ScreenACT Newsletter

It was announced by Canberra based Andrew Dillon, executive producer of That’s-A-Wrap Productions, that the company has signed award-winning Australian cinematographer Andrew Lesnie to be Director of Photography for its upcoming science fiction action-adventure project, Resistance.

Resistance is the story of a covert attempt by aliens from outer space to take over the Earth and a guerrilla-style battle to stop them when most of the world won’t believe the threat exists. Its focus is on a band of super-smart teenagers at the centre of the conflict: who help save the world while dealing with school, hormones and dating.

Andrew Lesnie is a master cinematographer with a broad range of experience in television and motion pictures, his recent work includes all three of the Lord of the Rings movies (for which he won an Oscar) as well as King Kong and I Am Legend.

“I pride myself on bringing to every production a wealth of passion, enthusiasm and desire for great filmmaking” said Lesnie. “I become inspired by my collaborators and great projects. And Resistance is a project that truly excites me. It should be a lot of fun.”

Full production on the feature length Resistance project is planned for late 2008, with some preliminary scenes being shot in Canberra in upcoming months.

Switch Media in Sydney is looking for freelancers to assist in the regular creation of news video clips for an online news service. Freelancers would need equipment and skills in camera work, lighting and sound, as well as post-production. Working with an interviewer, the aim is to produce short, punchy news items or interviews of 1-5 minutes in length. After editing, material would be uploaded for online deployment.

Switch Media works with organisations that see video as a key part of their everyday business and communications approach. Their head office is in Sydney, with other offices in Mumbai and Hong Kong. All work for this assignment is in the ACT.

For more information, contact Christopher Stenhouse on 02 8004 5580 or email
cstenhouse@switch-media-group.com

The FFC has announced that as of this week Alex Sangston will take over from Antonia Barnard as Manager of Film Finance Corporation Australia’s Producer Offset scheme, from June 1.

Sangston joins the FFC from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage, and the Arts (DEWHA) in Canberra, where he has been active in the development of the incentives scheme, its legislation and guidelines.

For more information on the offset see www.ffc.gov.au

Sound Day on 18 June at the National Film and Sound Archive celebrates the cultural significance, art and history of recorded sound in Australia

Sound Day is a new addition to the national cultural calendar, where the sounds of Australia will be celebrated by many sectors of the music industry, broadcasters, journalists and the public alike.

The day’s celebrations will commence at 12.30pm with the launch of the book Hearing Places: Sound, Place, Time and Culture edited by Ros Bandt, Michelle Duffy and Dolly MacKinnon. The book will be launched by composer Warren Burt.

When: 12:30pm, Wednesday 18 June
Where: National Film and Sound Archive foyer
Cost: Free

For more see: http://screensound.gov.au/whats_on/

The Canberra Institute of Technology’s 9th annual film and television awards take place on Thursday June 19 at the National Museum of Australia, from 7pm.

Tickets are free and available by contacting Alison Halpin (Event Manager) on 02 6208 5021 or bookings@nma.gov.au

Many great screenplays originate from first-time screenwriters. They tell an original, idiosyncratic story that has matured for years, with touches of deep realism, flesh-and-blood characters and sparkling, acutely lively situations.

The ‘original story’ of a first-time screenwriter is often a direct adaptation of observations from the real world. When it comes to screenwriting, writing successfully is adapting successfully. To write great poetry, novels and plays, your mastery of language needs to transcend the functional to the realm of magical. As a screenwriter, the magic is in the material and its structure, not in the text per se. The art of screen adaptation isn’t much of an art at all. It is a learnable skill.

This workshop helps you to:
- recognise why some adaptations worked beautifully and others flopped
- identify the potential for a screen story in your own material (novel, short story, bio etc.)
- structure your material into a screenplay that works, based on the much touted but rarely understood ‘three act-structure’.

12 July from 10-5pm (with a break for lunch)

Cost: $90 members of ACT Writers Centre, AWG and ACT Filmmakers Network
$72 concessions
$140 non-members.

Bookings essential on 6262 9191 or on-line at www.actwriters.org.au/workshops.html

George Lucas transformed mainstream filmmaking by applying Joseph Campbell's theory of the Hero with the Thousand Faces to the movies. Today, an increasing number of successful films are loyal to the mythical structure of storytelling for the screen. It has become virtually impossible to build a career in screenwriting without a basic understanding of this popular theory.

Using examples from STAR WARS to THE LIVES OF OTHERS, this workshop shows how the twelve stages of the Hero's Journey are present in all great films of the past thirty years.
This workshop doesn't just present an academic analysis of the mythical elements in movies. It shows you how the Hero's Journey can enrich the traditional Three-Act Structure and empower the screenwriter using the tools that made storytellers great and their tales immortal.

13 July from 10-5pm (with a break for lunch)

Cost: $90 members of ACT Writers Centre, AWG and ACT Filmmakers Network
$72 concessions
$140 non-members.

Bookings essential on 6262 9191 or on-line at www.actwriters.org.au/workshops.html

Applications close Monday for the annual $25,000 FOXTEL Fellowship: Rewarding Excellence with Creative Freedom. The prestigious award reflects the AWF’s recognition that television writing can make a significant contribution to the Australian cultural landscape and is made possible due to generous sponsorship from FOXTEL.

