We are busy working on two applications:
One for AFC production funding and the other to be approved by the Documentary Australia Foundation as an official film that can receive Philanthropic support.
To anyone else out there working hard to get an application in on time- good luck!
Thursday 28 February 2008
Monday 25 February 2008
Embracing Innovation - White Paper
Robert Connolly has issued a new White Paper titled, Embracing Innovation: a new methodology for feature film production in Australia.
We have interviewed Robert for Into the Shadows, during the interview he did discuss some interesting points of view about the funding models in Australia. We applaude him for his work on this white paper and encourage you all to read it.
ConnollyWP%5B1%5D.pdf
We have interviewed Robert for Into the Shadows, during the interview he did discuss some interesting points of view about the funding models in Australia. We applaude him for his work on this white paper and encourage you all to read it.
ConnollyWP%5B1%5D.pdf
AIDC Day 3
After our late night of inspiration how did the final day play out? Read on...
Day 3: Friday
Peter Greenaway was the keynote speaker of the conference and his session was well worth the wait. He spoke very provocatively about Documentary itself as a form and challenged everyone’s notion of the context of cinema in contemporary life. He sees the idea of “the frame” as a limited way of shooting and exhibiting films and has begun to test new ways of viewing films and on new subjects. He has been working with artists in Italy who have been projecting work on massive surfaces, from museum walls and ceilings to 10m high boards. The most interesting clip he showed featured Rembrandt’s The Nightwatchman and was originally played during a Rembrandt exhibition in Amsterdam. Digital composting was used to bring the painting to life, adding a whole new aspect of light, sound and vision to the work.
I came away from Greenaway's talk feeling that I had experienced something new. It is hard to describe but it is as if something in the new age of cinema is a foot and Peter Greenaway is onto it.
I went to a session run by Bruno Felix, from submarine channel, about the way documentary and the virtual world is evolving together. Later, Phil and I both sat in on the session, Basement Tapes by Brett Gaylor. He is a young director from Canada, making a groundbreaking documentary on Piracy and copyright in the digital world. He helped establish this idea of open source cinema, which encourages re-mixing and re-mashing of one filmmakers work by another. Another session, another glimpse at what the future of filmmaking may look like.
The day ended with some padded out sessions including listening to the people behind ABC and SBS explain what they are programming and looking for over the coming year and according to Matt Campbell Australia's Top Gear did not cost $11m. I was able to meet Jennifer Collins from ABC and chat about our project, she was interested in it and recommended we apply for the JTV DOCS funding round.
The day ended on a high note going for drinks at the Beach Bar, meeting and greeting other producers, directors and people from state agencies. With plenty of Little Creatures on offer and a cool setting it was a great way to end a very full three days.
It was then time to say good bye to the Ole B&B and fly back to the East side to our homes in Canberra. With new deadlines to meet and plenty of business cards to sort through it’s back in front of the computer and into it all over again.
Day 3: Friday
Peter Greenaway was the keynote speaker of the conference and his session was well worth the wait. He spoke very provocatively about Documentary itself as a form and challenged everyone’s notion of the context of cinema in contemporary life. He sees the idea of “the frame” as a limited way of shooting and exhibiting films and has begun to test new ways of viewing films and on new subjects. He has been working with artists in Italy who have been projecting work on massive surfaces, from museum walls and ceilings to 10m high boards. The most interesting clip he showed featured Rembrandt’s The Nightwatchman and was originally played during a Rembrandt exhibition in Amsterdam. Digital composting was used to bring the painting to life, adding a whole new aspect of light, sound and vision to the work.
I came away from Greenaway's talk feeling that I had experienced something new. It is hard to describe but it is as if something in the new age of cinema is a foot and Peter Greenaway is onto it.
I went to a session run by Bruno Felix, from submarine channel, about the way documentary and the virtual world is evolving together. Later, Phil and I both sat in on the session, Basement Tapes by Brett Gaylor. He is a young director from Canada, making a groundbreaking documentary on Piracy and copyright in the digital world. He helped establish this idea of open source cinema, which encourages re-mixing and re-mashing of one filmmakers work by another. Another session, another glimpse at what the future of filmmaking may look like.
