South West Screen E-Bulletin #144

15 May 2008

contents: news; opportunities; cluster groups; training; screenings/events/exhibitions;

news

South West Screen Board Members
Deadline: Tuesday 3 June 2008
South West Screen is currently recruiting new members for its Board. A dynamic, forward-thinking team, we are looking for outstanding individuals with expertise in the creative industries who share our vision of making the South West of England an international centre of excellence. Full details can be found here or for an informal chat please contact our CEO Caroline Norbury on +44 (0)117 952 9977.

Screenwriters' Festival BAFTA Launch
Following a launch event at the BAFTA headquarters in London on Tuesday 6 May the countdown to the Third International Screenwriters' Festival (1 - 3 July, Cheltenham) is now properly underway. 250 industry figures gathered at the launch for an evening of drinks and presentations. Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Young Victoria) opened with an engaging discourse on the giving and receiving of 'notes' (the bane of many a Screenwriter's experience) and William Nicholson (Elizabeth - The Golden Age, Gladiator, Shadowlands) closed the evening with a rousing examination of exactly what it is and what it means to be a Screenwriter. The evening was a tremendous success and anticipation of this year's festival is really building. Tickets for the festival are now on sale - to book, visit the website.

Media Sandbox showcase
Media Sandbox 2008 wrapped up on Tuesday 6 May and with the project prototypes on show, it was clear that products and opportunities are far-ranging in the emerging realm of pervasive media. Each project reinforced the idea that pervasive media offers an opportunity for the user to be in control, accessing information when they want to, how they want to and where they want to. At the end of the event, industry panel judges awarded Thought Pie a further £8,000 to take forward the Happy Packages project to develop their four strand approach to bring happy mobile 'gifts' to Bristolians. There was a further award of £1,000 and a month residency at the Pervasive Media Studio to Wonky, who were judged by the present Media Sandbox participants to have the best new pervasive media idea. Wonky will investigate the viability of SSTV - using CCTV footage to make a map of Bristol's Street Sports available via mobile phones. Congratulations to all the projects on their hardwork and creativity.
If you couldn't make the Showcase, a video from interviews caught at the event will soon be available on the Media Sandbox website.

Young people's film website scoops a Webby Award
First Light Movies, the leading nationwide initiative that enables young people from all backgrounds to realise their creative potential via filmmaking through UK Film Council funding, is thrilled to announce that its dynamic youth-facing website, has won a prestigious international Webby Award. The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet. The Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries, writers, editors and creative celebrities. The First Light Movies website will be honored at the Webby Film & Video Awards on 9 June at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

Propeller and the RTS Student Awards
Propeller TV, the broadcaster established in 2006 to support new filmmaking talent, has teamed up with the Royal Television Student Masterclasses & Awards. Propeller TV is set on sweeping up the latest new talent at the RTS Awards being held in London on 16th May 2008. Student filmmakers, producers and directors entering the RTS awards will have the opportunity to see their work broadcast on Propeller TV (Sky 195) later this year. Terry Mounsey, Operations Director at Propeller TV told us, 'I'm delighted that Propeller is supporting the RTS Student Awards again this year. Both Propeller and the RTS do so much to encourage new and rising talent, it is a perfect match.'

Is Bristol Britain's Most Musical City?
Join the debate now, vote and you could win tickets to the End of the Road Festival!

opportunities

Online Development Coordinator
Deadline: 5pm Friday 6 June
Watershed is looking to recruit an Online Development Coordinator - £24,000 per annum, full-time, fixed-term contract for one year - to oversee smooth delivery of the redevelopment and redesign of dShed.net. dShed is Watershed's online publication site housing a huge range of creative content contributed by a range of partners). The successful candidate will have a lead role in the reorganisation, communication and presentation of dShed's archive and ensure that the current site remains active and up-to-date.
Full details are available here

Watershed requires a Projectionist
Deadline: Friday 30 May
To provide support for the team responsible for the technical delivery of Watershed's public programme and conferencing clients. The ideal candidate must demonstrate a high degree of reliability, flexibility and motivation, and the ability to work as part of a team. At least one year's 35mm preferably within a cinema environment and a good knowledge of Health & Safety are essential. Full-time permanent, £13,000 - £15,000 per annum (depending on experience), 39 hrs per week (including evening or weekend work).
Full details are available here

Production Secretary
6-month fixed term contract starting 9 June
Based in Bristol, John Downer Productions (JDP) is a media company specialising in wildlife television, feature films and commercials. It has won numerous international awards for its innovative approach to filmmaking. The Production Secretary is the first point of contact for external enquiries, responsible for running the office and assisting the Production Co-Ordinator and Production Manager in setting up filming trips both at home and abroad. This is a unique opportunity for someone wishing to learn all aspects of production management. For further information please contact Anna Thomas on 0117 9238088.

