Screen Australia E-Bulletin

30 September 2009

NEW ARRANGEMENTS FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDY GUIDES

From 1 October, all applications for investment in documentaries under the National Documentary Program and the Domestic & International Documentary programs need to allow $2,500 in their budget for the production of a study guide by Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM). Arrangements with ATOM will now be the responsibility of the producer.

If ATOM decides not to create a guide, the $2,500 can be applied to marketing expenses.

Study guides play a signficant role in getting the most out of the education sector as a source of revenue for producers. ATOM's Peter Tapp outlines how it works:

"ATOM, through its publications arm (Metro Magazine and Screen Education), produces study guides and educational kits for feature films, documentaries, television programs, exhibitions and so on.

"The study guides are written for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Metro Magazine has a team of experts from all curriculum areas who view the programs to decide whether or not they can be linked to the curriculum and, if so, then recommend what year levels and subject areas are appropriate for a study guide for that particular program.

"ATOM works closely with Screenrights and its marketing brand EnhanceTV. Screenrights collects money from schools, TAFEs, universities and other educational institutions for the copying of programs from television. This money is distributed to the rights holders in the copied titles.

"For 15 years Screenrights has been administering the Australian educational copying scheme. In 2007/08 Screenrights returned $20.2 million to the industry for educational copying. Screenrights has found that where study guides are available, a program is much more likely to be copied than one where no support material is available. Screenrights considers the study guide to be an essential component of EnhanceTV's activities.

"In one notable case study the BBC commissioned ATOM to produce a study guide for the documentary Wild Australasia. This guide was subsequently promoted to schools by fax. In follow-up market research, it was found that 73 per cent of those who used the program in the classroom had been influenced by the study guide. Of those who copied the program off-air or acquired it from EnhanceTV, 66 per cent had also downloaded the study guide. In addition, the BBC experienced an increase of 70 per cent in revenue from the educational copying when compared to similar content not supported by a study guide.

"Once a study guide has been produced, ATOM and EnhanceTV then promote it, as well as the date and time of the program's screening on free-to-air television or cable channels, to schools and universities. Each year tens of thousands of study guides are downloaded from the ATOM and EnhanceTV web sites by teachers actively teaching from ATOM study guides."

For more information, see www.metromagazine.com.au/studyguides/study.asp

The next deadline for Screen Australia’s Domestic & International Documentary programs is Friday 16 October. Applications for funding under the National Documentary Program can be submitted at any time.

FEATURE PRODUCTION INVESTMENT: DEADLINE EXTENSION

Applications for Screen Australia investment in features for submission to the December Board meeting will be accepted until close of business Tuesday 6 October, given that 5 October (the original deadline) is a public holiday in some states. Visit the feature film production page for more details.

PROGRAM DEADLINES

Special Documentary Fund - 2 October

Feature Production (deadline for December board meeting): Extended to 6 October

Domestic & International Documentary Production - 16 October
Television Drama Production - 16 October
Children’s Television Drama Production - 16 October

Short Animation Production - 30 October

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

Broadening Audiences (tranche for screening and touring programs, and festivals) -
30 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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