ScreenACT Newsletter

Our nations capital will be next to host Flickerfest – screening at the Dendy Cinema Canberra Centre on March 21 & 22 www.dendy.com.au
Flickerfest will be kicking off its Opening Night by screening the outstanding International 2 programme featuring the Flickerfest 2009 Best Short Film Award Winner Dennis and the Academy® Award nominated Russian short Lavatory Love Story. Free wine tasting will start the celebrations from 6pm and an after party with nibbles and drinks provided by Flickerfest beverage sponsors Coopers, The Wine Society and Jameson will keep the party going after the 7pm screening.

The award winning Best Of Australian Shorts programme will screen from 7pm on Sunday March 22nd including the AFI nominated animations Mutt & Chainsaw, along with the terrifying thriller Advantage. Flickerfest's tour to Canberra is supported by Screen Australia.

36 entries were received. Each film had to be produced in just 10 days, run for 7 minutes or less and feature 10 items from around Canberra.
The judges included: Dianne Ireland, Senior Manager, Chief Minister's Department's Events unit and LCA judge since its inception 6 years ago and Belinda Barancewicz: a Producer/Director at Southern Cross Ten, Previous winner of LCA and Previous judge.
12 awards were presented on Friday evening, at the gala screening and awards ceremony. They included:
Best Acting Performance: James Hunter for ‘Southern Hills High'. James first entered LCA when he was 15 years old and directed this year's film with his sister Sarah.
Best Film Patrick J Gallagher again for ‘Brotherhood of the Y II: The Tomb of Lilith'. Patrick produced, directed and wrote his film. He has entered every year for the past 6 years and won many awards. He had never taken out 'Best Film' until this year.
Best Student Film: Cameron Brown and Emma Paine produced ‘Love'. They are students from St Francis Xavier College.

Here is the full list of winners:
Award Film Recipient
Best Sound Design Brotherhood of the Y II: The Tomb of Lilith Patrick J Gallagher
Best Editing Stakeout Torben Sko & Beau Vardos
Best Original Music Southern Hills High Jeff Evans
Best Cinematography Our Difficult Hearts Asher Floyd
Best Screenplay Stakeout Torben Sko, Beau Vardos, Mark Russell
Best Acting Performance Southern Hills High James Hunter
Best Use of an Item The Great Hatsby Stakeout Producers: Clare Martin & Hana Tow
Best Director Brotherhood of the Y II: The Tomb of Lilith Patrick J Gallagher
Best Student Film Love Producers: Cameron Brown & Emma Paine
Best Use of Theme Gettin your Steak Out Producer: Christian Doran
Best Supporting Actor Appearing in every film! Dominic McKinnon
Best Film Brotherhood of the Y II: The Tomb of Lilith Producer: Patrick J Gallagher

ENCORE SCREENING: If you missed the screening festival, you can catch the films at the Encore Screening Wednesday 15th April, 7pm at the National Museum of Australia, Visions Theatre. Entry is Free, Ages 15+

Application close: 19 May 2009

AFTRS is running a National online course introducing participants to the fundamentals of creating an industry standard feature film script.
The course comprises 10 modules with a variety of written assignments. Courses will be run ONLINE on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7pm-9pm starting on June 2 and finishing on August 6, 2009. Total cost of the course is $750.00
Luke Devenish will be the course presenter. Luke is a scriptwriter, novelist, playwright and lecturer. He was a Head Writer with Neighbours from 2001 to 2007, working in creative roles including Script Producer, Story Editor and Supervising Script Editor, overseeing over 1,500 episode scripts for the iconic soap. He was Script Executive on Something in the Air and, with ABC TV Drama, worked in the writing and development of SeaChange. His historical fiction novel, Den of Wolves, was published by Random House in 2008
By the end of this course participants will have had the opportunity to:
•Discover what makes a good story
•Explore mythic genres
•Learn about plot, protagonist, premise, problem
•Investigate elements of good dialogue
•Examine treatments and scene breakdowns
To apply go www.aftrs.edu.au and click onto short courses, click on the Apply Now link (top of page), upload a CV and professional experience summary and a personal statement outlining your reasons for applying, your experience in the specialist area and how you propose to use the knowledge and skills you will gain. Selection is competitive.

