| ZOOM IN ON OZ News Page Articles INTERNATIONAL AWARD SCREEN AFRICA SEPTEMBER 99 SCREEN AFRICA NOVEMBER 99 SCREEN AFRICA FEBRUARY 00 SCREEN AFRICA APRIL 00 |  |
| INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT INTERNATIONAL AWARD - distributed by Diana Lyon Destination Australia, produced by Away Team Productions of Sydney, was judged the 'Best Single Special Purpose Inflight Video for 1997', by the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA), in Orlando, USA. | ||
Changing every two months, Destination Australia is made specifically for South African Airways (SAA) to be shown on their flights from Johannesburg to Perth and Sydney. This is the first time SAA have won an Avion Award, ('the Oscars' of the airline industry), in this category of airline entertainment competing against Virgin Airlines and British Airways who were runners up.Destination Australia was judged the best based on its originality, suitability and production value, content and balance. Diana Lyon first negotiated the contract for this prize-winning partnership in 1994.Happy winners ... (back, left to right) Thevan Krishna - Regional Manger, South West Pacific SAA, Diana Lyon - Away Team Productions International Agent, Stephen Henderson - Producer, Away Team Productions (front, left to right) Douglas Kirk - Creative Director, Away Team Productions, Chisholm McTavish - Creative Director, Away Team Productions |
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SCREEN AFRICA SEPTEMBER 1999 - ZOOM IN ON OZ COLUMN INDUSTRY INFO... | ||
Film Australia, established in the early days of Australia's film history as a film production house for Australian Government, is now one of country's largest producers of television, documentary and educational programs. In addition, Film Australia operates a world-wide distribution service for its own productions and those of many independent Australian documentary producers. It's library houses a unique collection of around 1500 titles spanning 85 years of Australia's history.Most Film Australia programs are broadcast in Australia and overseas and all are actively distributed to schools, universities and community groups throughout Australia.Currently Film Australia has a five-year agreement with the Australian Government to devise, produce, distribute and market 100 programs dealing with aspects of the life and activities of the Australian people. |
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Already flowing from this initiative, called The National Interest Program (NIP), are several major television series which take a nostalgic look at Australia over the last century. 'Our Century', a 26 X 30-minute series, is one of these which Film Australia produced in collaboration with the National Film and Sound Archives, The Nine Television Network and Look Films to provide a fascinating and entertaining farewell to the old millennium.The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, now just 12 months away, has also bolstered Film Australia's stock footage sales with broadcasters and production companies all over the world seeking images of Sydney and other parts of Australia. The Sydney Organising Committee for the 2000 Olympic Games (SOCOG) have depended a lot recently on Film Australia's footage for their television and other promotional needs, especially material of the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne.
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DID YOU KNOW...? * Cinemas Australia-wide in 1997 recorded admissions of 77.4 million - an increase of 7.6% on previous box-office takings according to estimates by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. * There has been a big increase in the number of feature films made in Australia for less than $A1 million. Many of these were self-funded - moving into production without having secured full post-production finance or any distribution or sales agreements. * In addition to the film development bodies funded by the Federal Government of Australia, such as Film Australia, the Australian Film Commission (AFC) and the Australian Film Institute (AFI) to name a few, five of the country's eight States and Territories have their own film-funded organisations. They are: Film Victoria (now Cinemedia Corporation) based in Melbourne, the New South Wales Film and Television Office (NSWFTO) based in Sydney, the Pacific Film & Television Commission (formerly Film Queensland) based in Brisbane, Screenwest (formerly the West Australian Film Corporation) based in Perth and the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) based in Adelaide. |
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DIRECTIONS... * The birth of dedicated documentary pay channels is the reason, says Film Australia's Sales & Marketing Director, Philip Nelson, for a shift in demand for documentary programs. This he observed during a recent round of television markets in Asia and Europe where demand for 30-minute programs in a series form was high.Mr Nelson said that "while there was sustained demand for wildlife, science and technology programs as well as doco-soaps, buyers were also interested in material with an environmental and ecological edge and with strong emotional content".He observed that there was a developing interest in documentaries from Asian broadcasters and anticipates the region will have a proliferation of documentary free-to-air channels within a few years."Specialist documentary channels initially concentrate on wildlife programs, but they usually diversify their slate to encompass human interest docos such as those on offer from Australia", he said.
