Arvon Foundation Courses

I have to recommend these highly - I've been on two (one tutored and one untutored) both helped me onto the next level with my writing.They are pricy but have incredibly generous bursaries for students and low income people.

more info here

Book as soon as possible as they fill fast.

down under film makers

Bloggy silence due to extended trip away from shores of UK. Been doing family stuff in Sydney but picked up leaflets about 2 different lots of filmcourses and seen posters for film festivals all over - so the film culture here seems pretty lively. One terrible 'artist video' at the Contempoary Art Gallery though - please would someone legislate to keep cameras away from 'artists'. The public needs protection !

Sydney Film School

International Film School Sydney

Flickerfest

Skillset Film Trainee Network

Via this you can get placements in film companies.

Requirements to get a placement are from the website

"To become a trainee you must, as a minimum, have either:
successfullly completed a Skillset supported New Entrant Training programme within the last 12 months;

be a student from one of the Skillset Screen Academies (approved by industry as centres of excellence) – students are eligible to apply if they have completed a minimum of 50% of their course, or alumni who have completed their course within the last 12 months

If neither of the above applies, your application must be supported by at least two industry professionals' testimonials

This scheme is available to those who have less than 12 months professional experience in the film industry."

Check out the website for more info and applications - deadline 29th Feb 2009

interested in being a TV researcher?

C4 Talent has just done a profile on my friend Stuart Brown about being a freelance researcher in TV.

NPA Courses

Netribution has just poured praise on New Producers Alliance Courses. I'm terribly pleased as one of their tutors Becky Knapp is a friend of mine.

Pocket Shorts Scotland

Now entering its third year, Pocket Shorts Scotland - the mobile content funding and development scheme supported by Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Screen and NESTA - is delighted to invite applications for funding and support for the next round of projects.Open to individuals, start-up companies and new talent embedded within SME's, Pocket Shorts Scotland offers up to £3000 funding and tailored advice for those wishing to develop animation, video, games or applications for mobile phones. As a mark of the project's success, Pocket Shorts Scotland will be increasing the number of projects commissioned to ten in 2007/8, up from eight in previous years.

Applications for funding and support can be online at http://www.pocketshorts.com/ from 12noon on Wednesday 10October with an entry deadline of Friday 30 November 2007.In order to help guide applicants, Pocket Shorts Scotland will be hosting a series of free workshops, featuring case studies of previous supported projects and demonstrations of how to export video content from a computer desktop to a phone.
Workshop dates/venues as follows:
Thursday 25 October: DCA, DUNDEE (6.30pm)
Friday 26 October: CCA, GLASGOW (6.30pm)
Saturday 27 October: SCREENING ROOM at SCOTSMAN HOTEL, EDINBURGH (11.30am)

If you have any enquiries, please contact Jason Hall,
Project Coordinator:T: 07782 658 707E: scotland@pocketshorts.com

European money for membership of NPA

Hop here to see if you are eligible.

SCOTTISH SCREEN NEW ENTRANTS TRAINING PROGRAMME - RECRUITMENT 2007
Scottish Screen and NETS are now in recruitment for a new upgraded training programme for those wishing to train in television and film at entry level.

The deadline for applications is 12noon on Friday 27 July 2007.
The NETS programme provides industry approved training in production, technical, craft and design areas. We recruit from across the UK, with well-established industry links and 100% success rate; we are the longest running on the job training programme in the UK.

We have two tiers to our new upgraded training programme:
* NETS One - this programme offers, full time, apprenticeship training for one year with eight places available. Each trainee will specialise in one of the following areas: production, art department, sound boom/operator, post production/IT, camera. During this time trainees will develop their skills, contacts and understanding to pursue a freelance career as assistants in the creative industries. In addition, trainees will gain skills in new technology relevant to developments in film and television.

* NETS Advance - this programme offers full time fast-track training for three months for more experienced, junior assistants and recently entered trainees, who need a final boost of additional skills to become work ready. Four places are available in the following areas: production, camera and costume. Advance trainees will gain these extra essential skills they need to be employable and compete in the industry for assistant work. They will take a fuller role than the NETS One trainees in identifying placements themselves and the key skills they need to acquire.

We are currently recruiting for NETS One and NETS Advance.
To apply, please download the application pack from the Scottish Screen website http://www.scottishscreen.com/.

You can also call us on our recruitment line for an application pack or for support and advice on key tips for application success. Lines are open from 9.00am on Friday 6 July 2007.

Recruitment line:0141 302 1780Open:10.30am to 4.30pm
The New Entrants Training Programme is funded by: Scottish Screen, The Skillset Film Skills Fund which is supported by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council and the film industry through the Skills Investment Fund and the Skillset TV Freelance Fund.

