Friday will see the launch of the first stage of the Australian Feature Film Summit, an event spearheaded by a working group across exhibition, distribution and production, which aims to break down sector silos to build further theatrical success for Australian features.
Its origins lie in provocative questions about the future of local film posed by producer and distributor Sue Maslin back in 2018.
Such as: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently? How can we get a better equation between risk/reward?
Maslin felt a disconnect between what exhibitors were prepared to show on screens and what filmmakers were making, with the vast majority of Australian films earning less than $1 million. It occurred to her that most producers had little to do with the ‘retail’ end of the industry.
Its origins lie in provocative questions about the future of local film posed by producer and distributor Sue Maslin back in 2018.
Such as: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently? How can we get a better equation between risk/reward?
Maslin felt a disconnect between what exhibitors were prepared to show on screens and what filmmakers were making, with the vast majority of Australian films earning less than $1 million. It occurred to her that most producers had little to do with the ‘retail’ end of the industry.
- 10/20/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
The inaugural Australian Feature Film Summit has unveiled the line-up of sessions and speakers for its ‘stage one’ virtual event, taking place next month.
Convened by a working group across production, distribution and exhibition, the summit aims to break down industry silos to grow the success of the Australian feature film sector.
The first stage virtual event is designed to ‘set the stage’ for an in-person summit in February 2022, to coincide with the Australian International Movie Convention.
Speakers will include Roadshow Films CEO Joel Pearlman; Event Cinemas general manager content Claire Gandy; Sony Pictures Entertainment EVP Stephen Basil-Jones; Made Up Stories producer Jodi Matterson; Comscore MD Frank Perikleous; Cinema Nova CEO Kristian Connelly, and Compton School executive director David Court.
“The focus for stage one is to really drill down into what success looks like for Australian feature films and what we can learn from this,” says summit convenor Gino Munari.
Convened by a working group across production, distribution and exhibition, the summit aims to break down industry silos to grow the success of the Australian feature film sector.
The first stage virtual event is designed to ‘set the stage’ for an in-person summit in February 2022, to coincide with the Australian International Movie Convention.
Speakers will include Roadshow Films CEO Joel Pearlman; Event Cinemas general manager content Claire Gandy; Sony Pictures Entertainment EVP Stephen Basil-Jones; Made Up Stories producer Jodi Matterson; Comscore MD Frank Perikleous; Cinema Nova CEO Kristian Connelly, and Compton School executive director David Court.
“The focus for stage one is to really drill down into what success looks like for Australian feature films and what we can learn from this,” says summit convenor Gino Munari.
- 9/28/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
In 2018, producer and distributor Sue Maslin posed some provocative questions regarding the future of Australian feature film.
Among them: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently?
It kicked off introspection among industry, and sparked lively conversation at that year’s Prism, hosted by Screen Producers Australia (Spa), that gathered executives from federal and state screen agencies, producers, distributors and exhibitors.
Out of that event hatched a cross-industry working group who for the past three years have met regularly to strategise how to grow a local feature film sector that makes more commercially successful and culturally relevant films.
Among its founding members are Maslin; Independent Cinemas Australia CEO Adrianne Pecotic; producer Antony I. Ginnane; Event Cinemas general manager of content Claire Gandy; Spa director of policy Holly Brimble; Motion Picture...
Among them: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently?
It kicked off introspection among industry, and sparked lively conversation at that year’s Prism, hosted by Screen Producers Australia (Spa), that gathered executives from federal and state screen agencies, producers, distributors and exhibitors.
Out of that event hatched a cross-industry working group who for the past three years have met regularly to strategise how to grow a local feature film sector that makes more commercially successful and culturally relevant films.
Among its founding members are Maslin; Independent Cinemas Australia CEO Adrianne Pecotic; producer Antony I. Ginnane; Event Cinemas general manager of content Claire Gandy; Spa director of policy Holly Brimble; Motion Picture...
- 9/7/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Australian feature films are currently dominating the box office, with exhibitors reporting a “revitalised” audience appetite for local stories.
Since the start of this year, the 11 Aussie features released in cinemas have taken a whopping 54 per cent of the national box office, or $26 million. Last weekend, in an unprecedented result, four out of the top five films at the Bo were Australian.
Roadshow Films’ The Dry, the no. 1 film in the country for weeks now, is approaching $20 million, seeing it rank among the highest grossing Australian films of all time.