The day ended with some padded out sessions including listening to the people behind ABC and SBS explain what they are programming and looking for over the coming year and according to Matt Campbell Australia's Top Gear did not cost $11m. I was able to meet Jennifer Collins from ABC and chat about our project, she was interested in it and recommended we apply for the JTV DOCS funding round.
The day ended on a high note going for drinks at the Beach Bar, meeting and greeting other producers, directors and people from state agencies. With plenty of Little Creatures on offer and a cool setting it was a great way to end a very full three days.
It was then time to say good bye to the Ole B&B and fly back to the East side to our homes in Canberra. With new deadlines to meet and plenty of business cards to sort through it’s back in front of the computer and into it all over again.
Sunday 24 February 2008
New Mags
Just been added to the IF Magazine in production webpage and FILMINK's links page.
Keep an eye out for next month's IF Magazine and the new FILMINK.
Keep an eye out for next month's IF Magazine and the new FILMINK.
Saturday 23 February 2008
AIDC Day 2
Thinking back to day 2...it was a day that began quickly, lost its way then ended with a high energy climax...so what exactly went down?
Day 2: Thursday
First up was “Who's Who” where all the delegates sat in the audience and were introduced to the faces behind the networks and broadcasters from all around the world with likes of National Geographic, Channel 4, ITVS and Verve Entertainment International.
Documart! For the first time Phil and I watched people giving pitches to television broadcasters from all around the world; Scotland, Germany, the USA, Bangladesh and of course SBS and ABC from Australia. This may show my age, but I wonder why commercial networks like Ten, Seven and Nine don't turn up? Documentary seems to be a hot form at the moment so you never know...(if anyone does know the answer tell us in the comments)
Some pitches were great, some were...not so...actually on second thought all of them were pretty good. The most interesting thing about it was to watch the re-actions and interactions between "pitcher" and the “broadcaster”. Sometimes broadcasters were nice, interested and right into the idea and other times they were ice cold. Phil and I will be mindful of this when we tighten our synopsis and treatments as well as use this experience to further our pitching skills for the future.
“What’s in it for private investors?” was interesting...to sum it up? In our opinion? The new producers offset still has a few bugs to be worked through and the FFC or the to be new Screen Australia will have to work hard with banks and institutions to ensure that the offset is seen as a secure viable model for investing into Australian production. One thing that can be said is that the offset is not designed for small time independent producers but for medium to large size companies who can take on a slate of projects. Instead of trying to make it sound like there are ways for little indie guys to survive I wish someone would have the guts to say what is really going on here and that this is not right as it could destroy the business model for small time players. Some may argue that this is fine, that they are not needed but if the raw indie producers are culled off then the industry stands to lose fresh ideas and its vibrant-risky edge.
The next seminars were so so and our night was drifting nowhere, then by chance we bumped into Tim Sparke from joiningthedots.tv and had fish and chips for dinner with him. We got talking about our project and joiningthedots.tv and before we new it we were debating the current trends in cinema, from England, Australia to the USA and Europe. Later, Tim worked through our film narrative further. We ended up getting some contacts from him and at the stroke of midnight (almost) we met Daryl Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Film Australia. She added some thoughts on our project and with that we walked back to our humble B&B with a renewed focus and vigour.
Day 2: Thursday
First up was “Who's Who” where all the delegates sat in the audience and were introduced to the faces behind the networks and broadcasters from all around the world with likes of National Geographic, Channel 4, ITVS and Verve Entertainment International.
Documart! For the first time Phil and I watched people giving pitches to television broadcasters from all around the world; Scotland, Germany, the USA, Bangladesh and of course SBS and ABC from Australia. This may show my age, but I wonder why commercial networks like Ten, Seven and Nine don't turn up? Documentary seems to be a hot form at the moment so you never know...(if anyone does know the answer tell us in the comments)
Some pitches were great, some were...not so...actually on second thought all of them were pretty good. The most interesting thing about it was to watch the re-actions and interactions between "pitcher" and the “broadcaster”. Sometimes broadcasters were nice, interested and right into the idea and other times they were ice cold. Phil and I will be mindful of this when we tighten our synopsis and treatments as well as use this experience to further our pitching skills for the future.