The Fellowship rewards and encourages excellence and achievement in television writing and will be awarded to a television writer who has created a body of work that is impressive in its craft, scope and impact.

The Fellowship will provide the recipient with the creative freedom to develop a current project over a period of eight months. At the end of this period the Fellow is expected to produce a market-ready script.
For more see: http://www.awg.com.au/artman/publish/article_541.shtml

The next closing date for fund applications for Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) is June 30, 2008.

The FFC will be accepting applications for production investment for all program areas: documentary, feature film, adult television drama and children’s television drama.

Decisions regarding these applications will be made under the auspices of the new federal screen agency, Screen Australia, which commences operation on July 1, 2008. Meeting dates for the Screen Australia Board will be confirmed following appointment of the Chair.

The FFC guidelines for application for all program areas are available at www.ffc.gov.au/investment/

It is recommended that producers contact the Investment Managers to discuss projects prior to application:

Sydney office (02) 9268 2555 - Sally Browning and Chris Oliver for features and television drama, Julia Overton for documentary.

Melbourne office (03) 9279 7300 - Ross Matthews, documentary, feature and television drama.

If you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Australia's national
screen arts and broadcast school - June 21 is your chance to find out.
AFTRS Open Day 2008 is a perfect opportunity for prospective students to
experience our wonderful new building (located within The Entertainment Quarter at
Moore Park in Sydney's East) and our state of the art facilities.
The Open Day will run from 11am – 3pm and will include studio demonstrations,
screenings, talks, course information and guided tours (bookings are essential for
guided tours, call (02) 9805 6607 or (02) 9805 6629 to secure your place). To learn
more about the Open Day see here

SPAA Conference 2008 welcomes the return of Nickelodeon's Land a Pilot initiative. Nickelodeon Australia has increased the funding offer to $25,000 towards the production of a children's television pilot. The finalists will pitch at the Conference on Thursday 13 November with the winner announced on the day at the Sheraton Mirage Resort on the Gold Coast.

Last year's Land a Pilot winner Monkeystack is commencing final approach in the production of their animated pilot, Bridget the Goddess. With additional funding granted by the South Australian Film Corporation, the project's head writer Robert Greenberg held a writing workshop to develop storylines.

Says SPAA's Gaylee Butler, "Nickelodeon's Land a Pilot is one of several successful pitching initiatives that has been introduced to the conference program. SPAA's vision to create a television market environment at the conference is proving to be a winner and we are excited to have Nickelodeon on board again this year."

Nickelodeon is looking for a series concept that appeals to the highly competitive pre-teen 10-12 year demographic. It can be animated or live action, comedy or drama, reality or game show. A program that both challenges and connects emotionally with their audience; reflecting Nickelodeon's irreverent sense of humour with a look and feel that is original and surprising.

Applications close: 5pm Friday 24 October 2008.

Guidelines and an application form are available from www.spaa.org.au/conference.
The SPAA Conference takes place, 12 - 14 November 2008, Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland.

The 55th Sydney Film Festival kicked off this week. This year’s festival include ‘s16 World Premieres, 135 Australian Premieres and a stunning array of red-carpet galas at Sydney's majestic State Theatre.

For more information and the full program see the festival’s website: www.sydneyfilmfestival.org

Now in its 12th year, the AEAF Awards attracts entries from around the world. The awards give recognition and reward excellence and creativity in 10 categories of competition.

Commercials Animation - Commercials VFX - Titles, Idents & Stings - Short Film - Student - Music Video - TV Series - Flash Animation - Feature Films, Animation - Feature Films, VFX

Rob Coleman - Oscar nominee two times as Animation Director on Star Wars - Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace will head the international panel of judges.

Have you created award-winning animated work during 2007-2008? Would you like to have your work viewed by your peers in the VFX community, including many international artists from the world’s top studios? Do you deserve industry recognition for your talents?
Don’t miss out on your chance to be involved in Australia’s leading competition for the creation of animation and effects. All nominated entries will be screened at the AEAF Awards night on 12 November 2008 Chauvel Cinema Sydney.

For more see: http://www.digitalmedia.com.au/node/815

The British Council of Australia is offering six hot young Australian creatives a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fly to Britain to work with a creative leader in their industry. You even get $8,000 to help you live the dream! The scheme includes the area of Film and Digital Content
Applications close July 31st

For more see: http://www.realiseyourdream.org.au/

Screening 1 & 2 October 2008 in Sydney
Travelling to over 20 national locations & overseas

The World of Women (WOW) Film Festival is a short film festival that promotes and awards the talents of women directors, producers, writers, editors and cinematographers in the Australian and International film industry. It is a unique festival that offers emerging and established filmmakers the opportunity to screen short works giving a thematic perspective of “seeing the world through the eyes of women”.

Short films up to 55 minutes with key creative input by women.
Woman DIRECTOR OR women in any TWO of these roles:
PRODUCER, WRITER, EDITOR or CINEMATOGRAPHER.
DEADLINES:
Early bird 30 May 08
Regular 30 June 08
Late30 July 08

For more information see: http://www.nsw.wift.org/wow/