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Welcome to the WA Screen Academy
2009 MID YEAR INTAKE
APPLY NOW
Apply direct to WA Screen Academy
For more information contact Kathy Wheatley on (08) 9370 6421
'Festival Joy for Screen Academy Films!' Four films produced by the WA Screen Academy have been selected to screen at two of Australia’s most prestigious film festivals.
The People’s Plot is a gentle documentary about a community garden in West Leederville, written by Tina McKimmie and Nadia Meneghello, directed by Mikael bones Olsen and produced by Bec Darling. The Film has been chosen as one of Australia’s Top 100 short films at the St Kilda Film Festival, May 26 – 29. It is also a finalist in the Images of Age category of the competition.
The People’s Plot will also be featured at the Dungog Film Festival, May 28 -31, along with three short dramas produced by the Screen Academy. Project Petey DNA is a hilarious mockumentary about an aspiring indigenous filmmaker that features kidnappings, terrorist gnomes and a toilet for a production office. This innovative collaboration between the Aboriginal Theatre Program at ECU and the WA Screen Academy was written and directed by acclaimed indigenous playwright and director David Milroy and produced by Jules Fortune.
Background Noise is a black comedy about Paul, whose monotonous days are filled with frustration, humiliation and emasculation until a diagnosis of terminal cancer galvanizes him into changing everything. Written by Gary Sewell, directed by Meredith Gibbs and produced by Gail Marinelli the film features WAAPA actors Brent Hill and Fiona Pepper.
Commodity Fetish, written by Amy Costello, directed by Rob Viney and produced by Bec Darling is a satire about the advertising notion that ‘sex sells’ in which the creatives become addicted to their own campaigns. Travis Nippard, James McKay and T’Neal Maher of WAAPA feature in the lead roles.
With the catchphrase, “Done Sundance, done Cannes, Dungog,” the small town 230 kilometres north of Sydney triples in size for the Dungog Film Festival for four days at the end of May. It is billed as a celebration of Australian screen culture with 20 independent features, classics introduced by their creators, 101 short films, forums, readings of new scripts…and parties. It is widely regarded as Australia’s answer to the Sundance Festival, the place to be discovered and make those essential contacts.
Director of the WA Screen Academy, John Rapsey, is thrilled to have four films selected. “St Kilda and Dungog are highly-regarded festivals so it an honour to have our films shown alongside the nation’s best. Even better, some of the filmmakers will be able to attend and experience the buzz firsthand.”
Click through to check out the Dungog Film Festival.
WA SCREEN ACADEMY - THE BEGINNING
Since it began in 2005 the WA Screen Academy has come to be regarded as one of the foremost screen training programs in the country. It has the unique advantage of being able to draw together the talents of professionals and students in the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and the School of Communications and Arts on the Mount Lawley Campus of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. Students in Production & Design programs, Music Composition, Graphics and Multimedia all contribute their exceptional skills to Screen Academy productions. Students enhance their skills by studying all year long in conjunction with the superbly trained and talented actors from Theatre and Music Theatre at WAAPA. The program also benefits from sharing expertise and facilities with TAFEWA Central. It is advised and supported by a Consultative Committee comprised of leading professionals in the state.
Taught and mentored by some of WA’s most experienced practitioners, it caters to students with a previous qualification – a Bachelor’s degree, an Advanced Diploma or 5 years industry experience – who have the talent, drive and dedication to work as professionals.
The very intensive 1 year program is designed to forge creative teams and get exceptional students ‘industry-ready’ with the skills, motivation and contacts to pursue an exciting career.
The Film and Television Industry:
While many students aspire to work in the film industry, the reality is that the lion’s share of employment is in television and related ‘small screen’ applications. With the rapid growth of digital production technology and multi-platform content this is likely to be even more so in the future. There are ten times more hours of television drama produced in Australia each year compared to cinema features and the production value is five times as great. Annually, the small screen sector produces 600 hours of documentary and over 5000 corporate and training films. Magazine, lifestyle and current affairs programs occupy a very significant sector of production activity.
The WA Screen Academy has designed its program to address the primary areas of employment and developed a production slate to provide training and experience in the key program formats.
Contacts:
John Rapsey - Director
Tel: (08) 9370 6518
j.rapsey@ecu.edu.au
Andrew Lewis (Smith) - Associate Director
Tel: (08) 9370 6987
andrew.smith@ecu.edu.au
Jules Fortune - Production Coordinator
Tel: (08) 9370 6175
j.fortune@ecu.edu.au
Simon Stokes - Lecturer
Tel: (08) 9370 6963
s.stokes@ecu.edu.au
Suzie Campbell - Lecturer
Tel: (08) 9370 6963
s.campbell@ecu.edu.au
Paul Komadina - Lecturer
Tel: (08) 9370 6963
p.komadina@ecu.edu.au
Kathy Wheatley - Production Assistant/Marketing
Tel: (08) 9370 6421
k.wheatley@ecu.edu.au
WA Screen Academy
School of Communications and Arts
Edith Cowan University
2 Bradford Street
Mt Lawley WA 6050
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