ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Co-funded by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) and Mercury CX (formerly known as Media Resource Centre), Film Lab: New Voices is a low-budget feature film skills development initiative designed to provide a platform for the next generation of diverse, South Australian filmmaking talent.
Film Lab: New Voices will offer a bold, ambitious, and creative program that will foster a new generation of key creatives and provide a tangible production and exhibition outcome.
The program will give three South Australian creative teams industry mentoring across a 12- month period to develop a low-budget feature film script which will be conceived and designed for the allocated budget.
Industry mentors with expertise in low-budget filmmaking will guide the three teams through a rigorous skills development program.
At the end of the development phase, one project will receive a $400,000 production grant to produce a feature film for premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival 2022. Teams are encouraged to be entrepreneurial however, they must obtain prior approval for any additional finance and in-kind support and be able to demonstrate that their films can be completed to a professional standard for the approved budget and timeframe.
Applications for New Voices Film Lab 2021 closed on 4 January.
To be the first to hear about Production and Funding initiatives at Mercury CX, subscribe to our mailing list, or to start your professional development and story career, become a member of Mercury CX!
AUSTRALIAN PRODUCER AND WRITER SHANE BRENNAN GIFTS SUPPORT TO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN EMERGING SCREENWRITERS
The Mercury, Scripted Ink. and the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) are thrilled to announce today the creation of a Writers’ Room at The Mercury in Adelaide, made possible by the generous donation of screenwriter and showrunner Shane Brennan.
Mr Brennan is an Australian television writer and producer best known as the Executive Producer of the worldwide hit police drama NCIS, as well as the creator of the NCIS spin-off series, NCIS: Los Angeles.
The Mercury provides emerging filmmakers with a pathway to a screen career and is home to a screen culture community. The Writers’ Room is a key attraction of the revamped business model of The Mercury, a not-for-profit screen body with a newly established board and management.
The model proposes a monthly low-cost subscription that provides subscribers with year-round access to cinema screenings, workshops and upgraded filmmaker facilities. The facilities include a production office, edit suite, colour grade room, sound editing & mixing suite and, thanks to Shane Brennan’s significant gift, a purpose-built Writers’ Room.
“The Mercury will be in a position to take emerging filmmakers from script to screen, giving valuable time to the development of screenwriting, and paying professional screenwriters as mentors to give stories the attention they merit, in line with industry standards,” says The Mercury’s General Manager Lisa Bishop.
One of the values of the new board is collaboration, which saw Bishop reach out to Sally Hardy, SA representative on the National Executive Council of the AWG, with the idea for a Writers’ Room. Sally thought it was the perfect project for Mr Brennan, who has a passion for the development of emerging screenwriters, and Scripted Ink., a joint venture between Mr Brennan and the Australian Writers’ Guild aimed at shaping, building and investing in the Australian screen industry and Australian writers.
Mr Brennan says, “The plans for The Mercury sound promising and I was impressed with the idea of facilitating AWG members to work with emerging screenwriters. Having a supportive filmmaking environment like The Mercury gives stories the best chance of getting to the screen, particularly as writing for screen is never an end in itself.”
Mr Brennan also serves as President of the Australian Writers’ Guild, the professional and industrial association for Australian performance writers, whose vision it is to improve rights and opportunities so that screen and stage writers may thrive as a dynamic and integral part of Australian storytelling.
Starting from the 1st July, The Mercury will run weekly writing consultations for filmmakers who have draft scripts and story ideas. Coupled with this will be a monthly “Script Club” along the lines of the “Book Club” concept. Bishop says, “We are looking forward to revealing our new products and services for the emerging sector with a new model effective 1st July this year”.
Kirsty Stark 0422 433 543 kirsty@epicfilms.com.au Mark McGowan 0419 695 487 mark@jettyfilms.com
THE MERCURY CINEMA AGM SET FOR MAY 30TH 2023
The board and staff have been hard at work developing the future of our beloved Mercury. We have pleasure in inviting you to our
Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 30th May 2023 at 6pm.
Join us for a complimentary drink and to hear all the news, both past (Annual Report 2022) and future (Strategic Plan 2023-2025).
We look forward to your company!
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
The Board invites you to view the following:
MAY 2023 AGM AGENDA and BOARD NOMINATIONS/PROXY FORMS
We’re Hiring
The Mercury is currently recruiting for three positions
- Marketing Manager
- Subscriber and Facilities Coordinator, and
- Venue Coordinator.
These key positions will work with the newly appointed General Manager Sarah Lancaster, the existing management team and Board.
We are seeking enthusiastic and energetic team-players who want to be part of an exciting new chapter for The Mercury.
For more details and application information, see the position descriptions below.
- Position Description – Marketing Manager
- Position Description – Subscriber and Facilities Coordinator
- Position Description – Venue Coordinator
To apply, please forward a brief covering letter and resume to Sarah Lancaster, General Manager: sarah@themercury.org.au
Applications close at 5pm, Monday 4th September 2023.
OUR MAJOR PARTNERS
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO OUR MAJOR PARTNERS