Local Canberra production house, DVAustralia would like to announce upcoming APPLE CERTIFIED TRAINING weekend boot camps.
FINAL CUT PRO: 21st-22nd March
COLOR: 26th-27th March
MOTION: 2nd-3rd May
Certified training for just $700 a seat.
Run by Australia's Apple Master instructor for Pro Apps.To register your interest please call:
0412 780 207 or visit www.dvaustralia.com

Entries for the Dungog Film Festival close on March 31. The festival is open to completed shorts, features, documentaries and animation (film and digital), scripts and works in progress (for narrative and for documentaries at 50 mins and above). www.dungogfilmfestival.org

Entries for the 2009 DigiSPAA Competition will open on April 16. Participants could win $15,000 cash and $20,000 worth of post-production, a guaranteed screening of their film on the Movie Extra channel, plus a return airfare and free registration to the CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam. www.spaa.org.au

The 200 Seconds short film competition is an initiative from Australia Post and the Australian Film Institute. Filmmakers are invited to make a 200 second long film featuring a parcel. The judging panel includes Robert Connolly (Romulus My Father, Three Dollars, Balibo), Gyton Grantley (Underbelly, Balibo), Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood), Sarah Watt (Look Both Ways, My Year Without Sex), Melanie Coombs (Harvey Krumpet, Mary and Max) and Tahnee McGuire (Still Life). Entries close on August 31. www.auspost.com.au/200years

The Show Me Shorts Film Festival is calling for entries until 5pm Monday the 6th of July. The festival will screen throughout New Zealand from November 5, and for the first time this year, it will include workshops for short filmmakers in Auckland and Wellington. www.showmeshorts.co.nz

The Melbourne International Film Festival has extended its deadline until April 3.

The Filmfest@Falls short film competition is seeking submissions; entries close April 16. Spanning the queen's birthday weekend and the opening of the 2009 ski season, the festival has an industry sponsored prize pool awarded by an independent jury and valued at over $80, 000 for best film, best director, best script and special jury Recognition and new for 2009, craft awards for sound and cinematography. www.fallscreek.com.au/filmfestival

The Australia-India Council (AIC) welcomes funding applications from individuals and organisations in Australia for projects which are likely to promote long-term contact and cooperation between Australia and India. AIC grants are intended to provide seed funds for innovative proposals relevant to the mission and goals of the Council.

The Council gives priority to projects in the following areas:
•The Arts (including literature and film)
•Education
•Social initiatives (including public health and sport)
•Science/Technology/Environment
•Public Policy Activities (including media links)

The Council will also consider applications for funding support for a limited number of projects and activities in other areas consistent with Council objectives.

For more information, contact:
The Director - Australia-India Council
PO Box 5363
KINGSTON ACT 2604
Tel: 02 6261 3833
Indian applicants should contact:
Australia-India Council C/- Australian High Commission
1/50 G, Shantipath, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi – 110 021
Tel: 4139 9947

Submission deadline: 13 March

Next Wave is seeking projects that respond in interesting and complex ways to the 2010 Next Wave Festival theme NO RISK TOO GREAT. The Next Wave Festival will take place in May 2010 in Melbourne. The Next Wave Festival is a curated biennial festival open to young emerging artists seeking support for the creation of new works or projects in visual arts, dance, performance, new media, text, sound and more. Next Wave encourages applications for the creation of hybrid works that combine two or more art forms; from curators and collectives as well as individual artists; and from interstate and regional applicants.

For more info, visit: www.nextwave.org.au

Entries extended to: Friday 13 March 2009 at 5.00pm.

The Australian Writers' Guild 42nd Annual AWGIE Awards are now open for entries. The AWGIE Awards are the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) annual awards for excellence in screen, stage, radio and new media writing. The AWGIEs are the only peer assessed awards for performance writers with judging based on the written script - the writer's intention - rather than the finished production.

.”Over $100,000 in special prizes and fellowships will be presented at the awards including the $25,000 Kit Denton Fellowship which rewards courage and excellence in performance writing, the $25,000 FOXTEL Fellowship for television writers and the $15,000 John Hinde Award for Science Fiction. The recipient of the Major AWGIE, for Outstanding Australian Script of the Year, will receive the $10,000 Copyright Agency Limited Peer Recognition Prize. The 2008 Major AWGIE was awarded to Peter Gawler, Greg Haddrick and Felicity Packard for Underbelly .

