information! informative information...

Hello people, Thank you to Ron Elliott for this pile of info.

Subject: Urgent Call for Young Writers!

ElectionTracker, a project run by Vibewire, is Australia's leading youth media organisation.
As part of ElectionTracker, Vibewire is giving four writers the opportunity to follow either John Howard or Kevin Rudd for one week in the last two weeks of the campaign trail.


As I am sure you understand, this is a great opportunity for any young person with an interest in politics and the media.

We are on the hunt for Australia's best writers aged 24 or under. So we are trying to reach as many young people as possible.

Unfortunately, writers have very little time to submit their
applications. Writers interested will need to email this address for an
application form. Applications are due Tuesday, September 4 at 5pm EST.

All short listed applicants will be invited to submit features, opinion
pieces, interviews and other contributions to the ElectionTracker site,
the number one site for the election coverage, reportage, commentary and
discussion by Australians aged 16-30.


Subject: Inside Film Awards.

With only three weeks to go until scoring closes for the 2007 Inside Film Awards, the time is now to log on to www.ifawards.com and start rating all of the Australian films you have seen. All Australian films screened at IF Accredited film festivals or theatrically released are eligible, including Feature Films and Animations, Feature Documentaries, Short Films, Short Animations, Short Documentaries and, for the first time this year, Music Videos. The Inside Film Awards are the people's choice awards for Australian films, so have your say and rate!

To rate, simply log on to www.ifawards.com, register and start rating. Scoring closes on September 14, so there is no time to waste. There are almost 600 films and music videos eligible this year, and it is up to you to determine which of these deserves to take home an IF Award this year. The Inside Film Awards will take place on Friday November 16 at the Crowne Plaza Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, broadcast live on SBS, with delayed telecasts on SHOWTIME. Go to www.ifawards.com for more information and to rate Australian films.

Subject: Film Assistance for Colour Conference.

There is a Colour conference that is being held this Saturday at Curtin University.

The conference is being run by the Department of Design at Curtin and they would like the conference speakers in the morning videotaped, and need somebody to tape it for them. It only requires the setting up and monitoring of the video during the speaker sessions.

The person will gain free access to the conference, but there is no other remuneration. We have some small handycams and tripods that can be borrowed from Photography Design.

It is just four lectures in the morning that they would like to record. But if someone would like to stay for the afternoon event they will be more than welcome. And of course no charge, plus free tea/coffee and soup for lunch.

For anyone interested please contact Aldegonda Bruekers.
Coordinator, Multimedia Design
Acting Deputy Head, Design
a.bruekers@curtin.edu.au
telephone: +61 8 9266 3277


Subject: Newsletter from ACTION/CUT.

ACTION/CUT NEWSLETTER #6:

1) FILM DISCUSSION: As some of you may know, two famously international
directors passed away recently: the Swedish Ingmar Bergman at 89 and the
Italian Michelangelo Antonioni at 94. Unless you've been to film school
and/or taken a comprehensive film history course, most of you have never
heard of these guys or their contribution to film art. Yet among film
aficionados and knowledgeable filmmakers, they are revered as giants of
the cinema and made their classic films during their most productive
years between the 1950's and 80's. Have you ever seen Bergman's "Wild
Strawberries" or "The Seventh Seal" or "Persona" - or even his most
accessible film "Fanny and Alexander" which won Best Foreign Oscar and
Golden Globe in 1984? Have you ever seen Antonioni's "L'Avventura" or
"The Passenger" starring Jack Nicholson, or "Blow-Up" which received
Oscar nominations for directing and writing in 1967?
So why are these two great film directors so unknown today to almost the
entire film-going audience, especially its largest group between the
ages of 18-49? That question inspired me to write this article. No, it
is not because their films are so dated - most people remember or have
seen older films such as "The Wizard of Oz" or "Singin' In The Rain" or
"Gone With The Wind" or "Citizen Cane" or "It's A Wonderful Life" which
of course runs on TV every Christmas season.
The reason is because Bergman and Antonioni made personal films -
usually for very small budgets and very small box office - and first and
foremost to express themselves as film artists. Their films were usually
dark, delving into their personal angsts, intellectual and introspective
dramas - especially Bergman's black & white brooding, cold style - like
the existentialist story of "The Seventh Seal" with an actor playing the
"death character." Antonioni was more accessible and his cinema more
visually modern yet just as personal in his expression of whatever life
observation or subject he was dissecting - such as his political take
and observations of wealthy Italians despairing in their own boredom in
"L'Avventura."