Education Officer at Screen Yorkshire
Deadline: 12pm Friday 6 June
Screen Yorkshire is seeking a highly energetic and enthusiastic individual for this key new post to help drive forward an education strategy for the region. A persuasive communicator with excellent project management skills, you will be passionate about film, with a successful track record in delivering film and media education activity. This is a 1 year temporary contract - salary £24,000 pa. For more information and an application pack click here or contact Sophie Matthewman on 0113 294 4410 /

DepicT! '08: Now Accepting Submissions
Deadline: 8 Sept
Now in its tenth year, ultra-short film competition DepicT! continues to celebrate the imagination, style, emotion, drama, mystery, humour and passion that can be packed into one captivating mini-movie. Can you do it in 90 seconds? DepicT! offers emerging filmmakers the opportunity to win a range of unique prizes and to gain priceless exposure through Encounters International Short Film Festival, the Digital Screen Network, depict.org and beyond. Judges, who in the past have included directors Peter Jackson, Terry Gilliam and Royston Tan, film critic Nigel Floyd and Aardman Animations' David Sproxton, are looking to discover distinctive voices which evidence originality, creativity and the ability to engage the viewer. First Prize: £2000 cash. For more information and to submit your film, visit the website.
If you've made a short film over 90 seconds, you can still enter it into Encounters International Short Film Festival (Bristol, UK, from Tue 18 - Sun 23 Nov '08)
Deadline For Encounters Entries: Wed 18 June - for more info, visit the website

10 Day Filmmaking Summer School based at Bournemouth Screen Academy
First Light Movies is delighted to be able to offer places for five young people aged 14 - 15 (Year 10), on a ten day residential filmmaking summer school from 20-30 July 2008. In partnership with the Bournemouth Screen Academy, First Light need five young people from the same area, ideally who have already made a First Light Movies film or have had some previous experience of filmmaking. As part of the course a script needs to be developed by the young people working with professionals beforehand (this process will be subsidised by Bournemouth). This will involve submitting a treatment, locations and characters by 9 June and submitting a final script by 30 June. Please get in touch with Pip Eldridge on 0781 253 9678 if you are interested and know some young people who would jump at this chance.

Commissioning Editors Workshop for Documentaries
18-20 June 2008 Edinburgh
Deadline for project application: 23 May
Scottish Documentary Institute is pleased to present the annual Commissioning Editors Workshop 2008 which will run alongside Edinburgh International Film Festival (18-29 June 2008). The workshop has been expanded to 3 days to include a pitching workshop. The pitching forum will take place on 19 June, followed by one-on-one meetings with industry experts. International and UK commissioning editors will attend, giving filmmakers the opportunity to learn about the international landscape for documentaries. The workshop is open to all filmmakers based in the UK, and is aimed at independent filmmakers trying to get a TV commission and thinking about international co-productions. Please download information on how to apply with a project or as an observer from the website or contact Rebecca Day on 0131 221 6125.

Call for Films for the Bristol Filmmakers Festival 2008
Deadline: Mon 26 May
On the weekend of 14/15th June, the Bristol Filmmakers Festival 2008 comes to Watershed and Arnolfini, gathering together and celebrating the independent film community in the city. Organised by Cineformation, Bluescreen and the Misfit Collective, the festival screens a variety of independent film created in Bristol, and the organisers are now calling out to independent filmmakers in the city to send in their films. Submit your film on DVD along with the submission form (you can request one by email) to BFMF2008, C/o The Misfit Rising, 82 Colston St, Bristol BS1 5BB. They are also inviting filmmakers to submit material to the Sweded Classics section of the Festival. Following on from Michel Gondry's feature film Be Kind Rewind, we are looking for 'sweded' films, where a classic popular feature film - or extract - is refilmed with DIY inspiration and resources (and at much shorter length). Can you swede the whole of Terminator in 6 minutes? There is a later deadline for Sweded Classics: Saturday 7th June.

The Good, The Big and The Short Pitch -
Your chance to raise funding at Britdoc '08
BRITDOC offers you the opportunity to pitch your film live to a panel of international commissioning editors and film funders in three different pitching sessions taking place on 23-24 July. BRITDOC is inviting British and international directors to pitch their short and feature documentary projects for production or completion funding. Over the last 2 years, over £2m has been raised for documentary projects at the Big Pitch at BRITDOC. Deadlines to submit your pitch application are 6th June and 13th June, for full details click here.

