Press release from ADG
Legal and industrial issues facing Australian film, television and new media directors are the focus of the one-day Australian Directors Guild conference in Melbourne on Monday July 27.
Staged in association with the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) for the first time, the Rates, Rights & Revenue conference brings together top-line directors, lawyers and industry professionals.
Sessions include a dynamic hypothetical-style forum where three feature film directors negotiate a contract with a lawyer, producer and creative agent. There is a plenary session on the international production environment, as well as a session on directors’ rights in Australia.
A special section of the conference will provide workshops on funding, finance models in the digital space and a practical workshop on publicity skills for directors.
Conference speakers include directors Nadia Tass, David Caesar, Geoffrey Wright, Peter Andrikidis, Matt Saville and Catriona McKenzie. Other presenters are: Greg Duffy and Raena Lea-Shannon (Frankel Lawyers), Bryce Menzies (Marshalls & Dent), Vincent Sheehan (Porchlight Films), Michael McMahon (Big & Little Films), Richard Harris (SAFC), Jennifer Wilson (The Project Factory) and Scott Morris (APRA AMCOS) and international guest, Neil Haggquist from Canada.
“As screen content platforms evolve, directors need to understand a range of changing contractual obligations,” ADG President Ray Argall said. “It’s vital to be on top of the industry’s creative and economic landscape – particularly in areas such as income rates, creative rights and profit share,” he said.
The ADG conference has been brought forward in 2009 to tie in with MIFF. As well as directors, the conference is aimed at producers, agents, intellectual property and entertainment lawyers, financiers and academics.
Registrations start at $99 for earlybirds; for further information about speakers and the program, visit www.adg.org.au
For free media registrations and media queries,
please contact Kym Druitt at eckfactor
on (02) 8570 5511 or 0418 272 018 or kym@eckfactor.com