VISIT STANTHORPE: GIRRAWEEN NATIONAL PARK is one of the world’s natural wonders, located on the Queensland–New South Wales border, 260km south-west of Brisbane (halfway between Stanthorpe and Tenterfield). Here you can discover massive granite outcrops, balancing boulders, clear running streams and spectacular spring wildflowers in a ruggedly scenic setting. Discover the park’s rich diversity of plant and animal life – spot many colourful birds, listen to frogs, and watch kangaroos and possums. (Umm… a reminder that these kangaroos are wild and not the tame kind that people fraternise with at zoos – so leave them alone, or you could end up in hospital – and watch that the kids don’t get too close). NOTE: Until 31 January 2020, as a result of the current drought and water unavailability, the Castle Rock and Bald Rock Creek camping areas, as well as all remote walk-in campsites, will remain closed. Camping at these sites will be re-opened when substantial rainfall is received (let us pray), but Girraween National Park will remain open to day-use activities. Please check park alerts for updates at
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/girraween, and check the NEWS on the home page of this website for maps and more links. (Photo of Girraween National Park courtesy of Queensland Tourism)
Watchwords
On these pages you will find competitions
and other opportunities for authors, performance writers for stage and screen, illustrators and filmmakers. See entries below the quick list for more detailed information.
In this section we list competitions open to performance writers for theatre, film and television, plus cross-over opportunities for filmmakers. Detailed information is listed below in date order. Those entries with deadlines
looming are highlighted in red.
- The Australian Writers’ Guild sponsors events,
festivals, awards and programs that recognise, promote, reward and celebrate the work of screen and stage writers. See who’s eligible.
- The Brisbane City Council is seeking public event visionaries for its CREATIVE EVENTS REGISTER. If you’ve got a bright idea, register now.
- Playwrights from regional or remote areas may apply for travel costs to attend events and opportunities through the newly established ERIN THOMAS PLAYWRIGHT FUND. There
is no deadline for applications.
- Submit your complete screenplay with a treatment, or a comprehensive concept proposal (1–3 pages)
to WriteMe Australia, a national screenwriting initiative program which aims to develop exceptional material into production-ready screenwriting to be produced by the LaRoda Films network. There is no closing date for submissions. All ideas and material exchanged
between all parties constitute intellectual property that shall remain the exclusive property of the originator.
THEATRE
Who: Playwriting Australia.
What: ERIN THOMAS PLAYWRIGHT FUND
Entries close: No deadline for applications.
Contact: For
guidelines visit the website at http://www.pwa.org.au
Cost: No cost to apply.
What’s happening: The Rules. It can be tough getting your playwriting career going if you live outside of the capital cities – opportunities to engage with the theatre industry
are rare and expensive. The newly established Erin Thomas Playwright Fund has been created to support emerging playwrights from regional or remote areas to attend opportunities or events that would help them develop their careers.
To be eligible, playwrights need to: reside in a regional, remote or rural area of Australia; and be at an early stage of their career and have had no more than two professional productions.
The Opportunities: Funded travel costs can include airfares, accommodation, per diems or other relevant expenses. Playwrights may apply to attend events
and opportunities.
Here is an opportunity to submit and sell your script, choreography
and artistic concepts for students of the performing arts.
Who: Free Range Theatrix
What: SUBMIT AND SELL YOUR SCRIPT, CHOREOGRAPHY AND ARTISTIC CONCEPTS FOR STUDENTS OF THE PERFORMING ARTS.
Entries close: Ongoing.
Contact: Go to their website at http://www.freerangetheatrix.com for more information about the company, and contact Creative Director, Sally Hardy
on sally@freerangetheatrix.com about your submissions if you have questions.
Cost: FREE
TO SUBMIT
What’s happening: Opportunity: Free Range Theatrix is a new company that sells scripts, choreography
and artistic concepts for students of the performing arts. They are currently seeking submissions of plays, monologues and musical theatre, and are interested in anything from light-hearted pantomimes through to highly artistic and challenging works. For more
information and go to their website at http://www.freerangetheatrix.com and contact Sally Hardy as above if you have any further questions.
ONLINE CREATORS AND OTHER PLATFORMS
Who: The Australian Writers Guild (AWG)
What: AUSTRALIAN WRITERS' GUILD SPONSORSHIP
Entries close: Ongoing opportunity.
Contact: Go go to the AWG sponsorship page for more information and email admin@awg.com.au if you have any further queries.
Cost: Talk
to AWG about your idea.
