L-R Imogen Archer, Tilda Cobham-Hervey from Girl Asleep
The South Australian Film Corporation has announced a new suite of initiatives designed to address the gender imbalance in the screen industry and bolster the careers of both established and emerging South Australian female practitioners.
The initiatives, known as the SAFC Gender Agenda, focus on a number of areas including leadership, mentorship, attachments and workshops.
SAFC Gender Agenda has been formulated in response to the data demonstrating that women in the screen industries both globally and in Australia are still significantly underrepresented in key creative roles.
SAFC CEO Annabelle Sheehan said every state had unique structural issues that it faced in relation to bringing gender equality to the screen industry.
“We have given a lot of thought to what is relevant to our state and look forward to rolling out these initiatives and welcoming the positive changes that they will make both to the individuals directly involved and the industry as a whole,” she said.
SAFC’s Gender Agenda includes the following programs:
1. Leadership and Mentor Program
Two key initiatives, Placement L.A. and the Match-Me Mentorship Program form the centre of this program which will also include other networking events and seminars ongoing.
Placement L.A
An annual professional placement in Los Angeles for established women producers. This year’s placement has been secured with producer Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyer’s Club, The Butler).
The successful applicant will receive $15,000 from SAFC to support their four-week placement working at Elwe’s Los Angeles office. The first Placement L.A program will take place in November with attendance at The American Film Market Conference (November 2nd – 9th) in Santa Monica. The candidate must be available to spend all of November in Los Angeles.
Applications are due by September 14 and the successful applicant will be announced on September 21.
MATCH-ME Mentorship Program
The MATCH-ME Mentorship Program will provide emerging South Australian women screen practitioners the opportunity to be mentored by some of Australia’s established screen content makers. Over a one year period, practitioners will be connected with an agreed film and television executive or relevant mentor for support as they move through the next phase of their career. The MATCH-ME Mentorship Program can be either project or career plan specific.
Deadline for applications is November 30.
2. Screen Sirens – A two day workshop for South Australian women to develop their projects for the market. The event is scheduled for March 2017.
3. 50% Target – While SAFC data shows 50:50 gender balance for successful applications to its existing professional development programs, SAFC commits to maintain those levels for all existing and new professional and project development initiatives. This includes Career Accelerator, Travel Grants, SA Writers and Industry Attachments.
4. Focus on Directing – In addition to its existing industry attachment scheme SAFC will financially support one dedicated directing attachment for women per annum on a South Australian project.
For more information, visit the SAFC website.