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FESTIVAL SPIRIT... (in a coffee cup!) * The Café Nescafé Short Film Awards, while not based around a single festival, offer a commercial return to short-film makers with a prize pool worth $A43,500. The twenty-four films selected, each winning $A1500, will be screened at purpose-built Café Nescafé outlets in Australia over a period of a year. Additional prize money of $A1500 each will be awarded to the three top films and $A1000 each to the film with the best original screenplay, the best original score and the best actor.There are no entry fees nor theme requirement for entries to this unique festival.
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* Cafe screenings will also be the go at the fashionable north east New South Wales coastal resort town of Byron Bay when The Byron Bay Short Film Festival (known as BUZZ) will be held there on November 19, 20 and 21. Films are open to content criteria but are to be no longer than 10 minutes
in length and must be no more than one year old. Documentary-style films
will not be accepted.Substantial prizes will be offered for films in the following sections: Best Film, Best Film by Local Director, Best Animation, Best Comedy, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and the People's Choice Award.
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TAILPIECE... * In June this column reported that long-time Australian Film Commission (AFC) chief executive, Cathy Robinson, was resigning from her position. It's now announced the new CEO for the AFC is Mr Kim Dalton, formerly manager of acquisitions and development at Beyond International Ltd., one of Australia's leading film and television production, sales and distribution companies. * It's been revealed in analysis done by the AFC that 55.2 per cent of Australian films have been made by first-time feature directors in the past five years. The research also shows how dominant writer-directors have become in the industry. About 43 per cent of films were made by directors who penned their own scripts. Commenting on this trend, executive director of the Australian Screen Directors' Association (ASDA), Richard Harris, said the trend towards first-timers was a vexed issue for the industry, even though it opened up opportunities for new talent to emerge. "With actors, it's very important to have established stars. With directors, it seems to be more important to have the next bright young thing".
Links, where available, for the organisations mentioned in this and earlier Screen Africa columns are available on the links page of this website. |
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SCREEN AFRICA NOVEMBER 1999 - ZOOM IN ON OZ COLUMN INDUSTRY INFO... | ||
* ScreenSound Australia, formerly known as The National Film and Sound Archive, is a semi- autonomous organisation within the Government's Department of Communications and Arts. Since its foundation in 1935, its primary role has been to collect, restore and share Australia's dynamic screen and sound heritage from old film and TV shows to radio and modern music. Located in a beautifully restored art-deco heritage-listed building in Canberra, ScreenSound Australia has become an exciting entertainment venue attracting local and overseas visitors to its film screenings, workshops and tours. With offices also in Melbourne and Sydney and with representation in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth, the organisation makes its priceless collection accessible to all Australians. |
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* As a way of involving the private sector in film and television financing, the Australian Government has launched a pilot Film Licensed Investment Company Scheme (FLIC). Under the FLIC scheme two Australian companies have been granted licenses to each raise A$20 million of concessional capital, primarily from Australian investors, to invest in Australian film and television products.The successful licensors were Macquarie Film Corporation and Content Capital Limited. Shareholders in a FLIC will be eligible for an up front tax deduction of 100 per cent during this tax year. The license holders are expected to seek a mixed slate of film and television products including large and low-budget features, animated and children's programmes and a range of television products. The pilot scheme will end on 30 June 2003. |