Co-operative Young Film Makers Festival
9-10 Oct
If you're 21 or under and passionate about the world around you, make a film and make a difference. Pick up a camera, be a co-operative, tell it as it is. Change your world. Each year the Co-operative Young Film Makers festival shows 100 films on the big screen at the National Media Museum - and yours could be one of them! Your film must be under 6 minutes long and films under 3 minutes are particularly encouraged. You must be 21 or under (or working with young people who are 21 or under). Entries must be on DVD only. The organisers are very pleased to offer several special awards in 2008 in line with The Co-operative's values and principles: Two awards of £200 for 'Co-operation' and one £250 'Environment Award'. For full entry details, rules and regulations and selection criteria, download the entry form from the website:

Virtual Voices - submit your film
Deadline: 5pm 11 June 2008
As part of our Virtual Voices event on 10 July 2008 at Watershed in Bristol there will be a screening of films made to make a difference. We are looking for heartfelt projects that you really know and care about. Do you feel that society usually undervalues or misrepresents your views? Do you want to set the record straight? Have you made a film that can instigate social change through your passion and energy? We would like to show the strongest work made by people under the age of 25. If you feel your work is powerful enough to inspire others to follow in your footsteps, then we would like to hear from you. Projects can be film / digital media / photographic or radio and must be no longer than 10 minutes in length. The screening will only last an hour, so the shorter your project is, the more likely it is to be screened. For more information, please contact Sas Bonser.

Channel 4'S FourDocs and Mediabox launch search for young filmmaking talent
Deadline: 16 June 2008
Channel 4's FourDocs and Mediabox have joined forces for the second year running to offer an exclusive competition for disadvantaged 13-19 year olds to write, direct and produce their own short documentaries. Ten films will be made of which at least one will get a broadcast slot on Channel 4. Aspiring filmmakers should visit the website to submit a 200-word proposal. The judging panel is looking for unique ideas that will translate well into a 3-5 minute film. There are no restrictions on ideas - applicants are encouraged to be creative and think about the issues that matter to them. Ten finalists will receive £500 to create their film and will be assigned a film industry mentor who will guide them through the film making process. Mediabox and Channel 4 will also host a practical workshop for the mentors and young people involved in this scheme to help them work up their ideas and give advice on all aspects of film production. The mentors will be provided by Media Trust's Youth Mentoring scheme which links disadvantaged young people to media industry professionals and Channel 4.

Five Minutes of Mystery short film competition
Deadline: 15 August 2008
Calling all mysterious moving-image makers, enigmatic engineers of the silver screen - Five Minutes of Mystery challenges you to create and submit short films around a theme of mystery. Part of 'The Compass of Mystery Festival', Five Minutes of Mystery will bring together film-makers from far and wide to exhibit their work in Bristol. Judged by a panel of industry experts, awards will be for Best Film, Audience Award, Local Film-maker and Youth Award. Entries must be no longer than five minutes. Guidelines & entry forms are available here.

exposures - call for entries 2008
Deadline: 31 July 2008
exposures - the UK's leading competitive festival for student film and moving image - is looking for the talent of the future. Call for entries is now open for the 2008 edition to be held from 23-27 November at Cornerhouse and Urbis, Manchester's two leading contemporary arts venues. This year's competition widens the criteria for entries to include not only film but all aspects of the moving image. The competition is open to students who have created their work whilst studying on any UK course between August 2007 and July 2008 - the work does not have to have been made as part of the course. Pieces should be under 30 minutes long and this year's exposures theme is change. The festival has also responded to the growing number of younger filmmakers by introducing the underexposed strand which showcases pieces from under-19s. To download entry forms for both exposures and underexposed and enter for free, click here.

Virgin Media Shorts Competition: now open for submissions
Deadline: 30 June 2008
Virgin Media Shorts aims to seek out, promote and profile Britain's best short film makers giving them a multi platform arena to showcase their work including online, TV, mobile, internet and on cinema screens across the UK. Filmmakers can now submit their short film (no longer than 2mins 30 seconds ) online here and take part in the competition. The top 12 films will be blown up to a 35 mm print and shown on 211 cinema screens across the UK. The winner, selected by respected filmmakers in the industry will be given the chance to work directly with the UK Film Council and Virgin Media to develop and produce their next short film with a budget of up to £30,000. For application process, guidelines and to submit your film, click here.

cluster groups

There are five media cluster groups in the region - Bristol Media, Cornwall Media Focus, Gloucestershire Media Group, Plymouth Media Partnership and Wessex Media Group - offering support including regular events. If you're not a member, why not join your nearest group now?

