Encore Magazine articles from March 2006

Encore Magazine archives from March 2006

Editor's note.(studio space)(Editorial)
March 1, 2006... IN this month's Encore we take a close look at studio space around the country, from the 'Big Three'--Fox Studios Australia, Warner Roadshow Studios and Central City Studios, to the smaller facilities that do TVCs, corporate videos and local...

Global out as 'Big Brother' goes digital.(NEWS)
March 1, 2006... ENDEMOL Southern Star (ESS), producer of Big Brother, has struck a multimillion-dollar deal with facilities house Cutting Edge that will see the Brisbane-based company fully digitalise both production and post production on the series. The...

Fitchett takes the reins of AFC as acting CEO.(NEWS)
March 1, 2006... THE Australian Film Commission (AFC) has appointed its director of film development Chris Fitchett to the role of acting chief executive officer, following the exit of Kim Dalton. Fitchett will remain in the role until a new CEO is found....

'Geisha' secures Beebe a BAFTA.(British Academy of Film and Television Arts)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Australian DOP Dion Beebe ACS received the cinematography prize at the annual awards of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for his work on Memoirs of a Geisha. The 2006 British Academy Film Awards were held in London on...

Grierson new CEO as SFF continues overhaul.(chief executive officers)(Sydney Film Festival)
March 1, 2006... INCOMING Sydney Film Festival (SFF) CEO Tony Grierson will look to further the SFF board's objective to strengthen the Festival's resources and revenue base to make it profitable, having assumed the role on February 16. "The board have...

'Neil' switches to feature.(PRODUCTION AND FESTIVALS)
March 1, 2006... Writer/director Richard Lowenstein has gone back to the drawing board to rework his mini-series script Neil, Neil, Orange Peel, into a feature after realising the subject matter, about a teenager's experiences at a free school in the 1970s,...

'Noise' shoot underway.(product development)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Writer/director Matthew Saville's feature film Noise commenced a seven-week shoot in Melbourne on February 20. Produced by Trevor Blainey, the film is currently in pre-production. Noise tells the story of a young cop struggling to control the...

SPAA's November switch.(Screen Producers Association of Australia)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The Screen Producers Association of Australia will shift the dates of its annual SPAA conference to November, whilst continuing to stage the event at the Sheraton Mirage on Queensland's Gold Coast. The event was traditionally held in November...

Golden Bear to Bosnia.(Berlin Film Festival)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... This year's prestigious Golden Bear prize at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival went to Bosnian film Grbavica, directed by first-timer Jasmila Zbanic. The film tells of the agony of women raped as part of ethnic cleansing during the horrors of the...

Cash-strapped FFC plans guideline revamp.(NEWS)(Film Finance Corp.)
March 1, 2006... FILM Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) is proposing a revamp of its decision-making structure in a bid to dispense with its funds more evenly and to prevent a repeat of its current dilemma: having spent its annual allocation just six months...

Blewett takes FTO chair.(Film and Television Office)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... THE New South Wales Film & Television Office (FTO) has appointed Dr Neal Blewett as its new chair while also adding producer Penny Chapman to its board. Blewett succeeds Shane Simpson who was chair for six years. FTO chief executive...

Film Australia frees up archive.(NEWS)
March 1, 2006... FILM AUSTRALIA has taken a bold step in eliminating license fees for material in its audio-visual archive from July 2006. "Film Australia is committed to increasing production opportunities and finding innovative strategies that support the...

Shorts on show as Popcorn Taxi flags down a festival on wheels: Melbourne commuters will be able to participate in a new film festival when Popcorn Taxi Flagfall pulls out from the kerb this month. Jackie Leewai reports.(FESTIVALS)
March 1, 2006... The Commonwealth Games will consume much of the nation's attention this month and the host city Melbourne will be in s harp focus. Making the most of the increased tourism and attention, the city will also play host to a new and unique short...

Friends remember a master cutter: editor Stuart Morley remembers his friend and colleague, Karl Sodersten, who died at age 53 in February.(OBITUARY)(Obituary)
March 1, 2006... Karl Sodersten was a famous editor--though he might not have agreed. He was famous for piecing together some of the most awarded television commercials that Australians would ever see. He was famous for finding those invisible edit points, for...

