The Griffith Film School (GFS), the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema) are pleased to announce the launch of the Asia Pacific Screen Lab (APSL).
The Lab is an important development vehicle to enable film co-production across the 70 countries and areas of Asia Pacific.
The Asia Pacific Screen Lab is a developmental laboratory for early career feature filmmakers from across Asia Pacific, who have typically made at least one feature film within the frame of their national cinema and are now ready for a larger international framework.
The Lab will take advantage of the incredible talent of screen professionals that gather each year in Brisbane for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA). Accomplished members of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy will mentor each project over the development period.
Executive Chairman of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and its Academy, Mr Michael Hawkins states, “The most valuable asset that APSA has is its Academy. We are in a unique and privileged position to determine how best to use this body of talent to support and nurture the new breed of Asia Pacific filmmakers coming through.”
Film Director of APSA Maxine Williamson states that the Academy has over “600 eminent filmmakers of Asia Pacific – the top of the class. They are a group of filmmakers that we can access, invite to Australia, to hold master-classes and workshops.
Asia Pacific has some of the world's most innovative filmmakers and that superior knowledge has to date not been tapped.”
The Asia Pacific Screen Lab is an immersive year-long program to accelerate global export of Asia Pacific creative screen content and creative products to strengthen its creative entrepreneur’s capacity for success.
Relevant experts will hold incubator and accelerator workshops from Europe, US and the Asia Pacific in the areas of screenwriting and development, direction and (co)production. The Asia Pacific Screen Lab (APSL) will hold master classes, script clinics and other development activities in conjunction with existing initiatives in the region, as well as initiate new ones.
Park Ki-Yong, founder of the Asia Film Academy and Associate Professor at the DGC (Dankook Graduate School of Cinematic Content), South Korea says, “The Asia Pacific Screen Lab is crucial for the future of the Asia Pacific film industry”.
NETPAC President, Aruna Vasudev expressed her delight, saying "This was one of the primary aims when NETPAC first started its journey some 25 years ago and we are delighted that, with both the Griffith Film School and APSA, it is now going to be a reality."
A call for submissions is now open with the selected projects to be announced during the Asia Pacific Screen Awards program of events in December 2014.
Submission requirements and regulations can be found at www.griffith.edu.au/filmschool.