Screen Australia E-Bulletin

21 September 2009

APPLICATIONS CLOSING SOON FOR SPRINGBOARD SHORT FILM INITIATIVE

Springboard is a unique opportunity for creative teams to write and produce a short film that acts as a creatively and professionally relevant calling card for their proposed first feature project. If your team has a feature script almost ready to go, Springboard could make all the difference. The program includes workshops to be run by Simon van der Borgh and Jonathan Rawlinson, screenwriting teachers and script consultants with extensive international experience. Deadline for applications is
28 September 2009. Full details.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR PRODUCERS AT FILM4

Screen Australia has invited applicants for the Film4 Producer Internship designed to expose Australian producers to the international film marketplace and best development practice. The successful recipient will receive $70,000 from Screen Australia to spend six months working in the development department at Film4 in London. Applications close Friday 23 October 2009. Read the media release for full details.

MEET THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM - ON VIDEO

Screen Australia's Head of Development, Martha Coleman, and Development Managers Veronica Gleeson, Mike Cowap and Susan Boehm have recorded short videos to help answer practitioners' questions about Screen Australia's development programs, including Springboard and the Film4 Internship, as well as single-project feature development funding, short animation production and the Innovation Program. You'll find them on the Screen Australia website.

INDIGENOUS DOCUMENTARY FUND

The National Indigenous Documentary Fund Series 12 (NIDF 12) is now open for applications. Designed to bring Indigenous stories authored and crafted by Indigenous people to the screen it will comprise two 55-minute documentaries that are well-crafted, based on strong ideas, exhibit a high level of creative ambition, and demonstrate the potential to connect with audiences. The deadline for applications is 2 October 2009.
Full details.

LATEST INVESTMENT APPROVALS

Oranges and Sunshine, an official Australia/United Kingdom co-production, and Sleeping Beauty, the directorial debut of award-winning novelist Julia Leigh (The Hunter), are the most recent features to receive production investment approval from Screen Australia. Camilla Bray, Emile Sherman and Iain Canning will produce Oranges and Sunshine, with Rona Munro writing the screenplay and Jim Loach directing. The film tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered the organised deportation of children in care from the United Kingdom to Australia. Sleeping Beauty will be produced by Jessica Brentnall with Tim White (The Boys Are Back) as Executive Producer, and stars up-and-coming Australian actor Mia Wasikowska as Lucy, a disenchanted and financially strapped university student who accepts work as a sleeper in a 'Sleeping Beauty' chamber. See all approvals.

Screen Australia's indicative budget for investment in features, TV drama and documentaries is $60 million for 2009/10. More information on notional allocations across these types of production is available on the website. You can also download an overview of budget allocations across the various documentary programs from the Documentary section of the site.

PROGRAM DEADLINES

Talent Escalator - Springboard: Short Film Initiative - 28 September
Talent Escalator - Screen Australia/Film4 Producer Internship - 23 October
Short Animation Production - 30 October

Special Documentary Fund - 2 October
Feature Production (deadline for December board meeting): 5 October
Television Drama Production - 16 October
Children's Television Drama Production - 16 October

National Indigenous Documentary Fund 12 (NIDF 12) - 2 October

Market Escalator (finance to stage workshops, masterclasses, seminars, conferences or special events) - 30 October

Please note: many Screen Australia funding programs do not have deadlines and are not assessed in rounds. Please check the website for application details for specific programs. 

CURRENT POSITIONS VACANT

Please see the jobs page of the website. 

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