“What’s in it for private investors?” was interesting...to sum it up? In our opinion? The new producers offset still has a few bugs to be worked through and the FFC or the to be new Screen Australia will have to work hard with banks and institutions to ensure that the offset is seen as a secure viable model for investing into Australian production. One thing that can be said is that the offset is not designed for small time independent producers but for medium to large size companies who can take on a slate of projects. Instead of trying to make it sound like there are ways for little indie guys to survive I wish someone would have the guts to say what is really going on here and that this is not right as it could destroy the business model for small time players. Some may argue that this is fine, that they are not needed but if the raw indie producers are culled off then the industry stands to lose fresh ideas and its vibrant-risky edge.
The next seminars were so so and our night was drifting nowhere, then by chance we bumped into Tim Sparke from joiningthedots.tv and had fish and chips for dinner with him. We got talking about our project and joiningthedots.tv and before we new it we were debating the current trends in cinema, from England, Australia to the USA and Europe. Later, Tim worked through our film narrative further. We ended up getting some contacts from him and at the stroke of midnight (almost) we met Daryl Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Film Australia. She added some thoughts on our project and with that we walked back to our humble B&B with a renewed focus and vigour.
AIDC End
So much for posting an entry every day of the AIDC. I guess that's what you get for not having wireless abilities on your mac.
It's all about meeting people at these conferences. Andrew and I met a lot of people. And I mean, a lot! The common questions of course were what are you doing here and what is your project about? Personally I liked to talk about anything but my project. It wasn't because I dont like my project or ashamed or anything like that. In fact, quite the opposite. I am so proud and happy with our project that I didn't want to sound conceited.
I talked about my project when I had to, and I discussed it with enthusiasm when I did. Overall, the other delgates were very positive with their feedback. Some great interest from filmmakers, distributors, local broadcasters and surprisingly, international braodcasters.
Even though Into the Shadows is a very local story, the international correlations are obvious. Especially when in Into the Shadows, we turn around and look outward to see how other countries dealt, deal, and are dealing with the same or similar struggles and challenges our own filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors and government funding bodies etcetera are dealing with in our story.
They seemed to like the Australian focus and felt it could be used as an education of the industry for their industry.
It's all about meeting people at these conferences. Andrew and I met a lot of people. And I mean, a lot! The common questions of course were what are you doing here and what is your project about? Personally I liked to talk about anything but my project. It wasn't because I dont like my project or ashamed or anything like that. In fact, quite the opposite. I am so proud and happy with our project that I didn't want to sound conceited.
I talked about my project when I had to, and I discussed it with enthusiasm when I did. Overall, the other delgates were very positive with their feedback. Some great interest from filmmakers, distributors, local broadcasters and surprisingly, international braodcasters.
Even though Into the Shadows is a very local story, the international correlations are obvious. Especially when in Into the Shadows, we turn around and look outward to see how other countries dealt, deal, and are dealing with the same or similar struggles and challenges our own filmmakers, distributors, exhibitors and government funding bodies etcetera are dealing with in our story.
They seemed to like the Australian focus and felt it could be used as an education of the industry for their industry.
Thursday 21 February 2008
AIDC Day 1
We have decided to track back the three days at the AIDC:
Day 1: Wednesday
It was a really big day yesterday. There was lots to do and lots to see. Lots of people to meet and lots of coffee to drink...
I went to the round table discussion with Katrina Sedgwick (director of the Adeaide Film Festival) and considering neither of us had been to one before, it went really well.
Katrina was extremely informative about the investment fund, and I truly believe our stars and timelines are aligned. We will be submitting an application to the AFFIF as soon as possible.
Andrew had similar luck with Mitzi Goldman and Susan McKinnon from the Documentary Australia Foundation. He received really positive feedback from our draft application and once we get back to Canberra we'll submit our polished application and hopefully be approved by the foundation so we can go on in our search for philanthropic support.
Opening night drinks are always good - especially when the drinks are free - and last night's events were no exception. We met some really nice people, caught up with our friend Sophie from Closer Productions, met her (production) partner Bryan, watched an amazing sunset, got drinks spilt on me and almost lost my bag.
A great night, hopefully followed by another great day.
Day 1: Wednesday
It was a really big day yesterday. There was lots to do and lots to see. Lots of people to meet and lots of coffee to drink...
I went to the round table discussion with Katrina Sedgwick (director of the Adeaide Film Festival) and considering neither of us had been to one before, it went really well.
