Encore Magazine articles from January 2009

Encore Magazine archives from January 2009

Australian tastes need more flavours: surely not all Australian films have to be dramas ...(Close Up)
January 1, 2009... I SAW AN UPCOMING AUSTRALIAN film this week, and I was depressed. I won't say which one, but it got me thinking about how I had felt after seeing a number of local productions this year, and unsurprisingly, many of them had left a similar...

Australian Phantom to inject $130 million to the industry.(NEW PROJECTS)
January 1, 2009... AUSTRALIAN COMPANY SHERLOCK SYMINGTON productions has secured the film rights to the legendary' comic book hero The Phantom and will produce a film based on him this year The character starred in a 1943 serial and a 1996 Paramount production...

More development in programs.(SCREEN AUSTRALIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... AFTER MONTHS OF CONSULTATION, SCREEN AUSTRALIA released its 2009 Development and Production Financing Programs in early December, with an emphasis on development CEO Ruth Harley said she hoped the guidelines would be 'the beginning of a strong...

Adelaide fund delivers.(AFF)(Adelaide Film Festival)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... THE ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL INVESTMENT FUND WILL BEAR fruits next month with the premiere of features, documentaries and shorts. "It's thrilling to watch this diverse slate develop and unfold and for South Australia to be playing such a...

Broadening horizons: SPAA executive director Geoff Brown says more commercial material and stimulation of private investor confidence will revitalise the industry.(Above The Line/LA Insider)
January 1, 2009... AROUND DECEMBER, THE MAINSTREAM PRESS START to focus on the Australian industry's shortcomings. Last year the release of Australia, and the closely following AFI Awards, together with the AFC's Annual Drama Survey, provided ample cannon fodder...

Actors strike might define new media: many know that the SAG and the AMPTP can't agree on a new contract, but they don't understand the issues. Tracey Vieira does and explains them here.(Above The Line/LA Insider)
January 1, 2009... THE LAST DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS between the organisations came in late November when a federal mediator was called in to assist in moving the negotiations forward. This initiative failed, and the Screen Actors Guild has since launched...

Disney inspires with musical graduation: just like every kid under 15, Bob Ellis has been seduced by Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and Ryan, but not so much by Daniel Craig's second outing as James Bond.(Rough Cut)
January 1, 2009... THIS MONTH: HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR (DIRECTOR: KENNY ORTEGA, DISTRIBUTOR: WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES); QUANTUM OF SOLACE (DIR: MARC FORSTER, DIST: SONY PICTURES). HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3--SENIOR YEAR HAS everything...

Crime does pay: with the success of Underbelly and a bottomless source of true crime stories, a second series was inevitable. Peter Galvin visited the set in an Encore exclusive.(On Location)
January 1, 2009... LAUNCHED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2008 RATINGS SEASON WITH A MASSIVE and expensive publicity push by the Nine Network, Underbelly became, says its makers, one of the most successful TV series ever produced in Australia. It's not just the high...

The expensive sound of music: music licensing is an essential element in television and film. Hernan Alcerreca found that Australian creatives need to plan ahead to secure that song they really want and need.(Music)
January 1, 2009... "I DON'T BELIEVE IN PUTTING IN MUSIC AS A BAND-AID TO GET you over some rough parts or bad film making. If it's there it's got to add to it or take it to another level," director Quentin Taratino once said. Saturday Night Fever's "Staving...

No education, no future: flexible studies and closer ties between educators and industry will prepare graduates for the rigours of the screen sector. David Hull reports.(Education)
January 1, 2009... IN GENERAL TERMS, THE PAST COUPLE OF DECADES HAVE SEEN HIGHER education gain a firm foothold as an important, if not essential, stepping stone for high school graduates seeking to the enter the workforce of their chosen profession. However, in...

Documentary makers ask the ultimate question: AIDC director Joost Den Hartog told Trace Prisk that this year's event will try to answer the most vital question for filmmakers, who's watching?(AIDC)(Conference news)
January 1, 2009... CONFERENCE DIRECTOR JOOST DEN HARTOG BELIEVES THAT networking is one of the key components of this year's Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) and as such, he has ensured that it is an essential component of the program. ...

Adelaide, thinking outside the square: Adelaide goes beyond the traditional limits of festivals to fund films and promote cross-platform development. Tracey Prisk spoke to the minds behind the event.(Adelaide Film Festival)
January 1, 2009... THE ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL (AFF) ENDEAVOURS TO REMAIN TRUE to its roots of being "a celebration of contemporary screen culture". Apart from the event's film screening program, festival director Katrina Sedgwick says, she didn't want to ignore...

Scripts under the microscope.(IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... American producer Meg LeFauvre [Nell, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) visited Sydney last month as an advisor for Screen Australia's IndiVison lab. "Our role is to ask a lot of questions; the right ones to dig out the story that the writers...