Trainees wanted for shorts - Edinburgh

CHANNEL 4 SHORTS: PRODUCTION TRAINEE VACANCIES
Edinburgh-based Teebster Productions is seeking four production trainees to work on our forthcoming 3 Minute Wonders series for Channel 4, the NSPCC and Raw Cuts.
This is a wonderful opportunity to gain an insight into the commissioning, development and production of a short documentary for Channel 4’s 3 Minute Wonders strand, culminating in the production of a short film for this series and a broadcast credit. The films will be transmitted as part of Raw Cuts – an innovative, nationwide scheme to find and develop stories on the theme of identity from 13-18 year olds.

Successful applicants will be teamed with emerging directors and the young contributors during a four-day workshop at Channel 4’s London HQ, (full travel and accommodation expenses will be covered), running from 30 July–3 August 2007. During the course of the week, you will help develop the teenagers’ stories into a one minute ‘microdoc’ for Channel 4’s FourDocs website, with the best stories then being turned into three minute films for broadcast. Last year’s Raw Cuts films were a huge success and have since received nominations for the Jim Poole Award 2007 and the UNICEF UK Film Award at Showcomotion, Sheffield. Last year’s film can be viewed for a limited time on YouTube at www.youtube.com/c4rawcuts.

Teebster is looking for people with some experience in documentary or short film production. Experience of working with young people would also be an advantage and we especially welcome applications from those who already have disclosure screening. For more information and details of how to apply, please visit www.teebster.com.Closing date for entries is Thursday 5 July 2007.

Film school

Is it worth going?

I did an email interview with Sibylle Meder a German film maker now based in Greece on this.

What prompted you to go for the NYFA course?

I wanted practical, hands-on experience. I was full of film history and aesthetics because I had just graduated from uni with an MA in Film and Theatre Studies. What I lacked was film-making experience. And NYFA seemed to offer exactly that, in a very compact and straightforward way

How did you pay for it?

I made my parents poor, sold my car and most of my flat's content.

Did you have any previous experience of film making/writing?

I had shot several video shorts, most of them at uni. Owing to an open-minded professor, we had a media lab with miniDV camera and Avid editing slot at the institute, no one really knows why at a research institution. Probably some money had to be spent and it sounded smart to own such a thing. At the time I was a student assistant and with a group of others allowed to work through the whole AvidXpress tutorial which we in turn were teaching to fellow students.

It was all trial and error, a good thing if you have the courage, time and energy to explore, frustrating when access got limited and dependent on whether the project (and previous experience of the collaborators) was in favour with the staff. It wasn't so much learning film making at that stage, rather a mini-version of studio politics without the technical backup.

Which of the NYFA courses did you take?

It was the six-weeks course over Xmas which equalled the eight-weeks course in content only you did one film project less since the weekend over Xmas was missing (and it was slightly cheaper than the eight-weeks course).

What did the course consist of?

The NYFA course included: directing skills, screenwriting, lighting and camera, working with actors, producing including the nifty money nuts and bolts and legal stuff, some film history and a lot of filming and equipment exercises plus the development of every person's own scripts. Lessons were Mon to Fri 9 am to sometimes 8 pm. Weekends were reserved for the shoots of every one's film projects.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it was. We all had the flu at some stage and were only too happy for the Xmas break to give us a breather. But since then I have found the experience pretty similar to every other film shoot I was on. It's a bloody exhausting art form. But if working in a good team and things go well the shared euphoria seems to carry you through most of it.

And the atmosphere at NYFA was usually pretty relaxed and fun.

What did you get out of it?

Apart from the show-off bonus of 'I went to film school' you mean? ;-)
The space and possibility to shoot my own short films, the basic technical knowledge to do so on 16mm film, with FinalCutPro video editing. The low-down on how things work in the 'real world' because all the tutors were working in their field and were over-zealous to share their experience. Most of all it marked for me the step from 'I want to be a director but don't know how' to 'I am a director and this is what I am working at'. Apart from the actual content of the course, tutors always mentioned a lot of references: internet resources, loads of literature, film suggestions, film-networks.

Once I was approached by my production tutor who had seen my storyboards and gave me more info and contacts in case I wanted to specialize in that field. The camera tutor referred me to some of her colleagues and we met up after the course at the Berlin Film Festival where she was attending the 'talentcampus'.

In general, if you asked for help, people were only too keen to point you in the right direction depending on their own experience, resources and contacts. Today I still refer to a lot of that knowledge in my film-making.
I've also stayed in contact with some of my actors and fellow course-mates who came from all over the world, from Brazil to Greece, Russia and India. Even if we haven't worked together again, due to geographic distance, it helps knowing people who work in the same field, and if it's only to 'compare notes'. (One of my classmates has just had a feature screened in Cannes. Oh, I have to email him and ask whether he's rich now!)

