The Victorian Government is delivering another boost to the State’s growing screen industry with the highly coveted screenwriter accelerator program returning to Melbourne for its third year.
The Australian edition of the intensive eight-week program is designed to help diverse Australian screenwritersto accelerate their projects to pitch-ready status, and ultimately take local stories to screens across the world.
Participants will be mentored by leading screenwriters from around the globe – previous mentors have included Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), Hunter Covington (My Name is Earl), Shaun Grant (Nitram) and Stacy Traub (Glee).
Mentors will help screenwriters develop their projects and prepare them for Pitch Day – where they will be given the opportunity to pitch their project to global buyers and producers.
The 2020 and 2021 rounds of the program have resulted in tremendous success, with most of the 19 projects attracting producers and almost all of the 23 alumni writers having signed representation.
Exclusive to Melbourne, Impact Australia is delivered by international entertainment start-up Impact and independent Melbourne-based production company Gentle Giant Media Group.
“Victoria’s screen industry is dynamic, diverse and growing all the time – the $191.5 million VICSCREEN strategy provides the best career development and job opportunities in the nation,” said Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson.
“Impact Australia creates a unique opportunity for our screenwriters to break through and take local stories to global audiences.”
It is made possible with support from the Victorian and Commonwealth governments through VicScreen and Screen Australia and supported by learning partner the University of Melbourne andother state and territory screen agencies across Australia.
Applications are now open and close on 10 July with the mentorship program to begin on 26 September 2022. Pitch Day is set for January 2023.
The program will be held at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts’ Southbank campus. For more information and to apply, visit: www.impact-australia.com for details.
Image: A writer – photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash