting in Canberra, please contact the ScreenACT office on 6205 0587 or by email to screenact@act.gov.au.

Robert Pickles, Regional Production Liaison Officer in the ScreenACT Office will be one of the judges in the Capital Region category of SNOWYfest screening at Thredbo from 16 – 18 June. Robert will be representing ScreenACT at the event so take the time to introduce yourself.

Chief Minister and Minister for Arts Jon Stanhope is encouraging the ACT’s arts community to apply for a share of the 2007 ACT Arts Fund. The fund was designed to boost the ACT’s already thriving arts culture. The funding categories for 2007 are Key Arts Organisation Funding, Community Arts Funding, Project Funding, and a suite of awards and prizes, including the ACT Poetry Prize, the ACT Book of the Year Award and up to three Creative Arts Fellowships.

This year the ACT Arts Fund has been enhanced so that applications are simpler to complete and guidelines are easier to understand.

For application forms and the 2007 ACT Arts Fund Information Booklet, phone artsACT on 6207 2384.

All applications must be received by 5pm Friday 9 June 2006. Forms and information are also available at www.arts.act.gov.au.

Canberra production company, Bearcage Productions, has taken out the Grand Remi Award for Best TV Commercial at WorldFest-Houston, the third oldest film festival in North America. The award was presented to Bearcage for its work on the TransAct “Timelord” television campaign.

Bearcage won the award ahead of more than fifteen hundred entries from thirty countries.

The TransAct campaign, written by ZOO Advertising and produced by Bearcage, was an entirely local achievement, shot throughout the city and introducing a character, The Timelord, who controls time using TransAct’s web, telephone, television and other services. 900 hours were invested into the project by the Bearcage team over 5 weeks allowing the project to be entirely produced within the ACT.

For more information contact:
Bearcage Productions executive producer Michael Tear: 02 6248 8444

Local producer, Michael Tear, is participating in Stage 2 of Enterprise Tasman in Sydney from 15-16 June. Enterprise Tasman is an innovative program designed to equip Australian and New Zealand screen business entrepreneurs with essential business skills. Enterprise Tasman 2006 began with a residential workshop in Milawa, Victoria from 24-28 March 2006.

Michael is the only representative from the ACT selected to participate in Enterprise Tasman 2006 and attended Stage 1 of the program, the residential workshop, in Victoria in March.

Stage 2 of the program involves tutorials to be held at the Australian Film Commission in Sydney, offering participants plenary sessions on a variety of topics aimed at helping them fine tune their business plans, including financial forecasting, legal issues, capital structures and pitching. Participants will then have the opportunity for private consultations with the presenters on these topics.

Feedback will be provided to participants on their business plans in July and every participant will pitch their business plan or strategy paper to the group on 28 July.

The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) is currently in the process of developing a course in digital compositing. The skilled use of compositing software allows users to seamlessly combine footage shot at different locations or different times into one frame. It also allows the addition of animated characters, digital environments or visual effects to a story.

The course aims to cover the following topics: shooting and working with greenscreen/bluescreen footage, removing suspension wires or unwanted objects from a shot, integrating objects that were created with 3D computer graphic software, digital colour correcting and colour grading of footage for improved integration and storytelling, using particle systems and special effects footage to create visual effects (explosions, fog, rain, falling snow, muzzle fire, etc.).

The course is designed to run either as an evening class or through online delivery via the internet. Currently AIE would like to gauge how much interest there is among the filmmakers of the ACT in participating in such a course. If filmmakers feel there are additional areas of digital compositing that are of interest, then here is a unique opportunity to help shape the course by suggesting topics. AIE aims to finish development of the course in time for delivery in the second semester of 2006 and are open to any suggestions that will help structure the course to meet the needs of the filmmakers.

Any expression of interest or feedback is most welcome and should be directed to Thomas Magill at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, thomasm@aie.act.edu.au.

Last Easter, over 80 CIT media students converged on the National Folk Festival. Their mission: to set up and conduct an outside broadcast of all performances in the Budawang venue.

Under the guidance of their teachers, they honed their skills in camera operation, multi-camera switching, responding to direction and teamwork. And, to the delight of audiences, their work was immediately displayed on the venue’s big screen.

CIT students also worked with the National Library in filming interviews with performers for the “Live in the Lounge” project. This aims to expand the library’s oral history collection and included interviews with songwriter Joy McKean (Slim Dusty’s wife), indigenous performers “the Narbalek band” and multicultural entertainer Kavisha Mazzella.

Head of Department, John Frohlich, said he was delighted with the educational value of the event and praised the efforts of CIT students and teachers.

“I’m always impressed by the ability of our students to respond to the challenges of a pressured real-world work environment,” he explained.

“This is what makes them so successful in industry and in the last month five of our students have secured jobs with Prime, Ten Capital, and ABC TV, even before graduating.”

In total, over 50 hours of footage was recorded, and this will be sent to performers and contributed to the National Film and Sound Archive.

If you would like to work on a future media initiative with CIT, please contact John Frohlich on 6207 4061.

For more information about CIT media courses see: www.cit.act.edu.au/foccus/communicationmedia.

The Goulburn district is becoming a popular location for filming. A student film is scheduled to be shot in June. This film is to be made by the Australian Film Television and Radio School and is a larger production than the average student film, also including professional actors. It is called “Pleasance” and the story revolves around two brothers who run a family farm. The film will be shot from June 5 to June 9. Locations to be used include Mt Podmore, Taralga, Yalbraith, Laggan, Pejar Dam and a farm outside Goulburn. The film is written by Tim Lee and will be directed by Amy Gebhart.

Original article by David Cole, Goulburn Post, May 29, 2006

6:15pm (refreshments from 5:30pm), Thursday 1 June, National Film and Sound Archive Theatre, McCoy Circuit, Acton, Free (bookings recommended)

Peter Yeldham has worked in radio, film, television, theatre and literature for more than 50 years. Scriptwriter for Age of Consent, 1915, Jessica, The Far Country, All the Rivers Run and many other celebrated film and television productions, he is also the author of eight novels, most recently The Murrumbidgee Kid. Join the National Film and Sound Archive to hear Peter talk about his life and share his insights into the writer's craft. Includes audience Q & A.

To make a booking call 6248 2000. For more information visit the National Film and Sound archive website: www.nfsa.afc.gov.au.

8pm, Thursday 1 June, Holy Grail Civic, Free admission

This month’s installment of Canberra Shorts previews some of the Best Short Film finalists at SNOWYfest plus some more great local works. Movie trivia continues with this month's hint being... name the actor who only starred in 6 films - the last five of which were all nominated for Best Picture.

Canberra Shorts welcomes submissions from local filmmakers at any time. Entry is free and details can be found at www.canberrashorts.com.

Canberra Shorts is run by volunteers and is proudly supported by Electric Shadows, RONIN FILMS, the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, the ACT Filmmakers Network, SNOWYfest Thredbo, and the HOLY GRAIL.

Friday 9 June – Monday 12 June, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Conflux membership required for admission

The Conflux Fantastique Film Festival takes place in conjunction with Conflux 3 – one of the largest science fiction and pop culture conventions. The Film Festival of science fiction, fantasy, horror and animation short films was open to both Australian and International filmmakers.

Films will be screened in the theatres at the National Museum of Australia. The unique four-day convention will appeal to lovers of science fiction, fantasy and horror books, films, comics and games, and also includes attractions such as communication links with science fiction’s best known writers, 2001: A Space Odyssey co-writer Sir Arthur C Clarke and Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury.

For further information, visit www.conflux.org.au or email the Film Festival Director at filmfestival@conflux.org.au.

All screenings Sunday 4pm, Tuggeranong Arts Centre Cinema
2006 Season $35 (10% discount for TAC and Artsound members)

June/July will see a celebration of Australian/New Zealand Film from the Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s newly formed Film Society.

June 4: The Year My Voice Broke (PG)
June 11: Soundtrack to War (M)
June 18: High Tide (M)
June 25: Once Were Warriors (MA15+)
July 2: Whale Rider (PG)

For further information, contact the Tuggeranong Arts Centre by phone: 6293 1443, e-mail: luisap@tca.asn.au, or visit their website: www.tca.asn.au.

7pm (Doors open 6:30pm) Awards Ceremony, 9:30pm – 11pm Reception, Thursday 15 June, National Museum of Australia. Free admission by arrangement

Roll out the red carpet for the Canberra Institute of Technology’s ninth Film and Television Awards (affectionately and more commonly known as the FAT Awards). The event will exhibit the emerging film making talent from CIT’s Communication, Media and Music students.

The Awards provide a unique opportunity for students to showcase the skills and talent they have developed throughout their study as well as giving the Canberra community a preview of the film making talent of tomorrow.

FAT Awards 2006 will see an expert panel of judges award prizes to first year students in 8 categories including Best Script, Best Soundtrack, Best Art Direction, Best Camera, Best Editing, Best Documentary, Best Directing and the prestigious Golden FAT for Best Film. And four awards to second year students including Best Film, Best Studio Production, Best Director and Best Music Video.

ScreenACT is a proud sponsor of the 9th Annual Film and Television (FAT) Awards. Manager, Simone Carton, is also on the judging panel for the Awards.

For more information and to secure your free tickets to this exclusive event please call the Communication, Media and Music office on 6207 4348.

Friday 16 June – Sunday 18 June, Thredbo Alpine Hotel, Thredbo

The SNOWYfest International Film Festival kicks off at 7pm Friday 16 June with the first screening of this year's Best Capital Region Finalists. This is followed by three days of features, workshops and short films including the prestigious Best Short Film competition. Highlights include an acting workshop by the National Acting School and a Short Film Basics seminar for those who are interested in having a go but have never known how or where to start.

The 4-star Thredbo Alpine Hotel is offering great deals for festival goers. Details and the full festival program can be found at www.snowyfest.com.

7pm, Thursday 1 June, Belconnen Community Theatre, Swanston St, Belconnen, Free admission

The 3D and Special Effects Seminar will be presented by Sebastian Perri, Senior Teacher at AIE.

Sebastian currently teaches the Certificate IV in 3D Animation for Games and Film and the Diploma of Screen at AIE Canberra. Sebastian will talk about the applications of 3D & Special Effects for film production, particularly small budget short film, and the assistance that AIE can provide to filmmakers in the ACT.

The Seminar is proudly sponsored by Belconnen Community Centre, The Belconnen Arts & Cultural Development Program, a project of Belconnen Community Service.

For further information, or to obtain a copy of FNI(A) Film Entry Application Form 2006, contact Nora Preston (email: fni_@yahoo.com.au) on 6161 1596 or 0415 296 472. See the FNI(A) website at www.geocities.com/fni_a/.

6-8pm, Thursdays 8, 15, 22 & 29 June, ACT Writers Centre,
Cost: $180, or $160 ACT Writers Centre members & concessions

The AWGIE Awards, the flagship event on the Australian screenwriting calendar, recognise and celebrate excellence in writing for film, television, theatre, radio and new media. The Awards include the Monte Miller Award for an unproduced script by an associate member of the Australian Writers Guild.



This 4-part workshop will help you get your AWGIE script written and give you tips including what kind of script works, turning your idea into a saleable script, and what Australian producers are looking for.

Bookings essential through the ACT Writers Centre on 02 6262 9191 or online at www.actwriters.org.au.

2pm, Friday 16 June, Old Parliament House, Canberra

Representatives of the digital content and creative industries are invited to a forum on strategies to harness the potential of these rapidly expanding industries in Australia. The aim of the forum is to brief participants on the Action Agenda Report and strategic plan, and to establish a network for national implementation. The forum is for firms and organisations working in the creative and digital content industries, such as film, advertising, games, broadband, mobile content, broadcasting and ICT.

The Canberra forum will be held on Friday 16 June 2pm at Old Parliament House.

Online registration arrangements and information about the forums are available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts’ (DCITA) website at www.dcita.gov.au.

Submission deadline 2 June

Open Your Eyes to emerging media opportunities and discover how to devise compelling next generation media at the next Laboratory for Advanced Media Production live-in-lab. LAMP is designed to future-proof projects by guiding creative teams through the opportunites offered by broadband television, IP television, web 2.0 services, mobile media, games and non-linear storytelling.

AFTRS LAMP has worked with high level creative teams from ABC TV, News Interactive, Firelight, Bush TV, Movie One and a host of independents to workshop and prototype new services.

In July LAMP is holding its fourth live-in-lab and is calling for creative teams from all parts of the Australian media industries to submit cross-media projects. The week long development lab will be held on tranquil Milson's Island, north of Sydney between the 2nd and 7th July 2006. It will be run with four teams from AFTRS and four from the Australian media industries.

Participants will be led by Australian and international mentors with specialist skills in design, writing, business, user experience and the technical aspects of transmedia. LAMP is a truly practical, production and market focused mix of seminars, workshops, immersive rapid prototyping live-in-labs and industry focused product development. Visit www.lamp.edu.au/ to find out more, check the selection criteria and download an application form.