Another thing I got out of it was that I learned something rather surprising about myself: I was a popular camera operator and DoP with my fellow students. I had always (not least due to experiences at uni) considered myself a bit of a dill once handling cameras was involved. Now, I was suddenly in demand for my shake-less handheld. Looking back it seems odd that I thought I had no talent for camera, since I had already been taking photos for more than a decade and had clear ideas about my visual style. But it needed that extra confidence booster.

What didn't you get out of it?

The one thing I sometimes envy student of 'regular' film schools for is their exposure: At NYFA there is no such thing as a graduation class that gets presented to the studio bosses and handed over into the arms of the industry, something most established national film schools aim at. It probably wouldn' t make sense, since NYFA have such a diverse course program and people do courses for all sorts of reasons. There is simply an open screening of your work at the end of the course and you are free to invite whoever you wish.

Tutors try to get you in touch with the industry as good as they can. But that's the catch: at NYFA you might learn directing from someone who's working mainly as a 1AD and shot 'only' one feature as director. Don't get me wrong: that doesn't mean that this person cannot be highly inspiring and supportive. He might be even more so, because there's no huge ego getting in the way.

But if you are looking for that 'entry ticket to the industry', it takes a bit more than just the NYFA course. (That said, it probably takes more than just any film school to make that 'break'.)

Also, being not based in the UK, a lot of the UK references were of no use to me once back in Berlin. The London NYFA branch did have tutors (and students) from all over the world, my camera teacher was German for example, but living and working in the UK, but of course they cannot compile a knowledge base of all the relevant networking options in your own country. You have to go on from there.

Some people complained about not having the latest equipment available. Something I was not too concerned about. With the pace of change in the industry, I don't think any school could ever keep up.

Another thing you have to aware of is that you are studying with a very diverse bunch of people - and might not want everyone in your team. Most of the times I was lucky. It's not a matter of talent in this case, more of attitude. I think in that respect, everyone gets out of it according to their own efforts: I was highly motivated to learn a lot in a short period of time, didn't have any money to squander, so I crammed in whatever possible.

How have you gone beyond the course after graduating?

I went back to Germany and immediately shot my next short film. This time on miniDV, with friends and friends of friends and professional actors (some of them still in education). It was a nightmare experience, because I applied the standards from NYFA and was a bit at a loss when I noticed that not everyone was in the same boat. In that respect I still had a lot to learn.

A couple of months later I moved to Sydney and got in touch with a community based media support scheme called MetroScreen. They part-funded all my four follow-up shorts: I got the equipment from them and had to provide the rest. Again, a lot of new things to be learned, but a pretty productive experience. Two of the films I worked on that year have been either nominated in a festival or even won a 'commended' mention. Though if you watch a lot of Woody Allen it probably hasn't slipped your attention what he thinks about those mentions ! ;-)

The final film I made at NYFA was shown at several international festivals as well and looking back I still like it a lot. I have also worked in the camera department if an Australian Film Television and Radio School grad film, worked as a DoP for other directors and developed my own scripts. In 2006 I directed a theatre play in Sydney Short & Sweet.

At the moment I working at the realization of a project shot entirely with amateur actors on a small Greek island, challenging infrastructure!

Would you recommend it?

If like me you find yourself short of collaborators and access to equipment, absolutely. Of course you could argue that for the money of the course you could hire equipment and shoot a film. Well, with a script you like, actors you can work with well, everything in place and the post-production (and don't forget the distribution!) sorted out, go ahead.

I lacked the confidence and the knowledge to do so. In some cases I simply wouldn't have known where to start asking. And for my money, I did not only get the course, I got four short films, two of which I have entered into film festivals. So for me, it worked both ways.

Anything else to add?

Maybe because it is an American organisation, maybe because that is the style in most film industries these days: a lot of what I learned at NYFA refers to the Hollywood system of film-making. I'm not even talking about aesthetics here, but about structure, hierarchy, even job titles. Film-making literature tends to be written mainly by Hollywood- or affiliated directors, editors, cinematographers, etc. So it took some confusing situations, team members with a totally different background and some research of my own to conclude that there are many different ways of film-making. Rules are there to be broken. But before you break rules you must know them.
Those two sentences sound so easy. But to fully understand them I think you have to live them.

I learned from a certain set of rules, or standards at NYFA. Now, I've just re-read a Fellini biography and wonder: wouldn't it be nice to try and throw away the meticulous preparation I learned and just go improv with my actors, in front of the camera?

In general, of course there is no way someone can teach you film-making. You learn it yourself from all sorts of experiences. And you probably go on learning for the rest of your working life. To their credit: NYFA tries to get across exactly that, and provide the environment.

