ScreenACT Newsletter

3 May 2006

Welcome to the May 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.

This month sees the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) Awards held in Canberra for the first time, with the local chapter of the ACS organising a Celebration of Cinematography Festival to showcase Canberra alongside the Awards. ScreenACT is pleased to be supporting the launch event for the festival.

Local production companies may wish to take note of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Request for Tender (RFT) listed below and attend the industry briefing to be held on 15 May in Canberra.

Also of note in this month’s newsletter is the Digital Content Industry Action Agenda industry awareness forum to be held in Canberra on Friday 16 June. ScreenACT encourages members of the film, games and ICT industries to participate in the forum.

Article submissions are due by COB 30 May 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.

ScreenACT would like to remind filmmakers about the need to obtain approval to film at many locations within the ACT and Capital Region.

Certain types of filming activities are not permitted in many public locations without first obtaining permission and, in some cases, paying a fee. Not all location owners charge a fee for filming on their premises and those that do charge a fee are often open to negotiation! However, many have formal approval processes relating to commercial filming on their premises, which are aimed at protecting the location, the public and your crew.

When planning to film at any location within the ACT and Capital Region, you should consider what approvals may be required well before filming is due to take place. ScreenACT can assist you with obtaining contact details for many public and private locations in the ACT and Capital Region, through our extensive Location Contacts Database. In the circumstance the location you are interested in is not listed, we are happy to do the running around and identify the correct contact for your location. ScreenACT can also assist with suggesting locations to suit the needs of your script using our Photographic Locations Database, which currently holds around 4,000 photos.

If you would like to know more about filming in public places, the Arts Law website (www.artslaw.com.au) provides some general information which may be useful – see the information sheet Do I need a location release? and Frequently Asked Questions.

If in doubt, contact ScreenACT and we can provide you with an appropriate contact for your enquiry. All ACT location enquiries should be directed to Edward Chalmers at edward.chalmers@act.gov.au. All NSW Capital Region location enquiries should be directed to Robert Pickles at robert.pickles (a) act.gov.au.

Media Release: 12 April

NSW Minister for State and Regional Development, David Campbell, formally announced last month that the NSW Government has provided $84,600 to support the ongoing employment of a Regional Production Liaison Officer, Robert Pickles, within the ScreenACT office. During a visit to Queanbeyan, Mr Campbell said the funds would be used by the Capital Region Development Board to support the ongoing operations of ScreenACT in promoting the region as a filming destination.

“In the past year, there have been 20 film and television productions in the region, injecting more than $4.2 million into the local economy,” Mr Campbell said. “This sort of activity is good news for local jobs, for businesses servicing the industry and for increasing local skills. This success builds on last year’s successful NSW Government Regional Film Tour which promoted the region to Sydney based filmmakers.”

Hansard edited proof transcript: 28 March

Member for Brindabella, Karin Macdonald, spoke highly of Paramita Roy’s debut feature, “Hori Alone in Kolkata” in the ACT Legislative Assembly on 28 March. The film screened at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre in late March (as mentioned in ScreenACT’s March 2006 newsletter).

In January 2005, as part of a team of five from Canberra, Sydney and Darwin, Paramita Roy traveled to India for the shoot. The film was completely self-financed.

Karin Macdonald represented the Chief Minister in his capacity as Minister for the Arts at the premiere. She commented in the Assembly, “I have to say that it is a beautifully produced film. Although you can tell that it is not a high-level production film, it is just wonderfully done.” She went on to say, “It is a credit to the ACT film industry that members of the ACT community are becoming involved in cultural film projects and that the resulting films are released in both the ACT and the rest of Australia. It is also encouraging to see cross-cultural relationships like this one being forged.”

ScreenACT would like to congratulate Paramita Roy on the success of her premiere in March.

Entries have closed for SNOWYfest 2006 with finalists to be posted on the website on Friday 5 May. The finalists in the Best Capital Region Film category are to be announced at Canberra Shorts at the Holy Grail on Thursday 4 May.

A record number of entries was received this year for SNOWYfest with almost 40% of entries coming from overseas including Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan and the United States, making SNOWYfest not only one of Australia's largest but also a truly International film festival.

SNOWYfest runs from 16-18 June in Thredbo with the full program of feature and short film screenings, and other events to be posted shortly at www.snowyfest.com.

The National Acting School website is now up and running.

Have a look at the site for information on classes and activities: www.thenationalactingschool.com.

2 – 5 May, ANU School of Art Gallery, Ellery Cres, Acton
Free Admission

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s evocative video artwork on media addiction, will be installed at the ANU School of Art Gallery from 2 – 5 May. The Gallery is open from 10.30am to 5.00pm. For details, contact the Gallery on (02) 6125 5841.