If you would like to develop your property for cross media delivery please download an application form by visiting http://lamp.edu.au/apply/. The submission deadline is June 2, 2006. For all general queries email: lamp@aftrs.edu.au

Entry deadline: 21 June

The Home Brewed International Film Festival is now calling for entries. Entries close 21 June and are open to films up to 30 minutes in duration. Prizes this year include $5000 cash for the winners of the Best Short Film 0-10 minutes and the Best Short Film 10-30 minutes. Entry forms can be found at www.homebrewed.com.au
And... Home Brewed will be screening in Canberra again this year!

Entry Deadline: 12pm, 12 July, Judging: August, Finalists notified: Mid September, Awards ceremony: 10 November

The ATOM Film, Television and Multimedia Awards recognise the achievements of Australian and New Zealand professional educators and students in 36 categories.

The awards are open to students, production companies, independent filmmakers, educational bodies and producers and celebrate the very best of Australian and New Zealand product.

The awards and the presentation ceremony are designed to facilitate networks between Media students and industry professionals, making it unique among a host of other media related awards.

Australian Teachers of Media Inc is the professional association for teachers of media. Membership of ATOM is available to qualified teachers in any discipline, members of the film, television and multimedia industries, and people supporting the general aims of the organisation.

Download the call for entries at the ATOM Awards website http://www.atomawards.org or call the ATOM Awards office on 03 9534 9986.

18 – 31 July 2006

Planning for the 3rd annual Canberra Games Festival is well underway. Organisers IE Events will soon call for organisations and community groups to nominate their game related event to be included in the Official Festival Program.

The new theme - Culture Art Identity - celebrates the positive contribution that games have made to our society and recognises the increasing acceptance of games both as a valid form of entertainment and an art in itself.

Event nomination forms and program details will soon be available on the Official Canberra Games Festival Website at www.canberragamesfestival.com/. Check out the website and add yourself to the mailing list to receive updates on the Festival.
The Canberra Games Festival is assisted by the ACT Government through the ACT Festivals Fund.

For more information visit www.canberragamesfestival.com/ or contact Peter Henderson - Event Coordinator, email peterh (a) ieevents.com.au, Ph 6162 5108, Fax 6242 5090.

Entry Deadline: 16 October. Film Festival: 22 February – 4 March 2007

The acclaimed biennial Adelaide Film Festival celebrates and explores contemporary screen culture. The program includes special events, live performance and the premiere of films commissioned by the festival.

The Adelaide Film Festival calling for submissions from all genres of contemporary screen culture that have been completed in the last two years – including features, documentaries, animation, short films, music video, experimental and new media.

For more information and submission guidelines visit: www.adelaidefilmfestival.org or email: info (a) adelaidefilmfestival.org.

The Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA) is reporting that Australian Game companies are on the brink of signing agreements to make major new games in Australia. This is as a result of liaison with the worlds’ biggest game manufacturers and publishers at the E3 Games Expo and Conference in Los Angeles (the E3 Games Expo and Conference was mentioned in ScreenACT’s May newsletter). International Companies such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft attended the Expo. Australian games developers Big World, Micro Forte, Prophecy, Auran, Wicked Witch, to name but a handful, attended also. The Expo drew to a close on Friday 12 May.

At the massive LA Convention Centre, around 60,000 games industry professionals viewed their competitors’ products. Australia’s representatives comprised 145 executives from 42 game companies. Their goal was to seek new investment, publishing, manufacturing and outsourcing deals to Australia.

Full article appeared in the Australian Financial Review, 15 May 2006.

ScreenACT was a proud sponsor of the Australian pavilion of E3 2006.

24 May 2006, Media release

The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, has announced a statutory review of the Australian Government’s refundable film tax offset scheme, which he says aims to ensure Australia remains a key destination for big-budget film and television productions.

“Today I have instructed the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts to commence the review of the film tax offset,” Senator Kemp said.

“This review aims to examine the effectiveness of this scheme in attracting large-budget production to Australia, and the effect of the offset on the Australian production industry.”

The offset review is a separate process from a broader review of Australian Government support for the funding of Australian films that was announced by the Government on 9 May 2006. However, the findings of the offset review will inform the broader review.

Since its introduction in 2002, 17 film and television programs have been certified for the offset resulting in combined expenditure of over $885 million in Australia.

The film tax offset review is being carried out in accordance with section 376-110 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The deadline for submissions to the review is 7 July 2006.

For more information on the Refundable Film Tax Offset Scheme and to access the Refundable Film Tax Offset Scheme: 2006 Review of Division 376 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 discussion paper online, visit: www.dcita.gov.au/filmtaxoffset.

See the full media release