Applications open for Gender Matters: Brilliant Pitches workshops
Screen Australia will host three intensive, small-group workshops in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in July led by US producer Sheila Hanahan-Taylor to help female screen practitioners hone their pitching skills to create interest from potential partners, financiers, talent agents and get their screen projects production ready. There will also be an accompanying large group forum open to all creatives.
Sheila Hanahan-Taylor
Sheila Hanahan-Taylor is the founder of Practical Pictures, a production company specialising in studio pictures with a global appeal. As a cradle-to-grave producer, Sheila’s skill set includes story development, marketplace analysis, fundraising and budgeting, on-set creative producing, and editing. Sheila has been involved with numerous studio franchises including American Pie, Cats & Dogs, Final Destination and was the producer on Australian feature Oddball. The films Sheila has worked on as an executive or producer have grossed over US $2 billion in worldwide box office sales from a total production cost of USD $448 million.
Sheila was previously a Senior Executive at Zide/Perry Entertainment and prior to that, worked for Oscar® Nominees Gil Netter and the Zucker Brothers, developing such films as My Best Friend's Wedding. In addition to producing, Sheila also sits on numerous film boards and teaches at Universities around the globe. Sheila currently teaches and works as a consultant with Carnegie Mellon, University of Southern California, Columbia College Chicago L.A. and Fox Studios.
At Fox, Sheila develops TV pilots with their Writers Intensive Program and films with their Global Directors Initiative.
WORKSHOP
The free workshops will take place in Sydney on Wednesday 18 July, in Perth on Friday 20 July, and Melbourne on Monday 23 July (locations TBA). Screen Australia will fund travel for successful participants residing interstate. There will be a maximum of 12 teams in each workshop.
Applications for the workshop are open from Monday 7 May and close 11pm AEST on Friday, 1 June 2018.
Applicants must be female creatives (e.g. writer, writer/director and/or producer) with mid-high level experience in episodic or one-off productions in the screen sector (television, online or feature films) that have been produced and distributed to audiences.
Applicants must have an active slate of projects in development and can be an individual or team but please note that only a maximum of two practitioners per team can attend the workshop.
Note successful workshop applicants are also required to attend the forum (details below).
More details about eligibility and how to apply can be found here
FORUM
Screen Australia will also be presenting a free forum for up to 260 participants with Sheila Hanahan-Taylor in Sydney on Monday 16 July. Registrants must cover their own travel costs to attend, however the event will also be live streamed for free.
More details about how to register for the forum will be released soon. Demand is expected to be high, so interested parties should ensure they are subscribed to Screen Australia’s newsletter, and following the agency on Twitter and Facebook.
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