5:45pm for 6:15pm, Thursday 4 May, National Film and Sound Archive Theatre, McCoy Circuit, Acton
Free Admission (unclassified 18+)

“…the most visionary, critically lauded filmmaker working in South-East Asia today.”
Brett Farmer, Senses of Cinema

A selection of mesmerising video work from Thai director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Like his Cannes-winning feature films, Apichatpong’s videos explore the intersection between Thailand’s modern popular culture and the magic of its traditional village life.

Booking advisable to fiona.gunn@afc.gov.au or 6248 2289 as places are limited.

For further details, visit www.nfsa.afc.gov.au.

8pm, Thursday 4 May, Holy Grail Civic, Free admission

The May edition of Canberra Shorts will feature the usual mix of local and international shorts plus movie trivia. There are also the usual giveaways of beer, magazines, meal vouchers, and double passes to Electric Shadows.

This month will also feature the announcement of the finalists in the Best Capital Region Film category of the SNOWYfest International Film Festival 2006.

Canberra Shorts is run by industry volunteers and is supported by Ronin Films, ACT Filmmakers Network, Inside Film magazine, and the SNOWYfest International Film Festival in Thredbo.

Further information can be found at www.canberrashorts.com.

Saturday 20 – Sunday 28 May 2006, various venues, Canberra

To mark the 50th anniversary of Australian television and the 100th anniversary of the world's first feature (Australia's The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang) and to showcase Canberra's inaugural hosting of the National Awards for Cinematography, the Australian Cinematographer’s Society is holding a “Celebration of Cinematography” Festival in late May. The proposed line-up includes:

• Robert Krasker retrospective (first Australian to win an Oscar for Cinematography - in 1950 for Orson Welles' The Third Man), Electric Shadows, Sat 20 - Mon 22 May and Sun 28 May (ticketed event)
• Andrew Lesnie ACS Q&A (Oscar-winning cinematographer of Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong), National Film and Sound Archive, Fri 26 May 5.30-7pm (free public event)
• Festival launch, National Film and Sound Archive, Fri 26 May 7-8pm (free public event)
• Andrew Lesnie Masterclass/Workshop “Some basic philosophies in lighting”, National Film and Sound Archive, Sat 27 May, 9-1am (tickets $110 for non-ACS members, free for ACS members)
• Kodak “Stop By and Shoot” Expo, National Film and Sound Archive courtyard, Sat 27 May, 9-5pm (opportunity for cinematographers who have only shot video to get hands-on Super 16mm and 35mm experience)
• National Awards for Cinematography, Old Parliament House, Sat 27 May, 6-11pm (tickets $75).
  

For more information, contact Robb Shaw-Velzen at: acsact@cinematographer.org.au or visit the ACS website: www.cinematographer.org.au.

Electric Shadows Cinemas, City Walk, Canberra

The eclectic richness of the National Film and Sound Archive Cinémathèque continues throughout May with highlights including: “Orson Welles, Surviving Kane” a season of works celebrating the later independent films of Orson Welles; and a Robert Krasker retrospective (the first in a long line of Australian Directors of Photography to win an Academy Award) which includes The Third Man and Odd Man Out. The Krasker retrospective is presented in conjunction with the Celebration of Cinematography Festival being held in Canberra for the very first time.

Further details will be available on the NFSA website: www.nfsa.afc.gov.au/cinematheque and the Electric Shadows website: www.electricshadows.com.au.

Admission by subscription - Cinémathèque passes $15 For Any three films (no concessions) until 30 June 2006, available at the door. For details, contact Electric Shadows Cinemas on (02) 6247 5060. Presented in association with the Electric Shadows Cinemas and the Australian Film Commission.

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

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

Screening on June 4 is The Year My Voice Broke (PG). Other June screenings will be published in ScreenACT’s June newsletter.

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.

5:30pm for 6pm, Wednesday 3 May, National Museum of Australia

Admission: $5 (members), $10 (Public - Discount for UC students)

Curtis Levy, well-known Australian documentary maker, is coming to Canberra to speak at the National Museum of Australia. Levy will be showing clips from his latest film, “The President verses David Hicks” and talking about his experiences in the realms of documentary-making. He will be discussing the practices for producing and directing documentaries in Australia.

This event will be hosted by the University of Canberra Union (UCU) Film Production Society, but is open to the public as well as UCU Film Production Society members.

Levy has been producing documentaries for over 30 years. He began his career as an assistant producer for a commercial television network, made his first film about children's theatre in 1973 and then worked for ABC television.

For more information, visit the UCU Film Production Society website: ucfilmsociety.tripod.com.

7:30pm – 10:00pm, every 2nd, 3rd, 4th Thursday of the month, Tillies, Lyneham

The script writers group meets at Tillies, Lyneham every second, third and fourth Thursday of the month. The group is aimed at those wishing to discuss, exchange and develop opportunities to develop scripts.

