Dr Ruth Harley, new CEO of Screen Australia, is open to re-examining the agency’s controversial axing of short film funding, the number and type of productions that were required for feature film development funding.
The SPADA conference kicked off at Sky City in Auckland on Thursday morning with a traditional Maori welcome for the overseas guests, followed by the presentation of three awards.
Yes. Britain and Morocco have signed a co-production treaty. "The United Kingdom and Morocco have a shared history of film-making, from Lawrence of Arabia to more recent productions like Black Hawk Down and Troy. This agreement will give film-makers an economic incentive to work together and build on that legacy, by giving them access to the benefits available in both countries."
Dropped by a major Australian distributor, low budget IndiVision feature Lake Mungo was picked up by international sales agent Darclight, and the remake rights sold to Paramount Advantage in the US. And then there’s the territory sales.
The Australian Tax Office has refused to amend the dates at which it will pay the rebate. Santa only comes in June, leaves children in salt mines for months.
When the ABC reported the AWG response to Scroz, a pile of people waxed eloquent in the comments, and provided an entertaining and instructive Dummies Guide to The Debate.
The Screen Producers Association of Australia's Geoff Brown used his right of reply to an editorial in The Australian and explains the failure of 10BA.
For some seriously eloquent, pissed off prose, look no further than the Australian Writers’ Guild submission on the Screen Australia guidelines. There were also clearly some writer-directors in the room when the Australian Directors Guild got down to work.
As Ruth Harley takes over as CEO of Screen Australia, her former boss, NZ Film Commission chair David Cullwick, is pointing a large fire hose in the direction of South Pacific Pictures in an effort to douse the controversy started by John Barnett’s inflammatory comments.
Dr Ruth Harley started work on Monday as Screen Australia’s first Chief Executive Officer. The interregnum is over. Now the moaning and lobbying can begin in earnest.
Screen Hub journalist Mark Poole wraps up the 2008 SPAA Conference, concluding that Screen Australia needs a visit from the Virgin Mary, and Chris Adams might just be her son.
Ambience Entertainment has announced that CEO Courtney Solomon from After Dark Films has acquired the rights to showcase Dying Breed as part of its After Dark Horrorfest series in the US. This is a much weirder and bigger deal than it seems.
When you sit down to a seminar in which two A4 sheets of acronym translations have been helpfully laid out, you know you’re in for a treat. Abbreviations aside, SPAA delegates filed in prepared to grapple with the issues facing the industry at the brave new dawn of the Digital Cinema Initiative.
The Association of Film Commissioners International will gather in New Zealand in a few days time. Screen Hub correspondent Tim Thorpe will be there, but in the lead-up, he takes some time to reflect on being bored rigid by government film agencies all trying to attract production with the same mix of incentives.
The Australian's take on the Screen Australia position that it will not lobby government is that it is a major win for the Department of Arts bureaucrats, who will now find their submissions unchallenged.
Despite the house music being rolled on a couple of overlong acceptance speeches the 2008 IF awards were a smooth running succession of winners, grinners and the one and only Mr Hugo Weaving.
