Short Sharp Digital Industry

Australian digital projects: five nominated for SXSW Interactive Awards

2012-02-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

Australian digital projects: five nominated for SXSW Interactive Awards

Screen Australia
Tuesday 31 January, 2012

In a significant international acknowledgment for Australia’s digital sector, five Australian projects have been selected as finalists for the SXSW Interactive Awards 2012.

Founded in 1997, the SXSW Interactive Awards identify the best new digital works from around the world, from mobile and tablet apps to websites, kiosks and installations, while celebrating those who are building tomorrow’s online trends.

Two Australian projects are finalists in the Film/TV category including Goa Hippy Tribe, a social media documentary about a hippy reunion in Goa from filmmaker Darius Devas and production company Freehand. The project was supported by SBS and was selected for INPUT 2011. In the same category is The Gradual Demise of Phillipa Finch, an interactive experience, animated series and iPhone game for anyone who has ever suffered a broken heart. The project features the voice of Toni Collette, was produced by Rachel Okine of Hopscotch, based on the works of creator Emma Magenta and was supported by ABC TV.
Producer and creative director Martin Potter and producer Anna Grieve’s Big Stories, Small Towns is an Australian finalist in the Community category. The project is an evolving multi-platform documentary featuring collaborations between small-town communities and filmmakers in residence who have created stories full of love, humour, family and belonging.

In the Art category is Curious Creatures, an interactive installation exposing users to strange encounters with inquisitive and beautiful creatures from the surrounding woods at a festival site. A large-scale augmented reality projection project combining animation, sound design, gaming, installation art and electronic music, the work has been installed to date at locations such as the Lismore Lantern Parade and Splendour in the Grass festival. The project is a collaboration between creative director Jimmy McGilchrist, executive producer Craig Walsh and producer Carli Leimbach.

The Dragon Children from SBS Online has been nominated in the Educational Resource category. The project is an interactive multimedia website exploring the success of Chinese-Australian students within Australia’s education system, as part of SBS’s continuing commitment to Chinese-Australian audiences and the SBS Chinese Virtual Community centre project. The key creative team includes news reporter and producer Johnny Lu, online creator Matt Smith, online developer Ken Macleod and online producer Nicole Redenbach.

The winners in each category will be revealed at the 15th Annual SXSW Interactive Awards Ceremony presented by HP on the evening of Tuesday 13 March at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

For more information on the SXSW Interactive Awards visit: MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "www.youmailme.com.au" claiming to be http://sxsw.com/interactive/awards

AFTRS SCREENWRITING COURSES

2012-01-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

AFTRS SCREENWRITING COURSES
The Australian Film Television and Radio School, in conjunction with Arts Mid North Coast, will be presenting a one day screenwriting course in Coffs Harbour on Saturday 18 February. The course is presented by award winning writer, playwright and lecturer, Dr Carl Caulfield. It will cover all aspects of screenwriting from story to dialogue, character and short film.
The course will also be offered in Port Macquarie – venue and scheduling details to be confirmed.
Contact Arts Mid North Coast on (02) 6658 9400 for further details.

SPAA FRINGE HEADS TO BRISBANE

2012-01-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

SPAA FRINGE HEADS TO BRISBANE

www.spaafringe.org.au
How to Survive Thrive! in a Converging Landscape

Four Australian producers discuss their ground-breaking strategies for developing and distributing content with a commercial angle (while breaking all the rules).

Using case studies and personal experiences, this seminar will look at:
·       The current state of play for the screen production industry
·       Future directions in cross-platform storytelling and marketing
·       Alternative sources of finance
·       Emerging innovations

Date: Wednesday 22 February 2012
Time: Seminar 10.00 am – 12.00 pm | Roundtables 1.30 – 3.30pm
Venue: Cinema, Griffith Film School, Cnr Dock and Vulture Streets, South Brisbane
Registration: SPAA Members $20 / Non members $25
SPEAKERS
David Jowsey, Bunya Productions
David has a production company in partnership with the director, Ivan Sen. His credits include Mad Bastards, Toomelah, Satellite Boy and Dreamland. David will talk about producing small budget films and the opportunities available to increase revenue outside of the traditional distribution pathway.

John L Simpson, Titan View.
John L is primarily a distributor and producer, but has worn many caps during his career. John is a champion of low budget feature films, distributing The Jammed and producing Men’s Group. His survival tactics are inspirational.

Angie Fielder, Aquarius Films
Angie has just successfully completed her first feature film, Wish You Were Here. What did it take to get her first feature up? What choices did she make and why?

Debbie Lee, Head of Comedy, ABC TV (TBC)
Debbie will discuss digital projects, the changing trends of TV and what that means for emerging producers.