That local films are performing so well is in part by virtue of Covid, with a lack of new releases from the US allowing films more screens and more time to build word-of-mouth and momentum. However, both distributors and exhibitors have also thrown their weight behind all of the local releases.
Australia isn’t alone in this revival; other territories...
Since the start of this year, the 11 Aussie features released in cinemas have taken a whopping 54 per cent of the national box office, or $26 million. Last weekend, in an unprecedented result, four out of the top five films at the Bo were Australian.
Roadshow Films’ The Dry, the no. 1 film in the country for weeks now, is approaching $20 million, seeing it rank among the highest grossing Australian films of all time.
That local films are performing so well is in part by virtue of Covid, with a lack of new releases from the US allowing films more screens and more time to build word-of-mouth and momentum. However, both distributors and exhibitors have also thrown their weight behind all of the local releases.
Australia isn’t alone in this revival; other territories...
- 2/19/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Clockwise from top left: Jennifer Peedom, Rachel Okine, Kyas Hepworth and Sue Maslin.
The Natalie Miller Fellowship (Nmf) organisers have appealed for more Indigenous female screen practitioners to apply for the fellowship that provides an annual $20,000 grant for leadership advancement.
Nmf president Sue Maslin lamented the small number of applicants from the Indigenous cohort in a Facebook Live session on Monday with director and Nmf ambassador Jennifer Peedom, Aquarius Films MD Rachel Okine and Nitv acting head Kyas Hepworth.
Established in 2011 to recognise the unique contribution of screen industry pioneer Natalie Miller, the Nmf is open to women with at least five years experience in any screen sector to help them reach their full leadership potential through attachments, internships, secondments and other means.
“We have not had a high level of applications yet from Indigenous women. We really want to make a focus on having Indigenous women applying,” Maslin said.
The Natalie Miller Fellowship (Nmf) organisers have appealed for more Indigenous female screen practitioners to apply for the fellowship that provides an annual $20,000 grant for leadership advancement.
Nmf president Sue Maslin lamented the small number of applicants from the Indigenous cohort in a Facebook Live session on Monday with director and Nmf ambassador Jennifer Peedom, Aquarius Films MD Rachel Okine and Nitv acting head Kyas Hepworth.
Established in 2011 to recognise the unique contribution of screen industry pioneer Natalie Miller, the Nmf is open to women with at least five years experience in any screen sector to help them reach their full leadership potential through attachments, internships, secondments and other means.
“We have not had a high level of applications yet from Indigenous women. We really want to make a focus on having Indigenous women applying,” Maslin said.
- 8/25/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Monster Fest.
Expanding the Monster Fest brand, Monster Fest and Event Cinemas are partnering on a new festival which will be staged at five Event Cinemas locations around Australia.
Under the banner Monster Fest Australia 2019, the event will run simultaneously from Thursday October 31 to Sunday November 3 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney.
Each location will feature highlights from the Melbourne program, plus screenings and special events unique to each city. As the opening night takes place on Halloween, the organisers are planning something “very special” to kick off the festival.
Monster Fest director Grant Hardie said: “While this festival initially will have a more refined program than the Melbourne counterpart, it is the first step in bringing the full Monster Fest experience to these cities in the near future and we are committed to making this festival the best experience possible for fans.”
Event Cinemas general manager of content...
Expanding the Monster Fest brand, Monster Fest and Event Cinemas are partnering on a new festival which will be staged at five Event Cinemas locations around Australia.
Under the banner Monster Fest Australia 2019, the event will run simultaneously from Thursday October 31 to Sunday November 3 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney.
Each location will feature highlights from the Melbourne program, plus screenings and special events unique to each city. As the opening night takes place on Halloween, the organisers are planning something “very special” to kick off the festival.
Monster Fest director Grant Hardie said: “While this festival initially will have a more refined program than the Melbourne counterpart, it is the first step in bringing the full Monster Fest experience to these cities in the near future and we are committed to making this festival the best experience possible for fans.”
Event Cinemas general manager of content...
- 5/2/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Monster Fest
Monster Fest has called for submissions for the 2019 edition which returns to Cinema Nova with plans for continued expansion nationally in partnership with Event Cinemas.
The festival will run from October 10-13, five weeks ahead of previous years’ festivals to accommodate the extension to other cities.
Following the success of their partnership Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow, Monster Fest and Event Cinemas plan to take the Melbourne experience to select cities in the rest of Australia in November. More details will be announced soon.