Katrina was extremely informative about the investment fund, and I truly believe our stars and timelines are aligned. We will be submitting an application to the AFFIF as soon as possible.
Andrew had similar luck with Mitzi Goldman and Susan McKinnon from the Documentary Australia Foundation. He received really positive feedback from our draft application and once we get back to Canberra we'll submit our polished application and hopefully be approved by the foundation so we can go on in our search for philanthropic support.
Opening night drinks are always good - especially when the drinks are free - and last night's events were no exception. We met some really nice people, caught up with our friend Sophie from Closer Productions, met her (production) partner Bryan, watched an amazing sunset, got drinks spilt on me and almost lost my bag.
A great night, hopefully followed by another great day.
Tuesday 19 February 2008
No Good Night but hopefully plenty of Luck!
I haven’t gone to sleep tonight, and our flight is at 6:50 am so I don’t think I’ll get there, plenty of time to rest on the plane...we are off to the AIDC 2008 in Fremantle. Never been to West Aussie, heard its a great place so I’m looking forward to it.
Last night was Tropfest 08, sorry...last night was SONY TROPFEST 08! It was packed in Canberra- a 20,000 strong crowd and for once the weather was hot and sunny! Sometimes I forget if its a marketing event or a short film festival, either way I suppose its great to bring so many people together to support short films. I must admit I snuck away during the interval to have a coffee but congrats to all the winners and a big shout out to the two local entries from Canberra who made it into the top 16.
Today Phil added links to the new bios and should have them up and running tomorrow, if we can fit it in between the flights, DOCO2012 seminar and drinks. Whilst Phil worked on the website, I edited our Documentary Australia proposal. I can finally say that it is done! And I am looking forward to meeting Mitzi Goldman and Susan MacKinnon on Wednesday at the round table discussion. If successful Into the Shadows will be given official recognition by the foundation which will help us in our venture to woo philanthropic investors.
My right pointer finger is sore from typing, my neck is creaking and my bag is not packed...time to sign off and get everything else ready for the trip.
Look out for our daily updates whilst at the AIDC.
Last night was Tropfest 08, sorry...last night was SONY TROPFEST 08! It was packed in Canberra- a 20,000 strong crowd and for once the weather was hot and sunny! Sometimes I forget if its a marketing event or a short film festival, either way I suppose its great to bring so many people together to support short films. I must admit I snuck away during the interval to have a coffee but congrats to all the winners and a big shout out to the two local entries from Canberra who made it into the top 16.
Today Phil added links to the new bios and should have them up and running tomorrow, if we can fit it in between the flights, DOCO2012 seminar and drinks. Whilst Phil worked on the website, I edited our Documentary Australia proposal. I can finally say that it is done! And I am looking forward to meeting Mitzi Goldman and Susan MacKinnon on Wednesday at the round table discussion. If successful Into the Shadows will be given official recognition by the foundation which will help us in our venture to woo philanthropic investors.
My right pointer finger is sore from typing, my neck is creaking and my bag is not packed...time to sign off and get everything else ready for the trip.
Look out for our daily updates whilst at the AIDC.
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Breakdown
Yesterday we packed the car early in the morning and were on the road to Sydney by 6am. We were heading up there to interview Brendan Cowell, the lead actor in Noise and then come back that afternoon. Get up early, leave on time and everything would work out...or so we thought.
Unfortunately, the car had other ideas. An hour and a half outside of Canberra the car broke down. First the radio cut out, the digital dashboard went blank and the Speedo was stuck on 120 so we decided to pull over. As the car came to a stop it lost all power and stalled on us.
An ABS light had come on, which the manual told us meant we had no ABS. No anti-lock braking wasn't the worst thing in the world, so we decided to keep going. On the second try, the car started and we were on our way…5 minutes later the car conked out again.
This time we did what must be done and called Phil’s old man as well as the NRMA. 10mins later the NRMA was there to rescue us, but to no avail. All he could say was that our alternator might need to be fixed but that everything else was fine and as long as we kept the radio, air con and cruise control off (basically everything besides the basic function of driving) we could try our luck and continue on to Sydney or take a turn to Moss Vale and find a ford dealer to check over the car.
So with none of the luxuries we have come to depend on we headed for Moss Vale. The car was running fine and all was well until the gremlins struck again and the car blanked out.