Their contributions to the development of cinema was in expanding the
"visual vocabulary" to tell their stories on very personal levels. Film
artists using the medium like it had never been used before and
influencing future cinematic greats such as Scorcese and Coppola and
even Spielberg when he makes a personal film such as "Schindler's List."
Bergman and Antonioni made films about their own takes on various life
subjects and explored the usage of visual filmmaking in maximizing its
art form. But mass audiences did not respond with their viewership, and
as I previously mentioned, their box office successes were just enough
to enable them to make their next film as their budgets were always
small - miniscule next to American studio films, nevermind modern-day
blockbusters which started soon after with JAWS and STAR WARS.
While in film school where I saw most of their films (decades ago!) I
cannot tell you that I enjoyed all their works or was not bored or
confused by the complex stories of many of their films, but I did admire
A) their film passion in making personal films that demanded that you
"think and do the work" to understand the expression of their stories,
and B) their technical expansion and mastery of visual storytelling.
But today, I would much rather see their films for all that they
offered, rather than the empty mindless experience of summer CGI
blockbusters like "Transformers" or "Live Free or Die Hard" while
chomping on the most expensive popcorn in history. Maybe I just need to
go see more art house films? Goodbye to Ingmar and Michelangelo, and
thank you for your masterful cinema.

2) FREE INDUSTRY TELE-SEMINARS IN SEPTEMBER: In my objective to
communicate film information and inspire all of you who receive this
Action/Cut ezine, I have arranged three upcoming tele-seminars -
national phone conferences - in which you can participate for free. The
intention is to provide you with 45-60 minutes of useful info and film
knowledge, inform you of special industry offers, and have you
participate and ask questions if you wish and I'll try my best to answer
and/or offer insight.
You are invited to join us and should not miss these free industry
conferences. We have never done these before and I look forward to the
experience and sharing it with all of you who can join us.
Thursday September 6th at 5:30PM Pacific Time - 8:30PM Eastern Time THE
ART AND INDUSTRY OF SHORT FILMS We'll cover the importance of short
films to launch careers, festivals, success stories from Action/Cut
winners, short form to long form, and recent trends that give filmmakers
and writers more opportunities than ever before.

Sunday September 9th at 5:30PM Pacific Time - 8:30PM Eastern Time
HOLLYWOOD BY PHONE We'll be discussing working as a writer, director and
producer and notable stories from the Hollywood trenches. This weekly
program brings you industry professionals in a live Q&A conference
hosted by MillionDollarScreenwriting.com.

Thursday September 13th at 5:30PM Pacific Time - 8:30PM Eastern Time
VISUAL STORYTELLING AT ACTION/CUT We'll cover common mistakes made by
writers and directors, the three fundamentals of writing visually, and
how mastering the art of visual storytelling can take your projects to
another level.

You are welcome to register for one or more of these phone conferences
at this secured link: FREE INDUSTRY TELE-SEMINARS
please go to www.actioncut.com where you'll find a registration link
on our home page. There is absolutely no cost to participate except your
normal long distance charges or cell phone minutes - and on evenings and
weekends most of us have free minutes. I hope you can join us to one or
more of these phone conferences.

3) FALL 2007 ACTION/CUT SEMINAR TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT: With the ever-growing
need for digital and visual effects in movies, especially to enhance low
budget productions, I thought to find a way to offer such tech knowledge
at the next Action/Cut Tour. I am delighted to announce that I have
teamed up with Jon Gress, a terrific digital instructor and founder of
The FX Institute in Florida, to combine in one super weekend both the
16-hour Action/Cut Filmmaking Seminar (Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm) and
the 6-hour Visual Effects 101 Seminar which will be offered that same
Friday and Saturday nights (7-10pm).
For the first time, Action/Cut participants who sign up for both will
acquire creative knowledge on "how to get from the page to the screen"
using practical scene study examples, and also will learn from an
amazing primer on how to achieve digital and visual effects for their
movies.
You can sign up for either one or both seminars as per your choice.

Here are the cities and dates for Fall 2007 which many of you have
requested:
FORT LAUDERDALE: October 12-14
CHICAGO: October 19-21
LOS ANGELES: November 2-4
NEW YORK: November 9-11
For more info and how to sign up for either or both seminars, get to the
seminar section at our site at www.actioncut.com

4) ACTION/CUT 2007 SHORT FILM COMPETITION: As always, the last week in
August is quite intense as we await to hear from our Jury Panels their
chosen selections of the winners of this year's competition. Though I do
not serve on any juries, I have seen many films, especially the
semi-finalists and finalists, and it was an amazing year with a
multitude of excellent films in every category.
The winning films will be announced this Saturday, September 1st on our
website, and you will be able to see them at 2007 ACTION/CUT WINNERS
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=vff44dcab.0.x7o54dcab.jfuecrbab.5902&ts=S0277&p
=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.actioncut.com%2Fsfc%2F2007winners.htm but this link
won't exist until Saturday.