Claire Gandy, Event Cinemas general manager content, says: “Having seen the continued growth of Monster Fest Melbourne in the last few years, we at Event wanted to bring that experience to some of our major sites around the country and we are very excited to see how we can work together.”
Grant Hardie, Monster Fest festival director, adds: “Since we started the festival our plan...
Monster Fest has called for submissions for the 2019 edition which returns to Cinema Nova with plans for continued expansion nationally in partnership with Event Cinemas.
The festival will run from October 10-13, five weeks ahead of previous years’ festivals to accommodate the extension to other cities.
Following the success of their partnership Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow, Monster Fest and Event Cinemas plan to take the Melbourne experience to select cities in the rest of Australia in November. More details will be announced soon.
Claire Gandy, Event Cinemas general manager content, says: “Having seen the continued growth of Monster Fest Melbourne in the last few years, we at Event wanted to bring that experience to some of our major sites around the country and we are very excited to see how we can work together.”
Grant Hardie, Monster Fest festival director, adds: “Since we started the festival our plan...
- 3/6/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Storm Boy’ (Photo: Matt Nettheim).
Given the record number of titles flooding into cinemas this year, Australian feature films and documentaries overall have performed respectably, most as limited releases with minimal marketing.
Some 59 Oz titles have launched this year and the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (Mpdaa) expects the final tally will be 61 – six more than in 2017.
The Mpdaa estimates 722 films will have gone out theatrically by the end of the year – up from 697 last year. Collectively Oz films and feature docs including holdovers have racked up $55.2 million, beating last year’s $49.4 million, which was a market share of 4.1 per cent.
(Source: Mpdaa)
That was also ahead of the 2009 total of $54.8 million. The stand-out of the past 10 years was 2015’s $88.1 million, the year of Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dressmaker and Oddball.
The Mpdaa’s stats do not include Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, which has qualified for the...
Given the record number of titles flooding into cinemas this year, Australian feature films and documentaries overall have performed respectably, most as limited releases with minimal marketing.
Some 59 Oz titles have launched this year and the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (Mpdaa) expects the final tally will be 61 – six more than in 2017.
The Mpdaa estimates 722 films will have gone out theatrically by the end of the year – up from 697 last year. Collectively Oz films and feature docs including holdovers have racked up $55.2 million, beating last year’s $49.4 million, which was a market share of 4.1 per cent.
(Source: Mpdaa)
That was also ahead of the 2009 total of $54.8 million. The stand-out of the past 10 years was 2015’s $88.1 million, the year of Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dressmaker and Oddball.
The Mpdaa’s stats do not include Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, which has qualified for the...
- 11/30/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Event returns to London on Feb 5.
The 2018 edition of the Event Cinema Association’s annual conference will focus on topics including live cinema, what works on a territory by territory basis, and the future of the event cinema medium.
Source: Cinema Live
Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert was a 2017 Eca award winner
The one-day event at London’s Vue West End on February 7 kicks off with a keynote from Eca managing director Melissa Cogavin, followed by a discussion focussing on both the short term and long term futures of event cinema. The panel will feature Trafalgar Releasing’s Marc Allenby, Vue Entertainment’s Johnny Carr, National Amusement’s James Dobbin and Odeon’s Karen Liu.
Later in the day, a panel will explore what types of event cinemas work in five distinct territories. Reel Cinema’s Adon Quinn will discuss the Middle East, Cineplex’s Brad Ladouceur will look at North America, Pathe Live’s [link=nm...
The 2018 edition of the Event Cinema Association’s annual conference will focus on topics including live cinema, what works on a territory by territory basis, and the future of the event cinema medium.
Source: Cinema Live
Andre Rieu’s 2016 Maastricht Concert was a 2017 Eca award winner
The one-day event at London’s Vue West End on February 7 kicks off with a keynote from Eca managing director Melissa Cogavin, followed by a discussion focussing on both the short term and long term futures of event cinema. The panel will feature Trafalgar Releasing’s Marc Allenby, Vue Entertainment’s Johnny Carr, National Amusement’s James Dobbin and Odeon’s Karen Liu.
Later in the day, a panel will explore what types of event cinemas work in five distinct territories. Reel Cinema’s Adon Quinn will discuss the Middle East, Cineplex’s Brad Ladouceur will look at North America, Pathe Live’s [link=nm...
- 1/24/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
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