Perth Film Land

NEWS

2007-09-27T18:20:00.001-07:00

The Byron Bay Film Festival seeks Student Films from around the globe

The Byron Bay Film Festival is a 9 day International Film Festival that screens a diverse programme of films, of ALL LENGTHS and ALL GENRES, many of which reflect the interests and values of our unique local community - maintaining a strong emphasis on social and environmental issues, human rights, diversity and multiculturalism, creativity, indigenous culture, spirit, healing, connecting to nature, conscious thinking and positive living, music of every variety, colourful characters, humour and, of course being Byron Bay, surfing.

BBFF provides a platform for independent filmmakers in all stages of their careers. We believes in creating opportunities wherever possible and we aim to profile selected filmmakers and promote their films both before and after the festival. BBFF brings the work of talented creatives to an appreciative and intelligent audience.

We have a number of awards to give away in numerous categories including but not limited to Best Film, Short Film, Drama, Documentary, Cinematography, Experimental, Animation, Environmental, Surf Film & Best Young Australian Filmmaker. Submissions close October 31st and until September 30th the regurlar entry fee is $25 Australian & during October the entry fee is $30. Filmmakers are encouraged to submit a paper less entry using BBFF’s withoutabox portal here http://www.withoutabox.com/login/5493

The Byron Bay Film Festival is offering film schools a discounted entry fee and if you would like more information please contact the BBFF staff at info@bbff.com.au

For more information on the festival please visit www.bbff.com.au

Film Spring Open - Virtual Film Studio www.filmspringopen.eu
would like to invite you to join a
prominently growing, online community of filmmakers.

The website created by Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak ('Three Colours:
Blue', 'Gattaca', 'Black Hawk Down', 'King Arthur', 'Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix') gives an opportunity to meet filmmakers in
order to make films together by using Internet as the means of
communication. Participants can create their own profiles and present
work to global audiences. In password protected Production Rooms it is
possible to work without the risk of having ideas stolen by other
internet users as only invited people are able to see the contents.
Through the website filmmakers and students can share ideas, exchange
equipment or write scripts together in a simple and enjoyable way. The
aim is to create an international community of filmmakers who will
support each other, make films together and will care about the
advertising and distribution of their films. Together we can achieve
more!

The 30th September is the deadline of submitting films to the International Competition and to
the Competition for a poster of the 5th International Film Festival
Ofensiva.

We remind that the 5th edition of the IFF Ofensiva will be held in Wroclaw in Poland between 6-9 December 2007. For the International Competition you can submit your
works in four categories: feature / short film, documentary, animation
and videoclip. The Competition for a poster is open to all and is
addressed to designers from entire world.

More information about the competitions, the detailed regulations and the entry forms you may find on our website www.ofensiva.pl.
We are waiting for your films and projects!

information! informative information...

2007-08-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

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

Oh, and by the way...

2007-07-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

Check this out while there is still time...
Town of Vincent Film Project 2007.

The Town of Vincent is offering film makers an opportunity to receive $2000 cash and up to $3000 of equipment hire from FTI as well as a year long FTI membership. They are commissioning a series of short films to be made in and about the Town of Vincent. There are three categories: Portraits of Vincent, Incident in Vincent, and an Open category.

The information night has already passed, but the deadline for applications is 20 July, so there is still time left to think of something splendid to enter.

For more information check www.vincent.wa.gov.au and read up on the guidelines.

Otherwise contact Liz Kearney at the FTI liz_kearney@fti.asn.au
or Richard Gunning at the Town of Vincent richard.gunning@vincent.wa.gov.au

It's raining, it's pouring, it's filming?

2007-07-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Hello hello...

For anyone who missed out on any of the St Kilda Festival sessions at Luna over the past few days (I think the weather may have deterred a lot of people), I warn you now to get prepared early for the Revelation Festival that is coming up in a few weeks time!

It runs from 12-22 July and the program for those few weeks is HECTIC. There is so much on, that no matter what aspect or genre of film you are interested in, I assure you will find at least one screening that you will want to attend.

I've been flicking through the program/brochure (all 98 pages of it) and I am very impressed with this year's selections.

Plan Ahead. Pick up a booklet (I think they are floating around in a lot of places around town, try Luna etc if you can't find any). Check out the website www.revelationfilmfest.org !!

I think it's good to support anything that tries to promote and display as many short films as possible, because every effort is an effort in the right direction for building the short film industry. For example, this site for a Canadian monthly film festival http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/

WildSound, They run a festival of films every month therefore showcasing a lot of shorts. You can watch the films online http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/watch_films_online.html

And you can also submit any of your own work for their monthly festival, deadline for their October events is August 1st. Even though you probably can't attend the screening (it's in Torronto) any opporunity is a good opportunity. http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/film-festival-submissions.html

And furthermore, they also offer some pretty good opportunities for all the writers out there:

"WILDsound Monthly Reading Series offers screenwriters at all levels the fantastic opportunity to hear their scripts read aloud using TOP PROFESSIONAL ACTORS in front of a sold out crowd of their peers.

Then after the script is read, they get to hear feedback from a selected INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL who will moderate the event and facilitate a Q&A with the audience. A great place for the opportunity to sell your script.

Out-of-town winners will receive free hotel accommodation during the reading. If you can't make the event, we will e-mail you a DVD copy of the reading of your script, plus the full moderation and audience participation."