Independent drama.
March 1, 2006... Many of you will have read the Australian Financial Review's recent coverage of producer Jonathan Shteinman's comments in relation to the Film Finance Corporation of Australia (FFC). You may have also seen and heard FFC, CEO Brian Rosen's...

Nick toughs it out for 'Camp Orange': Total Perception has gone all out for the second series of Nickelodeon kid's series, Camp Orange.
March 1, 2006... In the 1920s, the failed entrepreneur and comedy promoter PT Slimey decided to cash in on booming house prices by building an art deco apartment block on his family's homestead, Slimey Hollow, located somewhere in the NSW bush. The project...

'Munich', Wyoming: changing the world.(ROUGH CUT)(Steven Spielberg )
March 1, 2006... Steven Spielberg's Munich might just change the world. As the pious, unreconstructed Jewish auteur of Schindler's List, he bristles with Zionist credibility. Yet what he has made, a brisk attack on both Likud and Labour and their eye-for-an-eye...

Expats unite: exports celebrate success in LA.(LA INSIDER)
March 1, 2006... Ausfilm believes in the interdependency of the footloose and local film industries. A healthy local industry, in terms of talent and infrastructure, helps attract Hollywood movies to shoot in Australia. Equally, having the larger budget...

MIP broadens focus: with opportunities on offer in factual, children's and new media programming, the MIPTV international television market is no poor cousin to MIPCOM.(TV MARKET)
March 1, 2006... The integration of the MIPIA trade show and conference program into the annual MIPTV Audiovisual and Digital Content Market has breathed Fresh life into the event, according to Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) investment manager Chris...

ARRI Australia opens its doors.
March 1, 2006... LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRY GUESTS CELEBRATED THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF ARRI AUSTRALIA ON FEBRUARY 11. 1. ARRI chief executive Franz Kraus (left) with Andrew Lesnie ACS. 2. ARRI Munich technical director Manfred Jahn (left) with focus...

'Mayhem' as Film Hunter launches CD.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2006... FILM HUNTER LAUNCHED A NEW CD-ROM AND WEBSITE AT A FUNCTION AT ARENA, FOX STUDIOS ON FEBRUARY 16. 1. Writer Sue MaCreadie (left), with Sue Wadley, of the Department of State and Regional Development. 2. NSW FTO's Sally Browning (left),...

Studio execs call for rebate rethink: the major studios are coming off a big year to face the prospect of empty sound stages, prompting studio executives to call for a rethink of incentives. Fiona Williams reports.(STUDIOS)
March 1, 2006... What a difference a year makes. In January 2005 Fox Studios Australia was a hive of activity, with production of US director Bryan Singer's interpretation of the legendary man of steel story. Superman Returns, underway on the lot. The film...

Less space but no drama: closures and extended vacancies are characterising the studio sector as the TV drama series resembles an endangered species.(STUDIOS)
March 1, 2006... The virtual cessation of television drama production in Melbourne and Sydney is having a profound effect on the studio sector with several facilities closing their doors due to the lack of studio rentals. Meanwhile, a number of other...

Guide to Australian Studios.(STUDIOS)
March 1, 2006... NSW | VIC | TAS | QLD | NT | SA | ACT | WA Welcome to Encore's 2006 Guide to Australian Studios. Updated annually, this comprehensive resource provides producers with invaluable information on sound stages and studio spaces around the...

Production report.
March 1, 2006... ENCORE's production report includes all known features and television drama and non-drama television programs which have a network presale. Projects in the planning stage appear once only and the listing ends when a project goes into post...

New Zealand welcomes risky business: well connected industry columnist Harvey Shore keeps his ear close to the ground for the latest gossip doing the rounds at the major broadcasters.(HARVEY'S HEARSAY)
March 1, 2006... It seems lately the television industry closely resembles another series of New Faces. Ned Lander landed the general manager job at SBS Independent, and Shaun Brown nosed into the top job at SBS. Kim Dalton now dominates ABC-TV, where the...