Crew on the set of Perth-shot ‘The Heights’. (Photo: Ashleigh Nicolau)
Screenwest has announced the 27 recipients of the Bright Ideas Crew Capacity Initiative, who will share in more than $126,000 in funding to deliver 25 projects.
Targeted at below-the-line crew members and directors from the WA Screen industry, the initiative invited applicants to propose a ‘bright idea’ to keep them working, developing and creating long term screen industry outcomes during the COVID-19 social isolation period.
Some of the selected ‘bright ideas’ include an online exhibition to showcase the WA industry by photographer David Dare Parker; development of an online platform to house resources for production designers by Emma Fletcher; development of a guide to assist productions to go paperless by assistant director Mark Boskell; and a series of recorded conversations with a variety of West Australian freelance crew doyens, musing on past experiences and revealing industry insights by AD John Fairhead.
A number of other ideas were selected to support the costume, unit publicity, make-up, VFX and production sectors and to maximise the impact of the funding across the WA screen industry.
A full list of funding recipients will be released in the Screenwest 2019–20 annual report.
Screenwest head of screen investment Matthew Horrocks said: “A large number of WA film crew and practitioners were impacted almost immediately with loss of work due to COVID-19 and the Bright Ideas initiative was a way of assisting them to keep them working in the WA Screen industry.”
“As many can imagine, the round was exceptionally competitive with a number of really innovative projects presented. The successful projects will hopefully not only benefit the recipients, but the broader WA screen sector.”
Production designer and art director Fletcher said, “I feel Screenwest has been such a leader in hearing our industry and responding in a timely manner to these unsettling and unknowable times – especially for the below the line creatives, crew members and technicians.”