Documentary Special initiative: Art Bites
An arts initiative for documentary filmmakers, jointly convened by ABC iview and Screen Australia.
Screen Australia and iview Arts are calling for proposals from early career filmmakers nationwide.
Art Bites will create up to four, 6 x 5 minute Arts web-series directed and/or produced by early career filmmakers. The films will premiere on the ABC Arts channel on iview which aims to illuminate the arts with smart, quality and shareable content.
Rather than simply reporting on existing work, the successful web-series will be an accessible, engaging and entertaining insight into an aspect of Arts in Australia. Ideally the series will adopt a fresh approach or topic, one which has not previously been explored elsewhere.
Proposals will be assessed against the channel’s vision statement ‘Where Life and Culture Collide’. The web series should be designed to appeal to younger audiences, 18–35 years.
The ABC and Screen Australia will appoint a Digital Arts Commissioning Editor and Investment Development Manager respectively to the projects.
What funding is available?
ABC TV and Screen Australia will commit a total of $200,000 to this initiative ($100,000 each).
Applicants can apply for up to $50,000 for a series and may seek additional funding through discussions with their state agency and other sources. The ABC and Screen Australia are in discussions with state film agencies and these agencies may provide up to $25,000 in additional funding to series from their state. Subject to ABC Editorial Policies, the ABC and Screen Australia contribution to each documentary may be augmented by funding from third parties like distributors, film festivals, etc. Philanthropic funding may also be used to augment budgets. However, it is vital you are aware of the ABC’s Editorial Policies for this type of funding. Please see links below:
Who can apply?
An application must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Projects must be a web series of 6 x 5 minute episodes (duration variations will be considered subject to there being at least six episodes and at least 30 minutes of overall content). One-off documentary proposals are not eligible.
- Teams must consist of at least a director and a producer, one of whom has at least one screen credit in their respective role on a project that has either been broadcast and/or screened at a recognised film festival. A list of recognised festivals can be found here.
What materials do you need to apply?
Stage 1
- A completed application form, available in the downloads section on this page.
- A 2-page (max) outline or treatment of the proposed project, including an outline of each episode topic/story.
- CVs of the team, including relevant prior credits, and any other confirmed key personnel (DOP, editor, etc).
- An example of the relevant director and producer’s previous work (a complete film, not a showreel) via an active website link.
- If available, up to five minutes of footage or sizzle reel from the proposed project to show evidence of character, access and storyline. Please supply as a private download-enabled screening link with a password.
- A proposed financing plan (if requiring funds beyond initiative). Detailed budgets are not required until Stage 2.
Stage one materials should be emailed to Luci McCulloch (McCulloch.Luci@abc.net.au).
Stage 2
At this stage, long-list candidates will be contacted and asked to provide further material within 1–2 weeks, including:
- A budget in the Screen Australia A-Z Documentary format, available in Tools and insights.
- A finance plan using the template, available in Tools and insights
- A schedule.
- Written confirmation of key subjects’ willingness to participate.
- Where there is Indigenous community participation or content involved in the project, written confirmation of the willingness of both the subject(s) and the community to be involved in the project is essential.
What is the assessment process?
All eligible applications will be read by the digital Arts Commissioning Editor who will long-list the projects. The long-listed projects will be invited to apply to Stage 2 by mid-February 2016. A Screen Australia Investment Development Manager will shortlist the projects.
Shortlisted applicants and relevant state agencies will be informed of the outcome by mid-March 2016.
Applicants who are shortlisted after the second stage may be required to develop their projects further before final ABC commissioning. Extra preparation time may be provided to develop additional materials.
From the shortlist, final projects for commissioning will be selected by the ABC and we will advise applicants in writing of the success or otherwise of their application by early April 2016.
We aim to make the application process as transparent as possible, but given the volume of applications we receive, we do not have the resources to provide feedback on each project.
Assessment criteria
When assessing applications, we will take the following criteria into account:
- Creative strength of the project, in the context of the ABC Arts Brief and the channel’s vision statement ‘Where Life and Culture Collide’:
- the concept/idea/story: its distinctiveness, relevance to iview audience
- the proposed realisation: creativity in storytelling, entertainment value
- the quality of the submitted proposal.
- Capacity of the team to manage the project creatively and commercially, given the nature of the proposal and their track record, and their ability to deliver a complete project by October 2016.
- Project viability in terms of the proposed budget, financing strategy and schedule (assessed at Stage 2 only).
The above criteria are weighted evenly.
Terms of funding
All projects selected for production will be subject to the ABC Commissioning and Screen Australia funding processes.
Screen Australia funding for Art Bites is provided as a grant. See Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade for more details.
The ABC will issue a licence agreement setting out the full rights package, in accordance with the ABC’s Terms of Trade.
Other resources:
See Tools and Insights for Story Documents, including information on What is a Synopsis?
Please see the ABC Arts Brief.