07 03 2017 - Media release
With Her in Mind Network and Screen Australia announce Doco180
Today at the Australian International Documentary Conference, Screen Australia’s CEO Graeme Mason unveiled a new opportunity for emerging female documentary makers – Doco180.
In partnership with News Digital Networks Australia’s (News DNA) forthcoming new female content platform the With Her in Mind Network (whimn.com.au), six female directors will each be funded to make a 180 second documentary, designed to make the viewer ‘do a 180’ on a topic relevant to Australian women. The documentaries will be available to view for free on whimn.com.au later in 2017, and will springboard deeper analysis and public discussion around the six topics on the website and on whimn.com.au’s social media.
“Documentary is a powerful storytelling device, and more recently we have seen works like That Sugar Film and Deep Water: The Real Story prompt worldwide discussion online, and indeed documentaries like Taryn Brumfitt’s Embrace were born out of Facebook itself,” said Graeme Mason. “Doco180 is an opportunity for early career female documentary makers to distil a single idea of their choice into a social media-friendly 3 minutes, in order to explain, provoke and entertain.”
whimn.com.au’s Executive Editor Melissa Overman noted, “Co-funding Doco180 will allow us to offer our female audience access to exclusive video content of a premium quality, which is designed to have gravitas and start conversation. I encourage applicants to submit documentary ideas that will resonate with Australian women – what challenges us, what motivates us, what makes us laugh. We’re interested in everything from politics to the environment to work to kids – no topic is off limits. The most important element is that all Doco180 applications must be female-centric stories told by women.”
Screen Australia’s Senior Manager, Documentary Liz Stevens added, “Documentary is an extraordinarily malleable art form – at its heart is a creative telling of a factual story. The tone, style and method are completely up to the creator, so I encourage Doco180 applicants to pick a very specific story that they can tell in the time constrains, and not limit themselves to preconceptions of what documentary is. For instance, Ice Wars utilised a fly-on-the-wall style shoot to give a glimpse into the impact of methamphetamine, yet No Strings Attached examined online dating using puppets to hilarious affect – both interpretations of documentary are completely valid.”
The six successful applicants will each receive $6000 to make their Doco180 project, and will have three months to deliver the finished work. The documentary makers retain copyright of their work and after the whimn.com.au exclusivity period, are free to use their Doco180 project as they wish. Screen Australia will appoint an Investment Development Manager to support each successful applicant.
Doco180 is 50/50 funded by Screen Australia and the With Her in Mind Network, and is the latest in a range of media partnerships Screen Australia has brokered to offer content makers a direct path to audience, including Skip Ahead with Google and Fresh Blood with the ABC.
For more information and details on how to apply, please view the program guidelines. Applications close 19 April 2017.
Share the Doco180 call-out video on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Enquiries related to WHIMN please contact Sharyn Whitten [email protected] +61 408 471 116
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