DID YOU KNOW...? Australian filmmakers are happy to share their secrets and successes through books. The latest crop of books on sale include:* Second Take: a compilation of conversations, essays and articles from top Australian filmmakers including Jane Campion, George Miller, Martin Scorsese, Chris Noonan and Bruce Beresford, to name just a few. Published by Allen & Unwin for A$24.95 (approx. R100).* Reel Women: Working in Film and Television: it chronicles the struggles and successes of prominent women within the Australian film and television industry. It also provides an insight into particular jobs from a woman's perspective. Available from the Australian Film Television and Radio School by email at direct.sales@aftrs.edu.au for A$29.95 (approx. R120).* The Films of Gillian Armstrong: looks closely at the body of films directed by Armstrong such as My Brilliant Career (1979) and Oscar and Lucinda (1998). She was one of the first generation of acclaimed feature film directors to emerge from the 1970s renaissance of the Australian film industry.Available from Metro Magazine, P.O. Box 2211, St. Kilda West Post Office, St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia 3182 for A$19.95 (approx. R80) plus P&H. |
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DIRECTIONS... * The one-second TV advertisement is on its way! Flash ads, as they are called, avoid being unlawful as is subliminal advertising - images that are too fast for conscious perception - because they are long enough for viewers to take in information. Australia's first ads to break out of the 30-second box will be for a pre-mix vodka drink, Stoli Lemon Ruski. The creators are Leo Burnett Connaghan & May who have created 40 one-second commercials with up to seven different versions to appear in a half-hour period. Ultimately 1000 versions will be made, the idea being that no two ads will run twice in the current season. Flash images are aimed at an audience that is marketing-literate and advertising-cynical! * Filmgoers are taking more notice of opening credits as a new breed of designers apply their art to what is now a form of mini-moviemaking. While not a new concept - remember the James Bond movies of the 60s? - the potential of the well-designed title sequence is again being realised as computer technology begins to make title-making more affordable. What used to be the most expensive part of a film on a dollars-per-minute basis, is fast becoming a thing of the past. * The Internet as a film venue is resurrecting the short-subject movie genre providing independent filmmakers with an unprecedented opportunity for exposure to large audiences. The images across the computer screen may be jerky and somewhat blurred but they are being seen as a new form of quirky cinema. Several Web sites screening films of between one and 30 minutes duration have emerged on the Internet attracting tens of thousands of visits daily. They include: The Bit Screen;
The Sync; New Venue and Atom Films. (See links page.)Two schools of thought have emerged on what the Internet means for the film industry. One being that the Net will provide a place for independent filmmakers to distribute their films and secondly, that content should be specifically created for the medium. At the moment filmmakers are not receiving payment for their Internet films, but who knows, it could happen in the future. |
FESTIVAL SPIRIT... * The 9th Flickerfest, the annual International short film festival held at Sydney's Bondi Beach Pavilion, takes place in 2000 from January 2 to 8. It's Australia's premiere short film festival consisting of a main competition and a short documentary competition. Although it's too late now to submit entries, they closed on October 1, why not keep an eye on the Flickerfest Web site for 2000 winners and future competitions. Or, if you're planning to be in Sydney to welcome in the new millennium, the fun of Flickerfest will help keep your party spirit soaring! In addition to film screenings, a number of workshops will be presented, viz. Making Movies - the leap from shorts to features, From Ideas To Images and Casting Secrets. | |
Flickkids - films and workshops for 5 to 14 year olds - will also be a feature of the next festival. * Realitycheck, awards for the digital multimedia and the on-line industry, is an annual event presented by the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA) and the Internet Industry Association (IIA). In its sixth year, twenty one awards in five major categories are made for creative design and development and production excellence in its many forms from interactive CD ROM to online presentations. Nominations are, of course, being taken online. |