Sibylle's website is: http://www.sibyllemeder.net
Photos: http://www.jpgmag.com/people/Sibylle

Sibylle Meder

Sibylle is a writer/director orginally from Germany but now based in Greece. I'm going to post an interview soon about her experiences doing a course at the New York Film Academy.

First Light in Inverness

Date: Thursday 7 June 2007
Time: 11.00am-1.00pm
Venue: Presidential Suite, Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Church Street, Inverness
Cost: Free
As part of goNorth, First Light Movies and Channel 4's 4Talent Scotland bring you the definitive guide to making it big in the screen and broadcast industries. It's the who, what and why of programme making. First Light Movies is the leading UK funder for young people's films. If you are filmmaker and/or an organisation working with young people using film, this session will provide details about their funding streams and how you can get involved. 4Talent (formerly IDEASFACTORY) will give you advice on what experience and training is available and how you can get the support and space you need to make that crucial next step for a career in the industry.

Screenwriting Express Course at end of May - delivered by The Script Factory and The Long Distance Screenwriter will be taught by Adrian Mead on the 9th of June in Edinburgh.

A different way of making movies

A blog from Mike Figgis about a feature length film he made with 23 filmmakers which has now just come out on DVD. It was designed as a teaching exercise.

Some years ago I saw a fantastic feature film called Mobius which was made by students in film school in Argentina instead of doing their own short. It was a metaphorical take on the 'disapearances' in Argentina and really was very good.

Arvon Foundation

They run 4 1/2 day courses across the UK at the various centres they run. All in gorgeous locations. The courses are intense but a great way to get into writing over a concentrated time with likeminded people. Normally a small group and two tutors. Here is a list of the screenwriting courses they run this year. They are pricy but they have a very generous bursary scheme for students, low income, and on benefits.

Paul Abbott's Writers Studio

"The talent base needs to grow," said Paul.

Which is why he's set up his own Writers' Studio, taking up to five new writers at a time, and teaching them how to hone their craft.

"The Writers' Studio is an obscenely expensive experiment that I've put together, a building where people are trained. They don't go home at the end of the day but they stay there for five or six days, so everyone is talking about the project all the time. It's a completely different, unique experiment. I almost staple people into the building, and bring out the best in them!" he explains.

"Writers don't talk to each other, which I don't think is right," adds Paul. "Writing is a really weird job to take on. I work an average of 10 hours a day and usually I'm on my own, although you have to learn to be on your own with 500 voices in your head. And it's one of the toughest jobs in the world.

"You have got to learn to sit on your own and put your heart on paper. You really do have to give a lot of yourself every time you write a script, so you have to be tough with yourself," he explains.

Asked by Lynne McCadden how would-be writers could get involved in the Writers' Studio, Paul's reply was simple. "Write a top-notch script and get it to us," he says. "The ones who are determined to get through, get through."

More at Netribution.

MIMAC - the Moving Image Media Access Centre

based in Fife is going to be reborn as a social enterprise in July. This is great news as we seem to be losing media access centres with their low cost training and cheap hires left right and centre. More info about MIMAC here.

First Light Movies

opportunties for 13-19 year olds to make their own films.

Screen writing courses

Adrian Meade occasionally holds them in Scotland and London. I've done Adrian's course before and so have several of my friends. He's inspirational and motivational. More about making a living as a screenwriter and writing TV more than just short films though.

"These classes give an insight into the business side of things (which I think a lot of writers tend to ignore or not think about). Adrian shares his industry knowledge and expertise, and while giving an honest overview of current trends / demands still manages to encourage his audience. His passion for the industry shines through and is deeply infectious. As such, these events not only provide you with loads of insider knowledge, but inspire and encourage. Even if you decide against trying your hand as a writer for TV, many of the tips are equally applicable to other career aspects! Having done both of these classes I came away fired up and probably bored my friends rigid as I couldn't stop raving about it for weeks! I can't recommend this enough!"Jane Walker, Edinburgh

More info at the MeadeKerr website.

Trainees wanted for feature film

Theatre Workshop Edinburgh, is Europe’s leading inclusive Theatre Company, producing ground-breaking work and celebrates 40 years of bold, diverse and inspirational theatre.Always at the vanguard of new and cutting edge work, 2007 will mark a process of change. Under the dynamic leadership of Director Robert Rae, Theatre Workshop will break new and innovative ground, in the production of a feature length drama film. This is your chance to get involved!Trouble Sleeping tells the story of refugees in Edinburgh, whose humour and wit are their only weapons in a hostile world determined to send them home.This will be a co-production between Theatre Workshop and Makar Productions, with an innovative training and mentoring initiative supported by Scottish Screen Academy, creating pathways for people from under represented communities into the industry.

More info about how to apply here