LA’s Ausfilm Week: “Like speed dating without the alcohol”
Eleven Australian producer teams from across the Australia met with American producers and studio executives at the Ausfilm Week in last week.
Ausfilm’s Deb Richards told Encore the sessions were, “like speed dating without the alcohol, with seven meetings one after another.”
The one-to-one sessions were project-specific, the filmmakers pitching a feature script they looked to receive funding and create co-productions on.
Australian producers included Bill Leimback (Beneath Hill 60), Jamie Hilton (Sleeping Beauty, The Waiting City), Stephen Amis (The 25th Reich), Robert Galinsky & Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman (Prey), Pam Collis (Singularity), Craig Lahiff & Helen Leake (Swerve), Sonya Armstrong (Seduction in the City), Lessa Khan and Marissa Goodhill, Jodea Bloomfield and Pippa Hinchley (The Live Sex Girls), Anthony Maras (The Palace) and Michelle McDonald of Screen Australia.
The selection of US production companies included; The Weinstein Company, Arclight Films, Smoke House Pictures, Artists International, Michael de Luca productions, Fox Searchlight and more.
The one-to-one pitching sessions were just one part of the five day event.
Ausfilm Week is also an opportunity to promote the incentives and offsets the Australian government offers.
The week opened with the screening of Australian upcoming feature A Few Best Men by Stephan Elliott (Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) at the Linwood Dunn Theatre.
Actresses Rebel Wilson and Olivia Newton John as well as Elliott walked the red carpet with Newton-John and Elliott hosting a Q&A after the film, joined by Sigrid Thornton
Other events included breakfast seminars, PDV-related lunches, and a gala dinners with plenty of opportunities for networking where representatives of a wide range of companies were in attendence; Disney ABC Networks Group, Lakeshore Entertainment, DreamWorks Studios, HBO Films & Miniseries, Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group, Paramount Pictures and more.
While Richards couldn’t confirm anything solid yet, she said: “Every meeting is a good meeting, but we’ve had success before. Our LA office will have follow ups this week with the LA producers.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday were the one-to-one sessions which saw Australian filmmakers sit down with US producers, development executives and US studios for project-specific pitches and discussions and discuss the 40% offset, 30% post, digital and VFX incentive and the 16.5% locations incentive.
Australian director Shane Abbess (Gabriel) said of similar past events: “As an Australian filmmaker living in Los Angeles, I’ve found Ausfilm to be that often crucial link between our industry at home and here. Their events are a must for anyone looking to bridge the gap between two of the strongest film communities on the planet”.
topics
A Few Best Men
Anthony Maras
Jamie Hilton
Olivia Newton John
Screen Australia
Stephen Elliott
