April 2009 Archives

Having been on location a couple of times this year to have a quick squiz at how FTI funded teams are going with their filming, I have been impressed with the level of professionalism and efficiency displayed by the cast and crews involved.

 

This was again the case when I went to visit the cast and crew of OOMPF funded project “The Daily Grind” on April 19 on location in Myaree at a shipping company’s HQ. I made my way over to location at a decent hour on Sunday to have a look at how producer Karla Nessfield, director David Meadows and team were going on their second last day of filming.

 

On reaching set I was impressed immediately with the location, it had a great feel and I am sure it will be conveyed in the film. It was very hard for Karla to find this location but the perseverance definitely paid off!  

 

The Daily Grind is a short comedy which tells the story of a young woman working in a corporate environment who tests her suspicion that she is over-looked and under-appreciated…in a very revealing manner! I have to make a special mention that that the crew were very professional in the way that they coordinated and filmed this sensitive material!

 

Karla informed me that the filming had been going very well so far, with the crew running ahead of schedule for the first two days. They were running ahead of schedule again while I was there on the Sunday and Karla and David only had pick-ups and cutaways to film on the Monday. I was told that everyone had been doing a great job and that things had been going smoothly and she was feeling really positive about the results.

 

Production Support are looking forward to seeing a cut soon!

Hyperlink is the top film fund available through the FTI.  It is a joint ScreenWest/FTI Initiative. $70,000 is on offer for filmmakers who have already made a LINK film or it's financial equivalent.  The Hyperlink currently in production is The Wooden Boy directed by Merlin Cornish and produced by Francesca Hope.  They are currently looking for voices for their animated Hyperlink short.





CASTING CALL FOR VOCAL TALENT

Siamese is currently casting for The Wooden Boy,  an animated short film funded by FTI.

The film is a dark russian fairy-tale and we are looking to cast actors or non-actors with a broad Russian/eastern european accent. 

There are four main characters in this dark, haunting fairy-tale:
Kolodka: a young boy, 
Gedeon: Kolodka's father, 
Savva: Kolodka's grandfather 
Nwabudike: a dark spirit (This needs to be an adult male voice with a broad African accent)

We can offer minimum industry rates to whoever we cast.

The basic synopsis: When his father disappears, Kolodka goes searching deep into the dark forest...

Please contact Louise at Siamese if you're interested in auditioning.
Telephone (08) 9228-9648. Email: louise@siamese.com.au

How are you going to blitz the filmworld with your next flick if you run out of funding half way through?

Well, as much as paying for your film yourself can be an operationally canny move, the truth is you can only do this some of the time. Even a short film is an expensive chunk out of the average salary. And anyway you need that money to weather the Global Financial Crisis.

Applying for funding from the Insitute is a competitve process. But if you think it's tough now, you should've been here in the 1980s. A big cage. A screaming crowd dressed in leather. "Two men go in, one man goes out." Good times.

These days we've dispensed with the gladitorial aspect and require, among other things: a well-written drama script or doco treatment, a budget, a producer statement and a director statement. But you might not know how to approach this. That's where we step in.

Before each funding deadline we run at least on Funding Fundamental Information Session. Attend one of these and learn most of what you need to know to execute your next - or perhaps your first - funding application.

RAW NERVE

Info: Thursday 9th April (& Screening)
Due: Thursday 7th May


OOMPF

Due: Thursday 23rd April (Round 1)
Due: Thursday 24th September (Round 2)


LINK

Due: Thursday 27th August


HYPERLINK

Info: Thursday 9th April (with Raw Nerve session)
Due: Thursday 25th June


TOWN OF VINCENT FILM PROJECT

Info: Wednesday 17th June
Due: Friday 17th July

All information Sessions commence 6.30pm iin the FTI Cinema at 92 Adelaide Street, Fremantle

A few familiar faces around FTI have been involved in a shortfilm up for a big cash prize as part of The Doorpost Film Project.

Immobile is produced by Aaron McCaan, Written by Henry Inglis (see if you can spot his great extras acting ability) and it is Directed by Luke Hadley. Our very own Young Filmmaker of the Year, Antony Webb was the director of photography.

Check it out here: Joy - Immobile