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TAILPIECE... * The Australian film industry has a big hit - and a new star - with the crime story Two Hands. On its release Two Hands held one of the two top positions at the local box office in its first 12 days in cinema grossing A$1.9 million - although it was knocked off the top position by Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. The Two Hands story revolves around a lost package of money on Sydney's Bondi Beach (a beach always in the news these days!). Veteran Australian actor, Bryan Brown plays alongside exciting newcomer, 20-year old Perth boy, Heath Ledger. Two Hands is the first feature film from Australian director Gregor Jordan.* The scene at the Sydney premiere of Eyes Wide Shut, when the film's glamorous stars Nicole Kidman (also in Sydney to visit her parents) and Tom Cruise stepped out of their limousine, was chaotic as screaming fans surged forward with security guards struggling to hold them back. The famous couple didn't disappoint posing for the photographers and signing a few autographs before, with one expert shake of the head and flick of the hair Kidman took Cruise's arm and, amidst more screams from fans, the couple disappeared into the theatre. The film, a rich and haunting study of jealousy and sexual unease, is receiving conflicting reviews in Australia. * The Australian Film Commission is to double its investment in script development to A$2.4 million annually. The AFC has said it will maintain its annual spending on low-budget feature production at A$1.6 million and its funding of interactive media will also be maintained. My wishes for a fabulous final festive season for this century! Links, where available, for the organisations mentioned in this and earlier Screen Africa columns are available on the links page of this website. |
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SCREEN AFRICA FEBRUARY 2000 - ZOOM IN ON OZ COLUMN INDUSTRY INFO... | ||
* From 1 January 2001 television broadcasters will need to transmit in three terrestrial signals - analogue, SDTV (standard-definition) and HDTV (high-definition). This follows the announcement by the Government last December on the future of digital television in Australia. The complete phase-in of digital television is scheduled by 2008. In the meantime broadcasters must slowly deliver digital programming which, by two years time, should reach 20 hours. |
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Datacasters, such as Internet Service Providers, cannot show anything that looks like a television program, thus protecting TV broadcasters. Conversion boxes for existing TV sets to receive the digital signal, will cost about A$600 (R2400) for SDTV and about A$1000 (R4000) for HDTV.Digital TV will not only deliver sharper pictures and sound but offer access to the Internet, e-mail, home banking and shopping services, interactive games and limited news & current affairs programs. |
IN THE PICTURE... * A definitive guide to the Australian film industry, the Oxford Companion to Australian Film, compiled by over 80 historians and writers with 608 pages and 150 illustrations, is now available from Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Costing A$79.95 (R320) the book can be ordered over the Internet.* Two other recommended Australian reference texts from Oxford University Press, are Andrew Pike's and Ross Cooper's Australian Film, 1900 - 1977 - a guide to feature film production and Scott Murray's Australian Film, 1978 - 1992. * Shared Vision - Women in Television, compiled by Annette Blonski, offers a collection of interviews, essays and personal anecdotes of women who have made significant contributions to the Australian television industry. The book costs A$20 (R80) and can be ordered from the Australian Film Commission, Sydney. |
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DIRECTIONS... * About 20 DIY features, or guerilla films, were made in Australia last year spawning a generation of new film-makers. Inspired by the low-budget independent film movement and the success of films like the The Blair Witch Project, many film-makers are bypassing traditional funding sources and scraping together their own small budgets before heading for the streets with hand-held cameras.When the Screen Producers Association of Australia held a recent conference in Sydney to discuss this burgeoning interest in DIY films, more than 200 cinematic hopefuls turned up.And, to support the release of DIY films, two organisations, Tribe First Rites - a video distributor - and the Video Ezy chain have announced a deal to put DIY films into Australian video stores. |
APPLAUSE TO ... * Australia's little piece of Hollywood - the Sydney Fox Studios Backlot - (part of the 25 hectare Fox Film Studios complex) which opened in blockbuster style on a starry and star-studded night last November. The high-tech Backlot is designed to bring alive the world of film-making and includes: the Titanic Experience, where special effects take the audience through the last lurching moments of the ill-fated liner, the Babe Set, where the delightful Babe - Pig in the City set can be explored and a hall of Cool Stuff where sets and memorabilia from famous movies are on display.There are another five hands-on exhibits as well as the chance to see real action from an elevated walkway over two of the main working studios.Ticket prices range from A$22.95 (R120) to A$37.95 (R150) and include entry into the Bent Street complex of shops, restaurants and cinemas.* Film directors Jane Campion (The Piano) and Scott Hicks (Shine) on the box-office success of their end-of-year releases, Holy Smoke for Campion and Snow Falling on Cedars for Hicks. | |