Danish connection.(IN BRIEF)(similarities between film industry)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Director Susanne Bier (After the Wedding, Things We Lost in the Fire) was another IndiVision advisor and during her visit she noticed similarities between the Danish and Australian industries. "There's a history of our film institutes working...

Stories the Australian way ... or not. Producer Chris Adams doesn't want to make so-called 'Australian' films. He told Paul Hayes that the origin of the idea doesn't matter; it's all about putting it on screen.(Script)
January 1, 2009... THE PENNSYLVANIA NATIVE AND CO-FOUNDER OF Participant Productions (Synana, Good Night and Good Luck) believes in making 'Movies with a capital M.' The idea of making a film in Australia that doesn't involve a group of blokes sitting around...

3D is for everyone, not just for the big boys: dreamworks animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is a firm believer that 3D is the way of the future. He told Miguel Gonzalez that 3D filmmaking is a club anyone can join.(Shoot)
January 1, 2009... THE EXECUTIVE BELIEVES THE FINANCIAL CRISIS WILL slow down the rollout of 3D-capable screens but 'it will not put any real damper on our plans. I'd like there to be more screens, but there are more than we need for our current plans. We know...

New boss at FTC.(IN BRIEF)
January 1, 2009... Foxtel Television Centre has a new CEO, Adam Scott, as Mike Lilley moves into the new Foxtel Olympic & Commonwealth Games Unit. Scott's previous role was head of digital intermediate at New Zealand's Park Road Post Production, and he plans...

Virtual production office.(IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... A Melbourne-based company is offering the industry an 'online production office' Their website www.manageyourfilm.com went live late last year as a secure production management application and portal for filmmakers. The website provides...

German celebs in QLD.(IN BRIEF)
January 1, 2009... British broadcaster ITV is currently shooting the German version of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! in Queensland, after recently completing production on the eight UK series of the reality show. The equipment was supplied by Gearhouse...

Keeping shorts alive.(IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Festivals such as Flickerfest offer aspiring filmmakers an incentive to produce short films to showcase their talents around the world, says Flickerfest director Bronwyn Kidd. "For the past 18 years the Flickerfest short film competition...

Hoyts launches IMAX screens.(IN BRIEF)
January 1, 2009... Hoyts has opened three joint venture digital IMAX screens in Sydney (Entertainment Quarter), Melbourne (Highpoint) and Perth (Carousel), bringing the total to seven screens operating in Australia. IMAX was previously available at standalone...

Social films find philanthropic distribution: in an effort to help issue-based documentaries, Gil Scrine has launched a not-for-profit distribution company which relies on philanthropy.(Screen)
January 1, 2009... ACCORDING TO SCRINE, CINEMA VENTURES HAS A number of initiatives which he hopes will benefit not only the individual filmmakers but the Australian film industry as well. One of the key strategies devised by Cinema Ventures is Community...

A spoken word says more than a thousand tapes: thought equity motion launched a search tool that allows filmmakers to search for material based on the spoken word. Spoke with CEO Kevin Schaff.(Sync)
January 1, 2009... ACCORDING TO SCHAFF, THE STOCK FOOTAGE market has traditionally been limited by the lack of a deep, real time search. "The frustration for filmmakers, particularly in the documentary world, is that they have to spend a lot of time and...

Beautiful offset.(IN BRIEF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Kojo Pictures became one of the first production companies to receive the Producers Offset for a feature film, with Dean O'Flaherty's Beautiful. "Dealing with the Australian Taxation Office was a very straightforward and efficient process"...

Coming out of storage.(IN BRIEF)(thriller )(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Writer/Director Michael Craft has just finished his first feature, the independent thriller Storage. It is the story of a man who discovers that the storage facility where he recently started working might hold the secret to his father's...

Every month.(LISTINGS)
January 1, 2009... ENCORE's drama/factual programs that are currently in development, pre-production or production in Australia. Television programs must have a network presale in order to be listed and projects in development are listed once only (under...

Web guide.(Website list)
January 1, 2009... ANIMATION AND VISUAL SAFETY IN NUMBERS http://www.sin.tv/ BUY BACK FILM STOCK STEADI SYSTEM BUY BACK FILM STOCK www.steadisystems.com CABLE & CONNECTORS BVT--BELDEN CDT CABLES www.bayviewtech.com.au ...

The art of making people pay attention: audiences may evolve, but the importance of marketing in the screen industry remains the same. Harvey Shore discussed the topic with Disney Australia's Alan Finney.(Hearsay)
January 1, 2009... THERE'S A SING JUST INSIDE THE MUSEE DE LA Publicite in Paris which says: "Sans la publicite I'art n'existe pas' (Without publicity there is no art). In other words, if the audience don't know about you, then you don't, exist. Surprisingly...