By this time Phil’s mum who had decided to drive to our aid and swap cars was coming up to Goulburn and so she continued to Moss Vale. We called Ford and the NRMA. 45 mins later Phil’s mum turned up, we exchanged cars and were back on the highway.
Thanks to Phil’s stunt man driving and a bit of luck we got to Brendan’s place by 11:30am, half an hour late but nonetheless there. Brendan was very gracious about it and so the interview went on.
Huge thanks to Bob and Lorraine for giving up their entire day to ensure we got the interview.
Today we have captured the interview, and are continuing to prepare for the AIDC 2008. We hope to have a complete promo reel done by Friday, so for now it’s back to the grindstone.
A side note - FILMINK has also added Into the Shadows to their links page - thanks Dov for your continued support.
Unfortunately, the car had other ideas. An hour and a half outside of Canberra the car broke down. First the radio cut out, the digital dashboard went blank and the Speedo was stuck on 120 so we decided to pull over. As the car came to a stop it lost all power and stalled on us.
An ABS light had come on, which the manual told us meant we had no ABS. No anti-lock braking wasn't the worst thing in the world, so we decided to keep going. On the second try, the car started and we were on our way…5 minutes later the car conked out again.
This time we did what must be done and called Phil’s old man as well as the NRMA. 10mins later the NRMA was there to rescue us, but to no avail. All he could say was that our alternator might need to be fixed but that everything else was fine and as long as we kept the radio, air con and cruise control off (basically everything besides the basic function of driving) we could try our luck and continue on to Sydney or take a turn to Moss Vale and find a ford dealer to check over the car.
So with none of the luxuries we have come to depend on we headed for Moss Vale. The car was running fine and all was well until the gremlins struck again and the car blanked out.
By this time Phil’s mum who had decided to drive to our aid and swap cars was coming up to Goulburn and so she continued to Moss Vale. We called Ford and the NRMA. 45 mins later Phil’s mum turned up, we exchanged cars and were back on the highway.
Thanks to Phil’s stunt man driving and a bit of luck we got to Brendan’s place by 11:30am, half an hour late but nonetheless there. Brendan was very gracious about it and so the interview went on.
Huge thanks to Bob and Lorraine for giving up their entire day to ensure we got the interview.
Today we have captured the interview, and are continuing to prepare for the AIDC 2008. We hope to have a complete promo reel done by Friday, so for now it’s back to the grindstone.
A side note - FILMINK has also added Into the Shadows to their links page - thanks Dov for your continued support.
Friday 8 February 2008
AIDC Prep
Weeks seem to come and go at the moment and there goes another one. We have been working on a fresh look for our website, including new material: promos, interviewee bios and our news blog.
We have also been preparing for our trip to the AIDC 2008.
Registration... Check!
Flights... Check!
Accommodation... We had some hick-ups but can now say, check!
We are aiming to meet and greet other documentary filmmakers at the conference and find out what other people out there are making. There are going to be some great seminars run by experienced filmmakers and industry professionals so it should be an enriching experience.
We have also been preparing for our trip to the AIDC 2008.
Registration... Check!
Flights... Check!
Accommodation... We had some hick-ups but can now say, check!
We are aiming to meet and greet other documentary filmmakers at the conference and find out what other people out there are making. There are going to be some great seminars run by experienced filmmakers and industry professionals so it should be an enriching experience.
Thursday 7 February 2008
Office Space
Today we are working from our new office. No it’s not one of those minimalist design penthouse view offices that have views of the CBD. It’s in Phil’s renovated backyard garage, but nonetheless it’s an office space and its working well for us.
Last week we submitted a funding application to ScreenACT. It’s the first time the ACT government has issued funding through ScreenACT specifically for film projects...so fingers crossed. If we receive the funding we will be able to finish the production stage of our doco. If we don’t, we will be hitting up the credit cards again - either way this film will be completed.
On some other news, as you may have noticed we have a new addition to our website - Our news blog! Will we be adding entries to this more often! It will be a great way to keep up to date as our project continues and it means you can now comment on the website and the film.
We have also cut a promo reel and some clips for Into the Shadows so keep an eye on this space because they will be up soon…until then go out and make a film! You know you want to.
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