Newsletter - June 08
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| Hi guys, just a reminder of activities currently taking place and nearing deadlines - don't miss out! |
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| In this edition (Links) |
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| Announcements: |
| Filmmakers Against Racism Appeal - lend a hand |
| Filmmakers have organised themselves and formed an initiative called Filmmakers Against Racism (FAR) launched on 23rd May in response to the shocking wave of xenophobia violence hitting South Africa. FAR will be producing six 24 minute documentaries, as well as many 30 second Public Service Announcements (PSA), which will be broadcast by SABC, and hopefully ETV and MNET as well as community TV stations. |
| FAR will use local celebrities for the PSAs to voice the view that we are all Africans and must seek unity not division to tackle the growing social and economic concerns we face as a nation. |
| WoS is doing its bit by contributing office space telephone costs and time to coordinate the PSAs. The shoot takes place next Thursday15th June. All the help will be highly appreciated in terms of volunteering your services; we need Crew i.e. a coordinator, Sound, Makeup, Art director, etc. |
| Thanks to members that are already helping Omelga Mthiyane and offered their help Mary Ann Mandishona. |
| If you have time please contact me Eve and in Cape Town Don Edkins +27 21 4655805, don@dayzero.co.za. |
| Participate at the SASFED AGM We call members to nominate individuals who would represent WoS in 'The South African Screen Federation' (SASFED) AGM. All nominations need to be sent to Eve who will then forward to SASFED by latest Wed 4th June and the AGM will take place on Saturday the 7th June 2008 at Atlas Studios, Frost Avenue, Auckland Park from 14h00 - 17h00. Drinks and snacks after the meeting. |
| The 10th Encounters - South African International Documentary Festival Johannesburg at Nu Metro in Hyde Park from the 9th to 29th of June Cape Town, at the V&A Waterfront Nu Metro: 3rd and 13th July. It touches on a broad range of topics: music, human rights, justice, the environment, popular culture, ideals of female beauty, surfing, love and survival. |
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| Funding |
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| SABC commissioning briefs - Request for Proposals (RFP) |
| Deadline for some of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) include: |
| Religion: |
- 2 Children's Saturday series - 26x24min - deadline: 30th June 08
- Purim Festival of Joy - 26x24min - deadline: 26th June 08
- Easter Special - 1x48min - deadline: 1 July 08
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| Children: |
- Documentary/Reality 'Voices of Wisdom' for ages 12-15 - deadline: 24th June 08
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| Africalia: |
| Belgium based organisation that funds art and culture projects including the production of films up to an amount of 25 000 euro. |
| Applications must be in at least seven weeks before you need the funds |
| Competitions |
| Focus Features Africa First Short Film Program |
| Applicant Qualifications |
- Applicants must be of African nationality and the age of majority in their jurisdiction of primary residence.
- Applicants must be independent producers. This means that the individual applicants:
- own the copyright of their production;
- have artistic, budgetary, and editorial control of their project;
- are not regularly employed by a public or commercial broadcast entity.
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- Applicant/co-applicant must have previous film or television production experience in a principal role (producer, co-producer, director, or co-director) as demonstrated by a sample DVD or videotape of completed work submitted with application.
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| Requirements |
| All projects entered into the Focus Features Africa First Short Film Program must meet the requirements below: |
- Produced in continental Africa;
- 5-25 minutes in length with narratives taking place exclusively in Africa. Feature and/or documentary submissions will not be accepted;
- In preproduction, production, or postproduction;
- Project must be filmed in continental Africa and contribute to the development of the local film industry by using local key production staff and using local facilities;
- All Program documents must be written in the English language; however, if the original language of the screenplay was not in the English language, an English-language translation of the screenplay is acceptable;
- Project must be either (i) in the English language or (ii) if not, be delivered with English-language subtitles in 16mm, Super 16mm, 35mm, HDTV, DigiBeta, or Beta format.
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| Required Materials |
| Application: Please do not bind, spiral or package your applications in folders. Each set of documents should simply be collated and stapled as such: |
- A completed application package (complete application, directors statement and CV's) (2 copies)
- Completed short film screenplay (2 copies)
- Sample Work Video (2 copies)
- Signed Submission Release Form
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| All application materials should be submitted to: Focus Features Africa First Short Film Program |
| c/o Focus Features |
| 65 Bleecker Street, 3rd Floor |
| New York, NY 10012 |
| Enclosed Materials: |
- Application Form
- Submission Release Form
- Official Rules (separate document)
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| Award Selection |
| The final selection of up to five (5) award recipients will be made by Completion Films and the Focus production team, with the final decision being made by Focus. Projects will be judged by taking into consideration such factors as originality, creativity, quality, and artistic contribution to African filmmaking. |
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| Call to enter Filmaka's young filmmakers competition. |
| Filmaka feature film competition continues every month and their current theme is HELP WANTED. |
| The company is accepting 1-3 minute short films on this theme until July 2nd and details can be found via its home page - http://www.filmaka.com |
| The company's regular jury includes Wim Wenders, Paul Schrader, John Madden, Neil LaBute, Werner Herzog, Colin Firth and more. These award winning filmmakers will judge the best work and Filmaka award up to U$35,000 in prize money every month. |
| Filmaka have also just launched a new branded competition that gives filmmakers the chance to reach an audience of half a billion people. |
| MSN is launching a brand new channel called WhatOnEarthIsGoingOn? They've teamed up Filmaka to provide the chance for filmmakers to share what's going on in their lives, with the world. |
| The deadline for uploading a 1-3 minute film to compete in this exciting competition is July 28th. 15 filmmakers will win U$1,500 each and be featured on this brand new platform on MSN. |
| 2008 Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award |
| Opened to people who: |
- Are 30 years of age or less, non-U.S. citizen residing outside the U.S.