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/screenplay-submissions.html

For anyone who is trapped in the land of myspace they also post regular bulletins with tips on all aspects of film making, interviews and so forth. http://www.myspace.com/wildsoundreadingseries

Upcoming FTI events...
Meet the Filmmaker - Megan Spencer (July 26, 7pm)

"For the past two decades Megan Spencer has been involved in all aspects of film culture. Since 1998 she has been resident film critic at ABC Radio's Triple J and in 2004 joined the SBS-TV program, The Movie Show. Before becoming a film critic Spencer racked up am extensive background as filmmaker and programmer."

Well I think that's all for this post, more to come soon.

Performance students and actors, watch this space for upcoming audition notices.

Merry day to you.

The Beginning...

2007-06-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I have made this blog site so that I can post everything that there is to know about what's happening within the Curtin FTV department, and any other film news from around town.

Due to lack of interest and support in the Curtin Film Club, I will instead use this site to spread the word about event, opportunities and anything else I can find so then everyone can have a chance to attend/participate/do whatever they want with whatever is happening.

Here are a few things to start the page off that you may be interested in:

Firstly, the 40 Hour Filming challenge. It's kind of like the film student's version of 40 Hour famine, except that we're probably not helping any third world countries with our efforts, which is unfortunate. But you can donate some of your own time and money to world vision another day and focus on making some film happiness in the meantime.

"40 Hour Filming is a fundraiser in which participants go out and make a film in 40 hours and help raise funds for the 3rd year Curtin University Students' final films. It should be challenging, exciting and, above all, fun. Anyone can enter, so why not have a go? For further information on anything 40 hour filming related, just click on the tabs at the top of the site."

All the information you need is listed on the website available at the link below.
http://members.optuszoo.com.au/rodtilbury/index.html

Get on it.

Big applause to Dylan Tilbury for creating the idea and having the motivation to get it going.

NEXT: This news from Sam about a camera demo happening at the Curtin FTV Studio:

Hi folks,

This is just a heads up about an opportunity to see a reputable industry DOP doing a demo of a new camera product here at Curtin.

The product itself is basically a filter device that sits between the camera lens and body which gives a very impressive “cine look” to HD cameras (and other digital video). He has shot and is also currently shooting feature films with it and will be bringing his reasonably modest but effective HD set up to demonstrate. It is also an opportunity to chat to him about the product and I’m sure other queries as well.

When – Monday 9th July

Where – Curtin TV studio 208/136

Producers, I have included the DOP’s on this email list but please make sure they know about it just in case. I would also ask if you can please reply to the email to say you have received it otherwise I will try calling those that have not replied by late next week.

Cheers and enjoy your break

Sam

Tel - 61 08 92662609

ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL

http://www.stkildafilmfestival.com.au

It's at Luna (Leederville) Sunday 1st (6.30pm) and Monday 2nd July (7.30pm).

TROPFEST UPDATES. Ok, so I know we're all very far far away from New York, but I thought I'll keep the news on as many things as possible up to date here.
From the latest Tropfest newsletter...

Tropfest@Tribeca 2007

Dear Tropfest Filmmakers and Fans,

The 2007 Tropfest@Tribeca festival will take place on Sunday 23rd September at Battery Park in New York City.

This is the second year that Tropfest will premiere on an international stage in association with the Tribeca Film Festival New York City. Tropfest founder John Polson and Tribeca Film Festival founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff announced the creation of Tropfest@Tribeca in 2006.

The partnership was formed in recognition of the critical role that short films have played in the broader filmmaking world as well as to provide an audience for the work of emerging filmmakers.

Tropfest@Tribeca will screen 16 short films - each following the traditional guidelines of Sony Tropfest. All short films submitted to Tropfest@Tribeca must be no longer than seven minutes in length and must include the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), to show the film was made specifically for the festival. The TSI for Tropfest@Tribeca 2007 is "SLICE"! (The Australian TSI for Sony Tropfest 2008
is "8".)

Check out http://www.tribecafilm.com/tropfest for more information.

Thanks!

The Tropfest Team

CURTIN THIRD YEAR STUDENT'S FUNDRAISERS.

Sorry to anyone who's events I have missed out before I started this page up, but I will be listing all the Curtin Film events on this page from now on so here's the info on the fundraisers coming up that I know about:

This is the fundraiser event for "Why The Long Face":

Support Curtin Uni fil students and come to our movie fundraiser! We will be screening:

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX!

on the 13th of July at 6:30pm at Astor Cinema in Mt Lawley

Tickets are $15 each and all profits go towards the making of the short film 'Why the Long Face', so bring friends! Ticket purchase prior to the day is recommended, however they can also be paid for on the night in the Astor function room up stairs. Bookings are essential!!

Come at 5:30pm for cheap drinks and snacks and a fantastic raffle all in the Astor's upstairs function room!!

And feel free to dress up as your favourite character

For ticketing info and bookings contact Christina Yiannakis on 0403558092

Also, stay tuned for details of a quiz night coming up at during the start of August...

For those of you who may be bored, sitting at your computers and are frustrated by this country's lack of decent television programming you may (or may not, heck, how would i know?!) be interested in watching some stuff online.. for those familiar with the infamous Vice Magazine you might enjoy checking out Vice TV.

http://www.vbs.tv/

Well that's probably enough for now. More to come soon.

If you have any news, audition notices, crew calls... fundraisers, info about anything happening around town please let me know and I'll post it up on here.

Also if you have any short films that you've made and you'd like them promoted a little, send me the link to wherever you're hosting it online and I'll post it on here too.

splendidproductions@gmail.com

Have a merry splendid weekend.

Kealey.