Indigenous Programs: SPECIAL INITIATIVES

CROSSOVER LAB 2010

Crossover is an international program designed to explore the creative and commercial challenges of developing content and services for digital media.

The lab process brings together creative professionals from diverse disciplines – including film and TV production, animation, games, theatre, web design and new media – to share understanding of a rapidly changing mediascape, form new interdisciplinary collaborations and generate ideas for projects.

Outcomes from previous labs have included new collaborations between lab participants, companies restructured to take advantage of new opportunities, and ideas being developed for production.

The lab will consist of plenary sessions, group work and ideas brainstorming. Participants must be able to work in a collaborative environment, and be open to sharing ideas and constructive feedback.

Funding is for

A five-day intensive on-site lab to take place in NSW 14–19 February 2010. Successful applicants will be assisted to travel to the lab location.

Eligibility

All applicants must meet the general Indigenous Department eligibility criteria, in addition to the following specific eligibility requirements:

• Only individuals may apply.
• Applications are welcome from Indigenous Australians – producers, writers, directors, creators from all sectors of the audiovisual industries including film, TV, new media, web, mobile and games.
• Applicants must be available for lab dates: Sunday 14 February to Friday 19 February 2010.

Funding recipients must deliver

A written report on their experience of the lab detailing how their participation will be used to secure further development or production finance, and what the next stage might be.

Assessment criteria

When assessing applications for this program, Screen Australia uses the following criteria:

• The strength and distinctiveness of the application
• The skills and capacity of the applicant to undertake the lab as evidenced in previous work.
• Demonstrated skills in collaboration in a creative context/or environment.
• The likelihood of the applicant to further create projects for development or production finance after this stage of development.

Assessment process

Applications will be assessed by a combination of Screen Australia staff and the Crossover Team (see below). Screen Australia will advise applicants of the success or otherwise of their application, providing a brief statement of reasons.

Application materials

Applications must be made on the relevant Screen Australia application form, and include all supporting material listed on that form.

THE CROSSOVER TEAM

For further information on Crossover Labs, see www.crossoverlabs.org

Mark Atkin
Mark is a director of Crossover Labs, organising and delivering cross-platform production workshops around the world. He is also the Head of the Documentary Campus Masterschool; Marketplace consultant to the Australian International Documentary Conference; and an executive producer, currently working with Brook Lapping Productions (UK), Renegade Films (UK) and Context TV (Germany). For six years, until October 2008, he was Commissioning Editor for SBS TV and online, commissioning, co-producing and acquiring for TV and online, across all genres, for SBS Australia, the world’s most diverse public broadcaster.
Industry posts include Board Member, Sheffield Doc/Fest; and Advisory Panel, Hot Docs. Activities include project selection for Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket and the IDFA, Hot Docs and Nordisk Forum documentary pitching forums; panellist for international fund of ITVS; advisor to Wellcome Institute on science documentaries for funding; producer of The Truth Is Out There alternate reality game at Sheffield DocFest.

Frank Boyd
Frank is the Creative Director of Crossover. He has been one of the UK's new media pioneers since founding the Arts Technology Centre in 1989. He has worked as  producer, funder and trainer on a series of innovative creative and economic development programs in the arts, broadcast, and in education in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. He established the European Multimedia Labs, the Digital Media Alliance and BAFTA’s Interactive Entertainment Awards before joining the BBC as Director of Creative Development, where he directed a series of development labs for interactive television, broadband and cross-platform production. He established Unexpected Media in 2002 to support innovation and creative research in future media, designing events, seminars and labs for clients in the public and private sectors and running Innovation Labs for the BBC and Crossover Labs. Following demand domestically and internationally he established Crossover as a company with Heather Croall and Mark Atkin in January 2009.

Heather Croall
Heather is the Director of the Sheffield Doc/Fest and producer of Crossover Labs. In 2000, Heather and international partners developed a conference program called DigiDocs, which went on to be a major program strand at the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) and then at Sheffield Doc/Fest. As Senior Project Officer at the South Australian Film Corporation, Heather developed a strategy for building cross-platform digital media production opportunities in South Australia including the launch of Crossover. Heather was the director of the AIDC, where she developed the innovative matchmaking pitching initiative The MeetMarket and then moved to Sheffield to run the Doc/Fest and bring the Crossover Labs to the UK. The MeetMarket in Sheffield is now regarded as one of Europe’s leading pitching markets attracting over 100 buyers and hundreds of applicants. Under her directorship, the Sheffield Doc/Fest has experienced unprecedented growth in all areas – festival program, budget, delegate numbers, press and profile. “Heather Croall has taken Sheffield to a new level of visibility and impact.” (Variety Magazine).

Crossover mentors

Margaret Robertson
A historian by training, Margaret Robertson has written for many specialist magazines, mainstream publications like FHM, Seed and the BBC, and for four years wrote for, and ultimately edited, Edge, the world’s most respected videogame magazine. She is part of the team behind the GameCity festival, and serves as a juror for IndieCade, the Independent Game Festival and Dare to be Digital. Now, a consultant, she advises companies like EA, Sony and Channel 4 on game design and industry trends.

Matt Adams, Blast Theory 
Matt Adams is the co founder of Blast Theory, a group renowned for its multidisciplinary approach pioneering the use of new technologies within performance contexts. The group's work has recently focused on mixed reality, location based games and mobile devices to inspire audiences to question their social relationships. Matt is a leading mentor in Crossover Labs. He has been a consultant for a variety of commercial and cultural organisations such as the South Australian Government and the Royal Opera House in London. He has co-authored over a dozen papers with colleagues at the University of Nottingham and is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter and a member of the Peer Review College of the Engineering and Physical Science's Research Council. See www.blasttheory.co.uk

Paula Le Dieu, Director of Digital, British Film Institute
Paula is a leading mentor on Crossover and is known for mentoring producers who create innovative interactive media, ranging across rich media websites, mobile games, digital video and DVD, and from content creation to understanding rights management systems.
Working with clients and partners in the media, technology and public service sectors, including Channel 4, BBC, BT, Tiscali, the UK Film Council, Skillset and many others, Paula is known for understanding the power of broadband networks and emerging digital platforms, for the creation, presentation, distribution and sharing of ideas.