A collection of the best and brightest minds in Australia’s film and television industries will congregate at the Screen Forever conference, which will be held at Melbourne’s Crown Conference Centre from November 20 to November 22.
For over 30 years the event has championed the achievements of the Australian screen industry and provided a forum for discussing and debating challenges that affect screen industries. It is one of the largest congregations of screen industry professionals in the Southern Hemisphere.
On the question of why you should attend, the website states that the event offers the opportunity to “network and rub shoulders with industry decision makers, executives and producers from feature film, documentary, television drama, light entertainment, reality, interactive and games.”
There are several events that fans of Australian film and television will be interested in attending. Here are four of them below, with descriptions taken from the conference program.
Fore more information about Screen Forever, visit the official website.
Fireside chat with Netflix director of content acquisitions Lauren Smith
As the global streaming giant continues to build out its original content slate across the world, Lauren Smith is responsible for acquiring content from independent studios and producers. She’s been responsible for bringing Netflix acquisitions such as Safe, Travelers, Trailer Park Boys, The Letdown and Netflix’ upcoming Australian original, the untitled Chris Lilley Project and will share her insights into what makes a show sing for a streaming service.
An ABC Q & A special
In association with ABC Television, Screen Forever welcomes the return of the ABC’s flagship program, Q&A.
Hosted by ABC journalist Virginia Trioli, and featuring a specially curated panel from across the contemporary media and political landscape, the session will tackle the big questions and set delegates thinking, talking and debating the future of Australia’s screen industry.
You Can’t Ask That – live session
Modelled on You Can’t Ask That, this session brings a group of diverse screen practitioners together to face some hard questions about their roles and representation in the industry. Australia’s screen landscape publicly supports inclusivity, but is it privately still struggling to resolve the tension between content creation for mainstream and niche audiences? To what extent have questions around inclusivity versus tokenism impacted this? Postulating that misconceptions and biases are at the heart of these issues, our panelists will bring their uniquely lived experiences to the discussion and tackle the tough questions people have been too scared to ask.
Why a cinema release is still the Holy Grail of theatrical film producers and why those bastard exhibitors won’t play your film
By giving consumers a more “efficient” way to watch movies, online platforms are shaping a very different future for the local and global movie industry. But despite the growing popularity of streaming platforms, a cinema release continues to be a goal – strategic, commercial or aspirational – for so many filmmakers. The focus for local producers trying to get a cinema release has, for many years, been on distributors. In this session, we focus on the role of exhibition.
The panel will help producers crack the value equation for cinemas and provide some practical advice for filmmakers chasing the elusive cinema release.
