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SA Film Lab snares Noyce

[press release from the Government of South Australia]

Premier Mike Rann has announced a new $4.2 million initiative to help ensure a bright future for South Australia’s films and filmmakers.

While audiences and industry professionals are lining up to sell-out screenings and events during the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, a raft of new Government initiatives are ensuring that when it comes to filmmaking – South Australia is well and truly open for business.

SA Film Lab is a new initiative offering experience and mentoring opportunities across all aspects of filmmaking—from project and script development, production, post-production, through to marketing, sales and distribution.
Film Lab has garnered the support of key industry players who will lend their expertise and reputation to the scheme.

‘I am thrilled that acclaimed director Philip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence, The Quiet American) has agreed to be Film Lab’s patron and Philip will be joined by an impressive group of professionals who have signed on as advisers’, said Premier Rann.

These include writer/director Rolf de Heer (Ten Canoes, Dr Plonk); writer/director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue); producer Julie Ryan (Ten Canoes, Broken Hill), UK producer Mark Herbert (Dead Mans Shoes, This is England, Donkey Punch), and Nick Batzias (Distributor – Madman Films).

A key consultant on the Lab will be Stephen Cleary, who runs the renowned development program Arista.

The Adelaide Film Festival will play a significant role in the films being made through SA Film Lab, as films produced under the Film Lab banner will ultimately be screened during the next festival.

‘The Government is committed to the future of filmmaking in South Australia and every investment and initiative will have flow-on benefits and strengthen the sector as a whole,” Premier and Arts Minister Mike Rann said.

“The principles of Film Lab and the Adelaide Film Festival are very much in alignment.

“The Festival promotes and supports vibrant, creative and pioneering filmmaking and SA Film Lab will create professional opportunities and pathways for the people behind the scenes so that they can bring their project to the screen’, Mr Rann said.

‘The future of film production in South Australia relies on developing the next generation of filmmaking talent, and SA Film Lab provides a wonderful means to do this,” Chair of the South Australian Film Corporation and Adelaide Film Festival, Cheryl Bart said.

“It will provide local emerging filmmakers with a unique tailored development and production opportunity that will allow them to develop their skills and creative capacity and showcase their talents to the world.”

Other filmmaking initiatives

Together with the construction of the Adelaide Film and Screen Centre at Glenside, SA Film Lab builds on a number of new SAFC initiatives that position the South Australian Film Corporation as the most innovative and leading Australian agency to back filmmakers.
These include:

• The Producer Equity Scheme: The first of its kind in Australia, the scheme allows South Australian producers to share in the SAFC’s first-dollar returns from the films that they produce.

• The Rights Reversion Policy: A policy which transfers copyright to the producers on all non-SAFC produced investments five years after a film’s delivery date.

• The Enterprise Development Scheme designed to assist producers to establish larger and more sophisticated production businesses in South Australia. The SAFC Board has approved AMPCO films as the first recipient of this two-year pilot scheme, and draft guidelines for the scheme have been released for industry consultation.

• Jane Schoettle, pre-selector for the Toronto International Film Festival, and special guest of the Adelaide Film Festival, will conduct intensive script advisory sessions on selected Screen Australia and South Australian Film Corporation projects during her stay.

• The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is working towards encouraging filming in South Australia through its ‘Film Friendly’ initiative. SAFC’s initiative has established the adoption of consistent fees and charges across metropolitan councils. In the coming months the initiative will look to establish codes of practice, filming protocols and encourage Councils to appoint film contact officers across the state.

FILM LAB BACKGROUND

The South Australian Film Lab is a bold low budget filmmaking initiative designed to provide a platform for the next generation of South Australian filmmakers to develop and demonstrate their talent.

The Lab provides professional and career development opportunities for South Australian filmmakers through an intensive project development program and the production of original low budget films primarily for the local and international festival market.