Guy Magar
Founder of Action/Cut Filmmaking

Subject: Call for Entry – PICANTE SHORTS

Mexico wants it Spicy
Australia’s Hola Mexico Festival is back, and this time it has added spoonfuls more spice to the mix. The second Mexico Film Festival has added a picante (spicy) short film competition to this year’s program. Everyone who loves a bit of spice is invited to transform their spiciest idea into a short film with the chance of winning invaluable prizes.
The winner will receive a paid trip to Mexico and MySpace media exposure worth over $30,000;
becoming the featured filmmaker for a week in MySpace Australia, USA and Mexico.
Samuel Douek, Hola Mexico Film Festival Director says, “We wanted to find a way to have more interaction with the Australian film industry.”
Furthermore, the top ten entrants will be selected to screen at Palace Cinemas Australia-wide during the 2007 Hola Mexico film festival. The films will impress, astonish and fascinate audiences in four cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The Festival kicks off in Sydney on 15th November, and then travels to the other cities before closing on December 5th 2007.
The competition requires entrants to make a short film (no longer than ten minutes) that relates to the ‘picante’(spicy) theme and send it in DVD format. All films must be submitted by 31st October 2007.
Share your ideas on the Film Festival’s; www.myspace.com/holamexicoff for Australia’s spiciest Mexican film lovers group.
For information on the upcoming festival, visit: www.holamexicoff.com

So the call is out to all budding directors, producers and actors: start filming with spice.


Merry day to you!

you should do this.

Do you have a brilliant idea for a creative project, but haven't shared
it with the world yet?

The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) - Australia's
premier screen, broadcast and new media training institution - is
presenting pitching workshops around Australia, as part of the Holding
Redlich AFTRS AWG Pitching Competition, a key event at the annual Screen
Producers Association (SPAA) Conference in November, which offers a trip
to Cannes as first prize.

The Pitching Competition provides upcoming producers and writers with
the opportunity to pitch their project to an audience that includes
international executives, broadcasters and key local industry.

If you have a brilliant idea for a creative project, but haven't shared
it with the world yet and want to take your dream all the way to the
Cannes Film Festival - register for an AFTRS Pitching workshop today.

The AFTRS preliminary pitching workshops and competitions will be held
across Australia with 5 semi- finalists travelling to Melbourne to pitch
at Australian Writers Guild National Screenwriters Conference, where two
finalists will then be selected to go into the Holding Redlich AFTRS AWG
Pitching Competition at the SPAA Conference on the Gold Coast, on
November 15 this year.

* The Holding Redlich AFTRS AWG Pitching Competition is only open to
participants of the AFTRS Pitching Workshops.


National Dates: Round One

Perth: Friday 28 September, 2007

ROUND TWO: Semi- Finalist

Five (5) Semi- finalists will fly to Melbourne with airfares and
accommodation provided to pitch their projects at the Australian Writers
Guild National Screenwriting Conference 19 - 21 October, 2007.
Two (2) pitches will then be selected from the semi-finalists to travel
to the SPAA Conference on the Gold Coast and pitch in the SPAA - Holding
Redlich/ AFTRS & AWG Pitching Competition.
ROUND THREE: Finalists

Each finalist will receive:

AFTRS intensive Pitch Coaching Clinic.
Access to the Getty Images high resolution digital databank of stills
and moving images for use in developing a pitch presentation promo reel
(value $1000).
Access to AFTRS editing facilities to develop your pitch presentation.
Full SPAA Conference registration (value $1430)
1 year SPAA Associate Membership (value $225) One return flight from
your home state to the SPAA Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland.
One night's accommodation at the Gold Coast Opportunity to Pitch in
front of the entire SPAA Conference Delegation (including international
guests and SPAAmart executives).
The winner of the Holding Redlich Pitching Competition at the SPAA
Conference receives:

A return airfare to Cannes Film Festival or a major television market in
the UK or US $1000 spending money $2000 worth of legal advice from
Holding Redlich Full registration to the 2007 SPAA Conference A
publicity opportunity with Encore Magazine

Applications close: Monday 17 September


Registration fee: $70.00 / $40.00 for AWG members.

To register for this seminar, Click Here
http://myregistration.aftrs.edu.au/sr.cfm?v=E697E1&dx=HPLVO21177&lg=0


Paul Finlay AFTRS