The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) today announced D-Lab: Pathways to Market, a development initiative that will directly connect South Australian creatives to key market representatives and leading industry thinkers.
Announcing the new program, SAFC CEO Richard Harris said: “D-Lab is designed to take South Australia’s key creatives from concept to market via the most direct route. Not only will participants benefit from hearing from expert market representatives but they’ll be able to take advantage of an environment that will facilitate rapid development of their projects so that they are best placed to attract funding in the shortest possible timeframes.”
The SAFC has secured participation of market experts including Seph McKenna, Head of Australian Production – Roadshow Films; Amanda Duthie, Festival Director and CEO – Adelaide Film Festival; Katrina Sedgwick, Head of Arts – ABC Television; and Joseph Maxwell, Commissioning Editor Documentaries – SBS. Internationally renowned writing and development expert Stephen Cleary will be a key facilitator of the D-Lab workshops.
The D-Lab program is open to South Australian writers, producers and directors (individuals and teams) who have projects at an early stage of development. Developed with the assistance of Screen Australia, the lab will be presented in two stages over a six month period. Through a combination of seminars and workshops D-Lab participants will hone their development expertise and move their projects quickly from concept stage to market ready.
STAGE 1 will commence with a discussion of the type of content, slot, audience and format market representatives are seeking. D-Lab participants then undertake an intensive program of workshops with mentors and development support focused on the creation of a portfolio of up to three projects including visual materials and short written documents.
The materials created will be submitted as part of a competitive application for participation into STAGE 2 of D-Lab. Successful projects will move through a second round of workshops tailored to their creative and professional needs. They will also receive a $1,500 grant to assist with creation of further materials. Pitch and market engagement preparation will also be provided with projects presented to market representatives at the conclusion of STAGE 2.
Any development funds committed to D-Lab projects by market at the conclusion of the program can be matched by the SAFC up to a total of $25,000 per project.
Guidelines and Applications forms, including key dates for workshops and details of registration fee will be available for download from www.safilm.com.au from Wednesday 19 March. Final date to lodge applications is COB Wednesday 9 April.