Victoria University is holding its annual Executive Screen Producer’s course in Sydney this November. But why should anyone do it, and who should do it?
Course co-ordinator Pamela Wilson Endrina was asked that question, and came up with some tantalising answers.
“Firstly, it’s clear that the students are getting a lot out of it,” she says. “The emerging producers who attend the course are sharpening their perspectives on finance models, legal issues and distribution paths. And industry professionals who enrol are gaining a different perspective from which to evaluate their projects.”
Secondly, students are forming networks during the course that continue after they graduate. “A key component of the course is a group task where the group pitches a project in teams of four or more,” Pamela explains. “I’ve noticed quite a few groups continue working together after the course, and several have formalised their relationship into partnerships or business ventures.”
Thirdly, students are enlisting the guest lecturers into their networks.
“We invite some very high powered guest speakers to this course,” says Wilson Endrina. “People of the calibre of Alan Finney, Tait Brady, and Nadia Tass are very generous in contributing their vast industry knowledge and contacts in television and film, and about producing and distribution also,” she says. “For example, in the legal area we bring in Jenny Lalor and Shaun Miller, both experts in the field of copyright, intellectual property and rights acquisition.”
Pamela says she’s noticed that students and graduates often team up with these experts after graduating, seeking legal advice, distribution and financial pointers and help with business plans. For example some students have used the services of Jill Hewitt from Moneypenny Services for production accountancy.
“One of our students is about to embark upon an internship with Nadia Tass and Cascade Films that directly came out of the recent course in Melbourne,” she says. Tass saw the need for an internship opportunity and generously created a vacancy at her company. One lucky graduate will commence the internship soon.
According to Pamela Wilson Endrina, students often use the course as a way of rethinking their project strategies, and sometimes radically change course, especially after getting advice on how to get their projects made. She cites the example of a Sydney student who was advised by a guest lecturer that a major US star may be interested in his big budget feature. The student took heed of the advice, gained access to the star and now the $20 million project is going through a fundraising round with corporate and private investors.
Other students rethink their dream low budget feature, realising that there are other ways of accessing finance from the ones they had previously thought of.
Pamela says that a recent student realised that the Australian screen industry is anchored by television, and TV is centred in Sydney, so the graduate moved from South Australia to New South Wales, and got a job working part time for a production company as the basis for her career. Another student works in the industry but attended the course specifically to gain insights into the complex terrain of copyright and clearing the chain of title to a project.
VU also hold ongoing masterclasses for past graduates, on the major subjects of raising finance, seeking international coproduction partners and legal matters. And they host regular refresher days where graduates can return to pitch their projects to their peers and industry experts.
Pamela has observed that students use the course to network amongst themselves, and one interesting aspect of those who attend is that they are both emerging producers and also experienced players already working in the industry, such as commissioning editors from ABC or SBS, professional editors, and people already working as producers or production assistants.
There is a focus on documentary as well, and so in the last course Steve Warne, the documentary manager from Film Victoria, shared his expertise with the group. This enabled students to gain an insight into the way documentaries are supported at both the state and federal level. Another expert in documentary is Robert de Young, who works at VU as well as having an extensive track record in documentaries.
In the last course, veteran producer-director Mario Andreacchio talked to students about his recent success mounting the first ever Chinese Australian official coproduction, The Dragon Pearl. Several students decided to join the SPAA Australia-China Screen Alliance, a group organised by Andreacchio to foster coproduction’s between Australia and China, as a result.
In the future, Pamela is steering the course towards more innovative funding streams, especially international ones. She regularly attends the IIFF or Institute for International Film Financing sessions on financing films in San Francisco, and reports that they have become so successful that they have branched out to LA, New York, and London.
“These sessions are fantastic sources of information on new ways of bringing finance into film and television projects. During my next trip to the US I hope to meet up with the IIFF organisers to propose them bringing their forums to Australia ,” she says.
Victoria University’s Executive Screen Producer’s course will be taught by leading industry practitioners in Sydney on 11-13 and 25-27 of November, 2011. In 2012 the Course will be delivered in Perth – March; Melbourne – July and Sydney – November.
For more information, or to register, phone 03 9919 1810 or email esp@vu.edu.au.