For more info, visit: www.awg.com.au

Submission deadline: Friday, 27 March 2009

SBS has called for applications for a career-enhancing mentorship award that will offer support, guidance and opportunities to emerging Indigenous talent in the Australian film and television industry.
All entrants in the SBS Indigenous TV Mentorship Award must have at least one credit on a completed production shown in film festivals or on community or national Australian television or be in the first two years of their principal role, for example as screenwriter.

The award lasts for one year commencing in May and is intended to build the winners industry contacts and knowledge. The winner recieves travel to one international and one Australian or New Zealand industry confrence; mentoring and industrial introductions by SBS represenatives and three free hours of legal advise from SBS's external law firm sponsors.

Applications must be received by email at ITA@sbs.com or received by mail at SBS Indigenous TV Mentorship Award, Strategy & Communications, SBS, Locked Bag 028, Crows Nest NSW 1585 by close of business, Friday, 27 March 2009.

For further details, including selection criteria and terms and conditions, visit www.sbs.com.au/IndigenousAward

March deadline for receipt of expressions of interest is 27 March 2009

Screen Australia is committed to assisting in the development and creation of viable screen businesses. The Enterprise Program will provide funding of up to $500,000 per year for a three-year period to support production companies who have identified opportunities to develop and expand their business in terms of turnover, range and number of projects and/or the range of business activities undertaken to enhance the company's sustainability. We anticipate supporting a diverse range of companies and budget levels through this program.

The program aims to enhance Australia's screen businesses by:

• supporting existing businesses to grow to their next stage
• encouraging new business partnerships and alliances assisting Australian screen companies to develop a strong presence in the international marketplace
• encouraging the development of new revenue streams
• facilitating increased development of quality Australian projects and talent
• encouraging development, production and marketing strategies which employ digital media such as websites, mobile phone content and digital distribution.

The Enterprise Program will achieve these aims by supporting Australian producers seeking to progress their business through a range of strategies such as further developing their slate of projects, investigating new business opportunities, developing industry and marketplace relationships, forming new business alliances, etc. For more information, check the website: http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/industry_support/Development/Enterprise.asp

Deadline for Indications of Interest: Monday 6th April 2009

Each year the Cinematography Dept at AFTRS conducts a training course for up and coming Camera Assistants. They are trained in the roles of Clapper Loader and Focus Puller in structured training sessions over 5 weeks. Following this training period, the Camera Assistants will then work on the AFTRS' Graduate Diploma Cinematographers main project shoots for the year. The Production Block will give them an opportunity to work on at least one and possibly up to 3 projects. The entire training process is on a voluntary basis, with no fees or other costs involved. AFTRS requests a Training Fee of $500 up front, but this is refundable at the end of the volunteer's time with them. The 5 week training period will require attending the school from Monday to Thursday each week from 9am – 5pm. This year the training will commence on Monday 15th June for 5 weeks. The Production Block will follow, with productions shooting up until approx. 2nd October.
How to apply - Send an email to the Head of Cinematography, Jan Kenny (jank@aftrs.edu.au) which includes the following:
1. An indication of your interest in being considered for a place in the course
2. One short paragraph explaining why you wish to do the course
3. Attach a CV.

Interviews for short listed applicants will be conducted on Thursday 16th April 2009.
For any other queries please contact: Jan Kenny (02) 9805 6546 or Erika Addis (02) 9805 6547

Application Deadline: Ongoing

ScreenACT is offering a limited fund to supply ACT practitioners with up to $250 per person, by way of non-repayable grant, to assist with costs for interstate professional development opportunities or other travel opportunities. The fund is intended to assist ACT Practitioners attend conferences, festivals, seminars, or specific one-off workshops.
The type of events this fund is intended for (but not limited to) is:

• SPAA Fringe
• Game Connect Asia Pacific
• Australian Effects and Animation Festival
• National Screen Writers Conference

Attending various festivals (providing you have a project that has already been accepted for inclusion in that festival).

Guidelines and application details are available at http://www.screenact.com.au/res/File/ScreenACT%20Prof%20Dev%20Attend.pdf