What’s happening: The Rules. The Australian Writers’ Guild is proud to sponsor events,
festivals, awards and programs that recognise, promote, reward and celebrate the work of screen and stage writers. They are also the proud sponsor of Best Screenplay Awards for a number of festivals and competitions.
If your organisation would like to get in touch with the Guild regarding sponsorship, head to their AWG sponsorship page to find out what types of events and awards they sponsor, how they show their support, and what they expect from the events they sponsor. You can then download and fill out the AWG sponsorship form before sending
it to admin@awg.com.au.
Who: The Brisbane City Council
What: CREATIVE EVENTS REGISTER
Entries close: Ongoing opportunity.
Contact:
For more information, email creative.communities@brisbane.qld.gov.au or call (07) 3403 8888.
Cost:
NIL.
What’s happening: The Rules. The Brisbane City Council is seeking public event visionaries. Help imagine events, learn more
about creative development opportunities and hear about ways to work with Council on the Creative Events Register. Receive email updates about expression of interest opportunities through the year. To register, visit http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/creativeeventsregister.
RADIO, FILM AND TELEVISION
Who: LaRoda Films
What: WRITEME AUSTRALIA SCREENWRITING INITIATIVE: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Entries close: No closing date for submissions.
Contact: Visit http://www.writeme-australia.com and spread the word among writers of screen and print fiction.
Cost: Nil to submit.
What’s happening: The Rules. WriteMe Australia is
a national program established to identify and select writers, and develop their exemplary written material with a Director, to a stage primed for screen production. The initiative aims to identify and select talented writers with extraordinary written material,
and to develop that work into production-ready screenwriting to be produced by the LaRoda Films network.
WriteMe was established by Australian Director and Producer
Blake Borcich, after identifying a frustratingly low volume of archetypal writing to explore and advance in his home nation. Good writing affects everybody on a film production. It is a collaborative art form through and through, and there is nothing more
reassuring that one is arriving each day to work on a truly worthy filmic venture, than the strength of that core foundational brilliance – the script.
They accept
complete screenplays with a treatment, as well as comprehensive concept proposals (1–3 pages). All ideas and material exchanged between all parties, from the moment of first engagement with each other, constitute intellectual property that shall remain
the exclusive property of the originator.
The Opportunity: WriteMe ultimately guarantees that successful screenplays are headed right through
to post-production and release by LaRoda Films. The WriteMe process involves an appointed entertainment lawyer and active liaising with the Australian Copyright Council.
ATTENTION FILMMAKERS AND SCREENWRITERS
Are your credits accurately preserved for posterity? The Film & Broadcast Industries Oral History Group sends all filmmakers this important message.
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia – Audiovisual History Needs You
Have
you worked on an Australian screen production? Do you want your correct credits to be part of Australia's historical record? If so, the Film & Broadcast Industries Oral History group encourages you to have your credits updated on the national audiovisual
collection records.
Here's how in 5 easy steps:
1. Go to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia website and click Collection.
2. Search for the production title using Easy Search, select Film or Television and click on Search
3. From the Results page, click on the entry that appears for that title searched. Once you click on the entry, you will get a page which includes ‘Title Details’
4. If you see anything incorrect or missing in the credits listed there, click on the data corrections link corrections@nfsa.gov.au at the bottom of the page to send an email with your suggested corrections
5. The NFSA Collection Information Staff will respond to your email and validate the suggested corrections. For any contradictory information received, the NFSA will retain the right
to determine the authorised credits for the production.
'CLICK FOR FESTIVALS' - FILMMAKER AND
SCREENWRITER ALERT
‘CLICK FOR FESTIVALS is a new tool connecting creators and festivals. The website says:
'For creators and distributors CLICK signifies the best way to reach any festival throughout the world, offering the possibility of showing their work easily, practically and economically. In the case of festivals, this is a free tool that will enable them
to manage submitted films efficiently and to set optimal communication channels with both creators and juries.
'The first step
is to create your account as a Director or Distributor. Next, you will receive an account verification email and from that moment, you can start uploading your films, consulting our Platform's list of Associated Festivals and submitting your work to the festivals
that interest you...Film schools will enjoy the same promotions as distributors.
'CLICK FOR FESTIVALS gives the opportunity to
submit a short to many festivals, or many shorts to one festival. We want you to have your submissions only one click away.’
This
seems worth checking out. For more information on how it all works go to the CLICK FOR FESTIVALS website at http://www.clickforfestivals.com/associated-festivals-m.
COMPETITIONS ETC.
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