- Can create a completed half-hour to one-hour English-language television drama script for a family audience?
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| If so, you may be eligible for a US$2,500 prize and a trip to New York City. The winning script will be read by actors in front of an audience at the Festival, and the winner will be invited to take part in the red carpet festivities at the 36th International Emmy® Awards on November 24. |
| The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2008. |
| The winner will be presented with the Award at the International Emmy® World Television Festival in New York on November 22, 2008. |
| If interested to participate, contact WoS office and will email you the entry form. |
| Trevor Jones Scholarship |
| The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), National Film and Television School (NFTS) and Trevor Jones (the South African born screen composer) in October 20 2005 held talks to establish a special scholarship designed to assist talented young South African filmmakers study in the UK at the National Film Television School. The scholarship was named Trevor Jones Scholarship. |
| The National Film and Television School is one of the UK's most prestigious institutions for postgraduate education in film & television. The NFTS provides purpose-built film studios and a separate large television studio and facilities. |
The film and television stages, animation and production design studios, edit suites, sound post-production facilities, music recording studio and dubbing theatre are all furnished with new generation digital equipment equivalent to that used at the highest level in today's film and television industry. Students learn from some of the UK's most accomplished film and television programme makers and the high tutor to student ratio allows teaching to be very specific to individual students' needs.
The tutors at NFTS are leaders in the industry - teachers like Stephen Frears (The Queen) in Fiction Direction, Brian Tufano (Trainspotting) in Cinematography, the Television Department's David G Croft (Live Aid, Shooting Stars, Top of the Pops) and Nik Powell, the director at NFTS, and a producer himself (Calendar Girls, Little Voice, The Crying Game). |
The NFVF in collaboration with the NFTS, and world acclaimed South African born screen composer Trevor Jones (Last of the Mohicans, Cliffhanger, In the Name of the Father, Brassed Off, Notting Hill, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Around the World in 80 Days) will equally contribute funds for the Trevor Jones scholarship for South Africans who are successfully accepted for their Masters Degree in Film Studies at the NFTS. The Trevor Jones Scholarship is offered every two years. The next opening will be announced soon for the 2009 academic year.
South African learners who wish to apply for the scholarship should visit the website below and indicate which particular discipline they are applying for:
http://www.nfts.co.uk/index.php?module=Content&template=sign_applyIndex
To learn more about the Trevor Jones scholarship visit:
http://www.nfts.co.uk or send an email to
info@nfts.co.uk |
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| Call For SABC/ Encounters Africa Shorts |
Following on the success of the first Africa Shorts workshop and productions, encounters and the SABC are running a 4-day storytelling and production workshop this year. Five filmmakers from Southern and East Africa will be selected upon the basis of their proposals for a short film (of up to 10 minutes duration) on the subject of Secret Lives.
We all have secrets, other lives, hidden lives, we know something we are not meant to know, we do things that we don't want others to know…
These films aim to be ready for screening at Encounters 2009 and thereafter at other festivals internationally. |
| Deadline For Submissions Is Friday, 15 August 2008. |
| Entries should consist of no more than a: |
- 1 page synopsis
- 2 page biography of the filmmaker
- DVD copies of previous films
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| All entries should be sent by email to: Lisa Mini: lisa@encounters.co.za |
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| 3-DAY STEADICAM FLYER WORKSHOP |
| Please note only 4 participants per workshop, early booking essential. |
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WORKSHOP DATES CAPE TOWN
24-26 June 2008 9am to 6pm
VENUE
Waterfront Studios, 1 Port Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town |
| SYLLABUS INCLUDES |
- Flying the rig
- Details of sled, arm and vest.
- Balance of steadicam. Dynamic and static Balance
- Running
- Work on stairs and uneven surfaces
- Operating from both sides. (left and right side steadicam)
- Compositional skills and techniques
- Discussions of shots, screening clips and deconstructing shot design.
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PRICE
R5500.00 PER PERSON, Deposit of R500.00 reserves your slot, the balance is due no later than seven days prior to the start of the workshop. Participants will receive a workshop DVD and certificate. |
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| Junior Producer: Johannesburg |
One of SA's best loved soaps is looking for a junior producer. This person is a dynamic storyteller with creative flair and a knowledge of the television industry, someone with initiative who can work within a tight team of creatives. A passion for telling South African stories. An ability to conduct indepth research - desktop, case studies and focus groups.
Good organisational skills.
An understanding of the value of publicity and marketing.
An ability to speak at least 2 African languages.
At least 3 years relevant experience.
Contact
Liesl Thomson, Ochre Media (Pty) Ltd, lieslt@ochre.co.za |
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Funding
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) |
| Comprises of three types of aid, which will be allocated as follows, in the form of grants: |
- Production all genre including animation
- Distribution, development and promotion
- For training: http://www.wildcinema.org
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Morula Pictures
Give bursaries, small funding of films etc. |
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- House of Ntsako The band 340ml is performing at CARFAX including other great acts today Friday 30 jo'burg
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| See you there! |
Please do let us know of cool/interesting even funny websites on anything to do with films/filmmaking directly or indirectly
Until next time…
Eve Rantseli
Executive Officer |
| Women of the Sun, South Africa, |
Tel/Fax: +27 11 838 4282
Cell: +27 72 143 1825,
Physical addr: Newtown Building 3rd floor, 2 President street Newtown Jo'burg (where FRU used to be),
Postal addr: PO Box 2608 Houghton 2041,
Johannesburg South Africa
E: info@wos.org.za |
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| "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has". Margaret Mead |
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