What life is like inside the Big Brother house
28 May 2008 - 7pm at Cheltenham Film Studios
What's life like inside the house which captivated millions of people over the past decade? Eugene Sully was 27 when he entered Big Brother 6, just beaten by Anthony after being put in a predicament - Eugene offered to go to the diary room when Big Brother requested a housemate's presence; and once in there he was offered £50,000 of the prize money, but it would mean that the first prize would dwindle by half also to £50000. Eugene took the money. Since Big Brother he has presented radio shows, been a contestant on numeral quiz shows and other exciting things before eventually returning to being a radio engineer, training in his spare time for his pilot's license. Come along to this GMG event to hear Eugene's story and enjoy an informal relaxed catch up with other GMG members. To get on the guest list you must be a GMG member - email Emma with your name and email to reserve your seat.

training

Forkbeard Fantasy Summer Schools 2008
27 June to 4 July and 11 - 18 July 2008, Waterslade Studios, Devon
In 2008 Forkbeard Fantasy will be holding residential courses at their friendly and stimulating creative base in the heart of rural Devon. The 6-day courses give participants the opportunity to explore the diverse artforms used in Forkbeard's multi-media shows, films and exhibitions. Participants will receive a hands-on introduction to a range of techniques - including performing and interacting with film projections, making animated props and digital editing - as well as having space, equipment and materials with which they can experiment. Attendance costs £600 including all meals and accommodation. Full details can be found here.

Documentary Courses
DFG is the UK's leading provider of industry focused training in documentary filmmaking and the national organisation working to promote talent and innovation in the industry. Get up to 70% of your course fees covered by Skillset.
Write Great Commentary (31 May)
This intensive one day workshop will give you the skills you need to write powerful commentary for your film. You will cover all of the necessary topics, from an introduction to writing commentary to styles of commentary (how and when to use them); using the passive voice; condensing work; reading to picture; recording commentary and finding a voice.
Courses in June
Need to top up your other documentary skills? Then check out DFG's Multi-Skilling Month. The courses include: Intro to HDV Camera Techniques (4-5 June), Sound Workshop (Friday 6 June), Advanced Camera and Lighting Techniques (Weekend 7-8 June) and many more. For full details click here.

ACE Producers' Training and Networking Programme
Deadline: 2 July 2008
ACE (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen) is a 14-month training programme for independent European feature film producers with internationally-targeted projects. The programme provides year-round counselling on development of projects, scriptwriting and financing workshops, co-production seminars, and networking activities. Participants will increase their knowledge of the European market and its key industry players, improve their development skills and widen financing and distribution opportunities for their projects. Dates from November 2008 to December 2009 - Main workshop in December 08 will be held in France, other workshops and seminars in London, Dublin and other European cities to be confirmed. Participation Fee: 5500 Euro for the initial training year (14 months) / 700 Euro annual membership fee after the first year. For details click here.

Serious Screenwriting
5 - 6 June 2008 Soho Theatre, London W1
Serious Screenwriting is a brand new training and networking event from Scriptfactory for writers who are serious about a career in the British film industry. The aim of this major new programme is to help you ensure that your talent, passion, energy and time are invested in projects that are genuinely screen-worthy and stand a decent chance of being made. Over two days in Central London this June, eight sessions will combine practical training with inspiring guest speakers talking about the reality of film-making and screenwriting in the UK today. For full details click here.

Drawing Quarters 2008
8 - 11 July 2008
Quarter Leaders: Esmé Clutterbuck, David Inshaw RWA, Julian Perry, Janet Stoyel
Run by the School of Creative Arts, University of the West of England, Drawing Quarters is a practice-based symposium aimed at artists and designers who would like to take part in a four-day sustained studio-based workshop under the mentorship of a selected artist. This year, Drawing Quarters is lead by four nationally and internationally acclaimed practitioners each with a particular set of ideas and approaches to the practice of drawing. Drawing Quarters provides a dynamic opportunity for artists to explore their practice in a studio environment and to engage with some of the current debates within the sector's growing drawing community.
For more information or to book click here.

screenings/events/exhibitions

Animation Bridge Masterclasses
Visual Language and Story Structure with Frank Gladstone
- 17 May 2008, Watershed Bristol
Comedy Intensive Course with Steve Kaplan - 31 May 2008, Arts Institute, Bournemouth
As part of Animation Bridge: Storyboarding from Start to Finish, South West Screen is running 3 masterclasses in London, Bristol and Bournemouth. The three masterclasses are:

• Visual Language and Story Structure, Frank Gladstone
  17 May 2008, Watershed Bristol
  Click here for details
• Comedy Intensive Course, Steve Kaplan
  31 May 2008, Arts Institute, Bournemouth
  Click here for details

Places cost £25.00 per course and are limited to people with prior media industry experience. Please email us for a booking form.
These events are funded by South West Screen, Skillset, South West Regional Development Agency and Aardman Animations.

