Do we really need directors?
It’s hardly a question you expect, of all bodies, the Australian Directors Guild to put forward for discussion. But that’s exactly what will happen next month at the ADG Conference: Directing in the Digital Age, in a panel that will discuss the future of directors in the Australian screen industry.
Director Michela Ledwidge, who will appear on the panel, says she expects the conversation to revolve not around whether directors are still relevant, but at what constitutes a director and how this may evolve.
“I think the main point of the panel is – and the reason I’ve been invited onto it – is just to stick a canary in a cage in front of the directors and [ADG] membership to say, ‘Well, what exactly are we talking about in 2013? What are we directing? Who is the membership? Is it reflecting what’s going on in terms of screen-based storytelling? In some ways, we talk about that it’s never been a better time to be a director, in terms of access to resources, technical resources and audiences, but in other ways, there’s never been a worse time because of the fragmented nature of the space and the collapse of traditional business models. So this panel will be an opportunity to explore some of the ideas and hear from outspoken members of the community about what does it actually mean,” she says.
Ledwidge, who specializes in developing original cross media properties and whose latest work, ACO Virtual, is currently on display at the Sydney Opera House, acknowledges her work falls into a ‘non-traditional’ category, and says the panel may encourage other directors – both established and upcoming – to consider this space more seriously.
“I’m very much [on the panel] as a spokesperson for creative, digital people who don’t necessarily find a home in the traditional sector [but who] can still have a career. It’s not necessarily easy, but if you love what you’re doing and you’re passionate about storytelling and the arts and cinematic experiences, there are huge opportunities,” she says. “But if you’re here to launder some money, or get rich quick, or have a glamorous existence you know, then it might be reality check time, that’s not going to stop me and my peers from working in this space and we’d love to see more people from the traditional space getting involved. The film schools really need to lift their game as well in terms of…support for some of the new forms. There’s a lot of mythmaking around films that hasn’t really evolved for the last ten years so I’m happy to stir the pot a bit on the day as well around that.”
Ledwidge acknowledges advancing technology has changed the media landscape and its future, much in the same way as it impacted other industries in the past, but says the challenge now is to look forward rather than at what was.
“There’s certainly a degree to which the fragmentation of the media industry in general, generally, has had a more than average impact on directors. Absolutely,” she says. “I mean if you look at the commoditization of recording and production equipment for example… You know I set up the first website in New South Wales in ’93 and have for the last twenty years been hearing people say, “Oh I don’t need to pay for web services because my kid can do that.” And you get used to that, and you know, you work out your market and your proposition. But filmmakers are discovering to their horror, the same thing is happening now [to the screen industry]. [They’re hearing] “Oh I don’t need to get a professional film crew, my iPhone came with all this amazing kit, and I’ve got instant film software on my PC, why do I need to go to the trouble of engaging with these eccentric, crazy artist type people?” So, in a way, it’s coming home to roost as far as I’m concerned, because these conversations have been happening for a long time. … And I don’t see that as necessarily a bad thing – I’m a live performer, I happen to make films, I happen to do work that is all about two-way relationships – so [my team and I] have spent fifteen years positioning ourselves where we’ll have some ongoing market, and I think there’s a huge opportunity for traditionally trained directors to form partnerships with where the wind’s going. But there is a lot of sticking your head in the sand as well and waiting for Screen Australia to suddenly provide an alternative mode of support, that will be like it was in the eighties and nineties, and it’s just very unlikely to happen.”
The ADG Conference: Directing in the Digital Age will run from 6-8 November at Sebel Pier One, Sydney.
Do We Really Need Directors? will be held on Day 1 at 1.45pm.
ACO Virtual is currently showing at the Sydney Opera House. A full list of forthcoming dates and venues can be found below.
Forthcoming dates
Sydney Opera House Studio: 21–23 Oct and 27–29 Oct 2013
The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie: 31 Jan – 24 Feb 2014
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery: 21 Mar – 20 Apr 2014
Camden: 24 May – 1 Jun 2014
Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, Lilydale: 26 Jun – 27 Jul 2014
Manly Art Gallery and Museum: 27 Mar – 26 Apr 2015