Starring Kate Winslet (Titanic) and set in the hauntingly beautiful Australian outback, Holy Smoke centres on a battle of wills in which Winslet learns to exploit her sexual power over her would-be-controller, Harvey Keitel (The Piano).In Snow Falling on Cedars, filmed in Vancouver, Canada, quite a different battle takes place surrounding the murder trial of a Japanese-American fisherman. After struggling for 10 years to get Shine made his way, and after that film's Oscar success, Hicks now finds his own battle with Hollywood is over. * Sydney producer, Errol Sullivan, for completing the re-make of the 50s hit film, On the Beach after a 12-year campaign to bring Nevil Shute's novel back to the screen. Filming was done in Melbourne, where Shute's novel and the original film was made, but the remake of this end-of-the-world story has been set in the year 2007 involving a nuclear conflict between China and Taiwan.Australians, Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward take the lead roles. The film and mini-series is due for release later in 2000. |
FESTIVAL SPIRIT... * Flickerfest, the week-long international short film festival held annually at Sydney's Bondi Beach in January, attracted a record 650 entries this year. * Tropfest, so named because it began at Sydney's Tropicana Restaurant in 1983, extended its annual public screenings this year via a satellite link up on February 27 to include six other Australian locations. The 7-minute films must include the | |
designated Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) which, for 2000, is bug. * Forthcoming festivals include: Brisbane International Animation Festival, April 6-9; Sydney Film Festival (including the Dendy Short Film Awards), June 9-23; Melbourne Film Festival, July 27-August 6; Brisbane Film Festival, July 27-Aug 6. |
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TAILPIECE... * Five Summer schools for film buffs were held these past months in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart. Some of Australia's finest film luminaries have taken part. * The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) is conducting its first audit of foreign TV advertising in response to a request by the Australian Screen Producers Association of Australia who say that foreign TV ads are on the increase. The ABA will examine the points system currently used to determine a locally produced TV ad. Links, where available, for the organisations mentioned in this and earlier Screen Africa columns are available on the links page of this website. |
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SCREEN AFRICA APRIL 2000 - ZOOM IN ON OZ COLUMN INDUSTRY INFO... | ||
* The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) was established by the Government in Sydney in 1973 to be the national centre for professional education and advanced training. Its graduates, who have won over 500 national and international awards, include such luminaries as Chris Noonan (Babe), Gillian Armstrong (Little Women), Jane Campion (The Piano) and South African, Dion Beebe, cinematographer on Praise, Floating Life and Eternity.AFTRS courses are organised around eighteen specialist subjects including, cinematography, directing, editing, producing, digital effects, sound recording and radio production and broadcasting to name a few. Fulltime post-graduate courses are only offered at its award-winning Sydney facility, and hundreds of shorter certificate courses are provided at smaller facilities around the country |
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Integrating studios, recording suites, post production suites, libraries and theatres, the Sydney facility houses some of the world's most advanced film and broadcast equipment. The library there offers a collection of 15,000 books and thousands of videos and has an online catalogue accessible from its web site. * The Australian Government recently approved the Macquarie Bank's new film division, Macquarie Film Corporation, set up to raise $20 million of tax concession funds from private investors. With the aim of funding a broad range of Australian film projects, the Macquarie Film Corporation is keen to see the industry take a new direction away from comedy and into the genres of horror, science fiction, children's drama and animated films. |
