Oz funding agencies Screen Australia and Screenwest pay out cash to bolster production skills

Brooke Collard (left) and Shari Hutchison

Australian production companies including Goalpost Television, Helium Pictures and Southern Pictures, global production house Warner Bros Television (WBT) and gaming and VFX studios are sharing in over A$1.1m (US$0.7m) aimed at tackling the local industry’s skills shortage.

Under the latest round of Screen Australia’s Skills Development Fund and BTL: Next Step initiative, screen practitioners are given a range of paid placements and professional development opportunities with the selected companies.

The skills development schemes launched in April 2023 and have provided more than A$6.4m in training and skills opportunities for 700 industry professionals in above- and below-the-line development.

In the new round, opportunities include production and post-production crew mentorship on the current series of WBT’s The Golden Bachelor for co-executive producer, production manager and production coordinator training, while Goalpost Television has been supported to develop and up-skill two First Nations practitioners on the post-production for the TV series adaptation of film Top End Bub.

Separately, screen agency Screenwest has invested A$100,000 in slate development for local First Nations producers Brooke Collard and Shari Hutchison under the Producer Talent Accelerator initiative. The programme aims to fast-track emerging producer careers through marketplace connections, expanding industry contacts and accelerating the development of their slate.

Screenwest has also awarded A$50,000 to documentary producers Smashing Films, Prospero Productions and Periscope Pictures under the Workforce Capacity Programme’s documentary fund.

The funding allows all three producers to offer paid on-the-job training opportunities in editing, production management, post producing/writing and story producing across a number of upcoming documentaries.