Following the session, attendees will have the opportunity to put further questions for discussion with the speakers at roundtable sessions.

www.spaafringe.org.au

Robert Carter at Bellingen Readers Writers Festival 2012

2012-01-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

WRITE – SHOOT – DIRECT: SUNDAY 25th March 2012, 3:30 to 4:30pm- Bellingen Hall
Robert Carter sold his Sydney house to shoot an almost impossible film in the desert in Broken Hill: Thirst. Come hear an inspiring story of filmmaking triumph over adversity.Chair: Christina Hyde www.bellingenwritersfestival.com.au/

A full-time writer since 1986 when his first novel, The Sugar Factory won the Angus & Robertson Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Robert Carter has published two other novels, Prints in the Valley and The Collectors, as well as a collection of short stories, The Pleasure Within.

He has published poetry in various literary journals and been translated into several languages, winning a number of awards around the world. A recipient of Writers’ Residencies in both
New York and Paris. His work has been translated into several languages and won a number of awards around the world.

In 1997/8, Robert wrote and directed a feature film adapted from his first novel ‘The Sugar Factory’ which won Best Film at the Hollywood Film Festival.

His latest film, ‘Thirst’ is opening in Sawtell Cinema in March —

After a sensational opening in Sydney.

See www.thirstthefilm.com and: http://youtu.be/xKcTqF8nOGU

MENTORING FOR REGIONAL SCREEN PRACTITIONERS Closing Date extended to 5pm 20 January 2012

2012-01-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

MENTORING FOR REGIONAL SCREEN PRACTITIONERS
Closing Date extended to 5pm 20 January 2012
Regional Mentor Program
Deadline - Applications must be received by close of business Closing Date extended to 5pm 20 January 2012.
Regional screen practitioners have the opportunity to be mentored by some of Australia’s most experienced screen producers through the ‘Mentoring for Regional Screen Practitioners’ program. The aim of this pilot program is to develop the skills and grow the businesses of regional screen practitioners. This will be achieved through intensive mentoring over a three month period by experienced Sydney-based industry professionals. The program will also include workshops designed specifically for producers in regional areas that will develop the skills needed to finance and produce screen content, and establish and sustain a regional production enterprise. The program is funded by NSW Trade & Investment, the NSW Government’s business development agency.

For more information and to obtain an application form contact:
Christina Hyde, Program Coordinator
Email: Christina@christinahydeconsulting.com
Mobile: 0412 016 870

Applications Close 16 Jan Regional Mentor Program

2012-01-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

MENTORING FOR REGIONAL SCREEN PRACTITIONERS

Regional Mentor Program
Deadline - Applications must be received by close of business Monday, 16 January 2012.
Regional screen practitioners have the opportunity to be mentored by some of Australia’s most experienced screen producers through the ‘Mentoring for Regional Screen Practitioners’ program. The aim of this pilot program is to develop the skills and grow the businesses of regional screen partitioners. This will be achieved through intensive mentoring over a three month period by experienced Sydney-based industry professionals. The program will also include workshops designed specifically for producers in regional areas that will develop the skills needed to finance and produce screen content, and establish and sustain a regional production enterprise. The program isfunded by NSW Trade & Investment, the NSW Government’s business development agency.

For more information and to obtain an application form contact:
Christina Hyde, Program Coordinator
Email: Christina@christinahydeconsulting.com
Mobile: 0412 016 870

Broadband Arts Initiative

2012-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Broadband Arts Initiative
Broadband Arts Initiative
Artists are invited to propose innovative arts projects that utilise next generation high-capacity broadband enabled by the National Broadband Network. The Broadband Arts Initiative will support artistic teams with up to $100,000 to develop and present their project enabled by the NBN.

Expressions of interest for the Broadband Arts Initiative are due to the Australia Council by 15 February 2012. See complete application guidelines for eligibility and selection criteria for this initiative and contact Australia Council staff to discuss your proposal ideas.

Are you Thirsty for a new kind of Australian film?

2011-12-27T17:07:00.001-08:00

Are you Thirsty for a new kind of Australian film?

These guys sell the house, select the best cast, crew, story and location to create a stunningly beautiful film — Thirst is brilliant on the big screen.

Thirst was shot in the same desert locations Mad Max 4 / Fury Road wanted to use before the 100 year drought breaking rains came — Thirst is a new kind of Australian story set in the Australian outback, packed with life, laughter and love.

Please forward this email on to your friends and colleagues who want to come along and enjoy great Australian cinema.

Join us at 7:30pm on 7th January for the Premiere of Thirst at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington, Sydney and help us build the thirst for Thirst!