Virtual Voices - programme update
10 July 2008 - 9.30am - 5pm, Watershed, Bristol
The programme for Virtual Voices, a one day conference looking at how we develop young people so they become the content-creators and storytellers of the future - is really shaping up. Taking place on 10 July at Bristol's Watershed, the conference includes keynotes, panel sessions and hands-on interactive activities.
Highlights of the day
- A demonstration of mediascapes created by young people using Create a Scape, a free resource developed by Futurelab for use in an educational environment.
- Young people have their say on the big decisions being made by government and the people who advise them at a workshop from The Institute for Public Policy research. The workshop will be practical and interactive, facilitated by young citizen journalists, and will result in a set of short news reports that we will be using to talk to the press about these important questions and issues.
- Panels on the challenges industry faces in this increasingly interactive digital age. Channel 4 will talk about their award winning Skins marketing campaign and young writers will tell us how Skins broke the mould and captured the young audience everybody thought had stopped watching TV.
Full details of the event can be found here. Presented in partnership with RiO.

Appledore Visual Arts Festival
29 May - 1 June 2008, Appledore, Devon
The Appledore Visual Arts Festival is famous for its innovative programme of Visual Arts events. In recent years their Film Shorts Programme has rapidly developed and is now a highly popular section of the festival. This year, film shorts will be screened from 6pm - 7.15pm on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights of the festival. Films were submitted from all over the South West as well as from overseas, those selected reflect a variety of categories ranging from those based on the festival theme of 'Earth' to films on the theme of ceramics and ceramic artists. In addition to the Film Shorts Programme, the festival has also attracted an interesting selection of documentaries this year including Earth Pilgrim the critically acclaimed Natural World documentary first screened on BBC2, and a beautifully made Oral History film about the people and culture of Appledore. The full festival programme and booking details can be found here.

Book now for b.TWEEN08
18 - 20 June 2008 at Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
b.TWEEN is a unique cross media gathering where interactive ideas are seeded, shared and sold. Nowhere else will you find such a diverse mix of ideas-rich indies and ideas-hungry big industry players meeting on a level playing field to explore and exploit the creative and commercial potential of digital technologies. b.TWEEN08 features a huge host of industry experts from advertising, creative technology, film, games, mobile, TV and web. To find out more and to book see their website.

Celebrating the 'art' in Dartington
18 - 22 June 2008
Dartington College of Arts students are staging a free summer arts festival next month featuring cutting edge contemporary art, music, dance, theatre and video. The five-day extravaganza - which organisers hope will also include Dartington's first ever drive-in movie theatre - will involve more than 100 performances by over 200 graduating artists and will take place in and around the College from the 18th to 22nd June 2008. Festival '08 also features an on-site bar with live performances; as well as camping facilities for a limited number of campers.
For accommodation enquiries or general queries please click here or contact the festival team.

Did you study Fine Art at Bath School of Art and Design?
This Summer sees a celebration of more than two decades of Fine Art activity at Somerset Place on Saturday 12th July. If you are a Fine Art Graduate from Bath School of Art and Design why not help celebrate 22 years of success at this special event. The evening event will combine dinner and drinks with an Alumni exhibition which you are invited to contribute to. Reconnect with old friends, make new acquaintances and reminisce about your time at the School. Tickets are £35. To find out more and to book tickets click here
or contact us on 01225 876339.

Cineformation: Locations
Thursday 29 May 7pm Watershed
Looking for somewhere to shoot your next masterpiece? Look no further than the South West. With Skins, Mistresses and even The Duchess being filmed right under our noses, at this month's Cineformation, experts will be guiding us through the process of finding and shooting the perfect location. So, if you're looking for somewhere to shoot your film, or you fancy trying your hand at a bit of location scouting, join us as we uncover some of the well-known and hidden gems in Bristol & beyond. This event is free, please collect a ticket from Watershed Box Office on the night.

Next e-bulletin: 29 May 2008
Deadline for submissions: 27 May 2008