FESTIVAL SPIRIT... * Tropfest, the unique annual Australian short film festival, held this year on February 27, attracted 67,000 to its Sydney venue, thousands more to smaller venues around the country via its satellite broadcast and registered more than 250,000 hits from all over the world on its web site. In the future John Polson, festival originator, says he plans to have international judges online on the screening night and also provide online voting for fans. Next year too will see the introduction of the first international screening venue for Tropfest in either London or Berlin.* Australia will host the first international short film interactive film festival in November, The Side on Shorts Netfest. In the planning for the past three years, the festival will be a joint venture between short film theatre Side On Enterprises in Sydney and streaming content specialist ITVWorld.com. Films will be shown in both narrowband and broadband format. * Real - Life on Film, the documentary film festival initiated last year in Melbourne by a group of young business professionals, is presenting its second festival, Doco2000, in April in both Melbourne and Sydney. Documentaries from the Human Rights International Film Festival will also be screened alongside the Australian entries. |
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DIRECTIONS... * Global film and television studies will soon become a virtual reality when the Global Film School opens its Internet doors later this year. Three of the world's leading film and television teaching institutions, the Australian Film School (AFTRS), the University of Los Angeles (UCLA) and the National Film and Television School of Britain, have joined forces to offer potential filmmakers anywhere in the world the opportunity to attend film school. The idea was born at a conference of film schools convened by the AFTRS and sponsored by the International Film School Association (CILECT) held in Los Angeles last year. In the first week of the recent launch of the Global Film School's web site, nearly two million hits were recorded and nearly 5,000 people from 38 countries registered their interest.It is expected that courses will commence in November 2000.* Pay-per-view movies will shortly be available for the first time in Australia when Austar, one of three local pay TV channels, introduces this service to regional viewers. This will allow people to dial up a first release movie before it is screened on pay TV and long before it reaches the video store. |
AND THE WINNERS ARE... * Kylie Robertson: the only Australian in the new-talent category invited to attend the multimedia equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival, MILIA, in February. Her CD-ROM movie, Silent Passages, which she wrote, filmed and produced, was chosen from more than 130 multimedia creations submitted by 22 countries. | |
* Steve Courtley: for his Academy Award nomination on his masterful special effects in The Matrix. |
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TAILPIECE... * Australian special effects guru, John Cox, who won international fame for his work on Babe, is presently trying to secure funding for a A$55 million theme park, Footprints Discovery Park which he plans to build on the Gold Coast near Brisbane in Queensland. * Melbourne is the proposed location for a new Hollywood vampire movie, The Queen of the Damned. The Gothic tale, by popular horror writer, Anne Rice, is to be directed for Warner Bros. by Michael Rymer, a US-based Australian filmmaker. While Tom Cruise took the lead role in the first of Rice's books to be filmed, Interview with the Vampire, Wes Bentley from American Beauty, will this time play the lead role. * The trend of Hollywood coming to Australia continues, as the latest Australian Film Commission (AFC) production figures bear out with A$181 million being spent here by foreign productions in 1999. This figure is expected to increase substantially in 2000 with Mission Impossible and two Star Wars films being shot at Sydney's Fox Studios. * Another AFC production report states that for the second year in a row there were no mini-series produced as co-productions. This, the AFC says, reflects a shift in co-production activity from mini-series to series and notes that five of the seven Australian mini-series made in 1999 were for children. * The AFC has appointed Sabina Finnern to the new position of Manager Marketing. When Sabina joined the AFC three years ago as Manager, International Market Development, one of her first assignments, in July 1997, was to coordinate the AFC's first ever film festival in South Africa. Sabina returned to South Africa later that year to attend Sithengi - the Southern Africa Film and Television Market, representing the AFC. Links, where available, for the organisations mentioned in this and earlier Screen Africa columns are available on the links page of this website. |
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