There will be NO script writers meeting if Tillies has a Concert scheduled or a public holiday falls on the same day of a meeting.

For further information contact the ACT Filmmakers Network on (02) 6162 5160 or
e-mail: admin.actfilmmakers@netspeed.com.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 website.

Entry deadline: 20 May

SCINEMA is calling for science films or multimedia to be part of the 2006 Festival of Science Film, screening across Australia in August 2006 in celebration of National Science Week. The festival has three categories:

National Student Short Film Competition - open to all Australian Primary, Secondary and Tertiary students - make a short film on the subject of 'sustainability'.

International Film Festival - open to Australian and international science films, documentaries, television programs, fiction films and animations - anything with a science theme. This is a competitive film festival judged by a Jury chaired by COSMOS MAGAZINE.

Multimedia - websites, CDRoms, Student Projects, Installations - multi-media is included in the 2006 program for the first time - multimedia entries will have a science education theme, preferably addressing the theme of 'sustainability'.

Visit the SCINEMA website (www.csiro.au/scinema/enter/index.html) for terms and conditions. For more information, email: scinema@csiro.au.

Application deadline: 26 May

The Australian Film Commission (AFC) is calling for writers with well-developed scripts to apply for SP*RK, a script development initiative for scriptwriters looking to test their ideas in an intensive hothouse environment.

SP*RK provides a space for scriptwriters with a track record to be inspired and fly with new ideas in a challenging but supportive week-long residential script lab in Byron Bay, 22-29 October this year. Writers selected for SP*RK will dissect their scripts with leading local and international advisors, receiving detailed feedback through informal one-on-one sessions. Writers will be joined by their director and producer for the lab's final three days.

The line-up of advisors varies every year, but always comprises award-winning producers, directors, writers and creativity coaches from Australia and overseas.

SP*RK applicants must form teams comprising: a producer, writer and director; or, a producer and writer or writer/director. Teams should have a well-developed screenplay in which the structure, themes, characters and story are clear. Projects can be of any genre and any budget.

For more details see: afc.gov.au/spark.

Deadline: 6 June 2006

A request for tender (RFT) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was published in the Weekend Australian dated 29-30 April 2006 for "The Provision of a Film on Australia for use by Australia's Overseas Missions" (REF 06/100094). The details from the tender are quoted below:

DFAT is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced provider to design and produce a short-film on Australia, for use by Australia's Overseas Missions. The successful tenderer will be required to create a film that reflects an accurate and positive image of contemporary Australia. The final product should be structured into a series of two or three minute sequences that depict specific images of Australia as defined by DFAT. It is envisaged that these sequences could be played separately to showcase specific Australian achievements or foreign and trade policy interests, or shown together as a feature on Australia.

Full details of the RFT are contained on the DFAT web site: www.dfat.gov.au/tenders. Small and medium sized enterprises are encouraged to apply. Inquiries should be directed to Images of Australia Branch, e-mail: film.tender@dfat.gov.au.

There will be an optional industry briefing session on Monday, 15 May 2006 at 11.00am, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra. Details of the industry briefing and tender documentation requirements are in the RFT. All tender documentation must be submitted by 4.00pm (AEST) on Tuesday, 6 June 2006. Only those submissions which comply with the criteria and schedules outlined in the RFT will be considered.

Entry Deadline: 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 31 countries.

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.

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.

For further information on the awards and entry details see the ATOM awards website: (www.atomawards.org).

10 – 12 May, Los Angeles Convention Center

More than 40 Australian games studios and support companies will be attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006 this month in LA, including local firms BigWorld, Micro Forte and Prophecy Games.

ScreenACT is once again supporting an Australia pavilion at E3, coordinated by the Game Developers’ Association of Australia. ScreenACT is also providing assistance with E3 registration to Andrew Smith of local firm, Prophecy Games, to attend the event.

For more information on the companies being represented at the expo and conference, see the Games Australia E3 2006 booklet, available at the Game Developers Association of Australia website (www.gdaa.com.au).

australianscreen online, a groundbreaking new website initiative from the Australian Film Commission, was announced last week by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, at Parliament House in Canberra on 30 March.

Set to go live in 2007, australianscreen online will include clips from over 1,000 film and television programs from the collections of the National Film and Sound Archive and other project partners, including the National Archives of Australia, the ABC, SBS and Film Australia. Excerpts from feature films, documentaries, newsreels, short films and animations, as well as radio broadcasts produced in Australia over the past 100 years, will be accessible online to all Australians, irrespective of their geographic location.

"This cutting edge project will well and truly take Australia's audiovisual heritage into the digital age," said Chris Fitchett, the AFC's Acting Chief Executive.

For more information, visit: www.afc.gov.au.