Cheers,Megan

Website www.thirstthefilm.com
Facebook http://ow.ly/4WaHz
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/thirstthefilm
YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/thirstthefilm
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1726796/

VOD and Documentary: Scrine open for streaming business

2011-12-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

VOD and Documentary: Scrine open for streaming business
by: David Tiley Screen Hub

Gil Scrine, veteran distributor of documentaries, has gone public with beamAfilm, his VOD service supported by an Innovative Distribution Grant from Screen Australia of $250,000. The company is now publically searching for projects.“I think we are offering the best deals around the place,” said Gil Scrine. “We are offering more money for exclusivity – 65% - or 50% for non-exclusivity. From what we gather, most of the other places like Fairfax Digital amd Bigpond are offering between 45 and 50% for non-exclusive VOD.”

With non-exclusive rights, of course, producers can place projects with many different sites. The financial splits occur after costs, which would include encoding, and bandwidth, which is expected to be around 40c per program. The site is hosted and supplied by a VOD provider in Boston; it is possible to sub-license to iTunes but this is not central to the deal.

What makes this different from any other local VOD proposal? Scrine already has long experience in distribution, through Gil Scrine Films, and its successor, Antidote Films, the theatrical distribution and DVD sales arm of that enterprise.

Now he has partnered with Louise van Rooyen as co-owner and managing director, to harness her "20 years experience in digital media industries mixing technology, innovation, creativity and relationship-building.." Also on board is Ruari Elkington, formally described as the acquisitions manager. They see beamAfilm as a boutique enterprise, strongly curated, to bring together Australian films from both contemporary and historical catalogues, so they reinforce each other and provide different takes on similar themes.

“We feel also that beamAfilm is more than just a list of titles,” said Scrine. “Most VOD distributors seem to think that more is better, and the bigger list is going to make more money. This is possibly true, but we take the view that we not only want to sell these films but to celebrate them, and celebrate the people who made them. beamAfilm is different in this regard.”

He expects the films to be supported by written material and additional interviews, to showcase the artistic collaborators, the vision and approach, and the cultural context. This free material will be offered on the beamAfilm YouTube channel.

To create beamAfilm, Scrine and van Rooyen have been spending $250,000 from Screen Australia through an Innovative Distribution Grant. That amount partly covers the costs of setting up the site, which include the research, the site build, the legals and developing that curated content which will make it unique.

Sourcing material has been challenging. Like many other offers, it will only deal with material which is easily digitised. The core source of titles is the filmmakers themselves, while useful clues can be found in the excellent catalogues from the former Australian Film Commission, and now Screen Australia. The decision by Screen Australia to revert rights to producers after seven years - which does not include Film Australia projects - is pretty valuable to a site which attempts to create historical context.

Unsurprisingly, the rights for projects are often a mess. Besides the caveats in underlying rights for archival which bedevil documentary, Scrine and Elkington are picking their way through contracts which scooped up all the rights inside the broadcast license.

Ironically, some broadcasters kept the rights to subscription television, but did not specify video-on-demand or the net. Now the VOD providers like Quickflix look very much like a subscription channel – but they are unemcumbered.

What are the prospects for co-operation with ATOM and the AFI, both of which are now setting up a VOD system for Australian content? Not so far, he admitted, but the independent distributors all know each other, and share an ecosystem. So he expects synergies to develop over time.

After all, each group shares the same central problem - how to get noticed in a jumbled digiverse awash with content.

At the moment, the company is talking to producers. beamAfilm will launch the site formally at the Australian International Documentary Conference.

Creative Industries' Career Fund | Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL)

2011-12-26T01:12:00.001-08:00

Creative Industries' Career Fund | Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL)
Copyright Agency Ltd allocates $150,000 a year to support individual Australian creators
and those involved in the creative industries who wish to develop their skills and take their
careers to the next level. Applicants can apply for grants of up to $5,000 to undertake
training, travel or other activities that will enhance their careers. Click here to download
application guidelines and information on the Creative Industries' Career Fund. Click here
to view some of the more recent projects supported by the Creative Industries' Career
Fund. Applications close 20 January 2012, 5pm

Brief: tunnelling into the VOD market

2011-12-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Brief: tunnelling into the VOD market

eCut
Monday 28 November, 2011

Ahmed Salama and Valeria Petrenko, producers of the crowd-funded The Tunnel, have decided to set up their own online movie platform, called eCut, in 2012.

The Tunnel has come out on every conceivable platform - BitTorrent, iPad, VOD, Cable and DVD - so the producers claim three million sets of eyeballs since May 2011.

According to the release, "eCut will give filmmakers, distributors and online film festivals the power to screen their films and set ticket prices, release windows, Geo block territories down to city level and set live event screenings in multiple time zones. eCut will also boast an in-built merchandising platform allowing filmmakers to upsell physical and digital goods such as soundtracks, commentary tracks, and bonus content."

It claims to extend the marketing possibilities even further - "to empower content creators to create sophisticated marketing campaigns - from the script stage through to the film’s production and finally, online premiere."