film, video & TV training | professional development

Discipline/s:	production
Level:	Intermediate
Course code Date/s & times:	Register your interest
Contact hours:	45
Places:	12
Fee:	$525 OC members  / $630 non members (Membership: $55 / $44 concession - join Open Channel here)
Prerequisites:	Basic English literacy necessary

 

This course is designed for those seeking to production manage or produce independent productions. It provides a comprehensive overview of the entire production process and includes practical applications, field trips, and guest speakers.

Learn about:

• Acquiring the rights to, developing and presenting a project to financiers
• Breaking down a script
• Who’s who in the local industry
• Budgeting according to the Screen Australia A-Z template
• Scheduling a production
• Contracting
• Fulfilling cast and crew obligations
• Working with locations and studios
• Understand basic industrial issues, accounting, taxation, insurance and delivery requirements of the production
• The differences between film and television
• The creative contributions of the production office to the story
• Building a career in this field

This course is a heady and information filled introduction to the business side of the screen industry. Includes a half-day film law workshop with leading entertainment lawyer Shaun Miller (Mary and Max, Gettin' Square, Suburban Mayhem, John Safran's Music Jamboree).

Who should do this course?
Ideal for beginners or experienced filmmakers wanting an in-depth insight into production management, as well as a broad understanding of the entire production process. Also useful for emerging Producers.

Where can I go after this course?
Apply for work in the Production Office, or for emerging Producers, you can go on to study the Professional Producing Advanced Diploma course at Open Channel.

Are you interested in being Accredited for this course?
Read about Accreditation Options on Short Courses

How do I Enrol?
Simply print an Enrolment Form and return to us with payment to secure a place in the Short Course. See the Enrolment Form for details on how to pay.
Short Courses Application Form (pdf)

If you wish to enrol in this course as part of a full Certificate III in Media / Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media, with up-front payment, click here.

Tutor

Esther Rodewald
Line Producer/Production Manager on Chris Lilley's new show Angry Boys, Dirt Game, Tripping Over and Worst Best Friends.

Past Tutor
Amanda Crittenden
Production Manager on City Homicide Pilot, Series 1 and 2, Crocodile Dundee II, Strange Bedfellows, and Production Supervisor on The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions.

The program includes many Guest Speakers, and have included:

Tracy Bawden
From her start as a Production Assistant in Production/News and Current Affairs, Tracy Bawden has been fortunate to move through the ranks of television and film working as a Researcher, Live to Air Assistant Producer through to 8 years as a Script Supervisor on shows such as The Secret Life of Us, Round The Twist, Bootleg and US Series Ponderosa. Whilst working in this role on Stingers Tracy was asked to Production Manage the next series of the program. From there she went to work on Blue Heelers and The X Factor before taking a full time position at FremantleMedia in 2006. Tracy has since worked as a Production Supervisor overseeing all aspects of FremantleMedia’s Melbourne Productions. She has worked on a variety of programs including Newstopia– a satirical look at the news with Shaun Micallef, Australia’s Got Talent, The Gift – a show about organ transplant and donation, As The Bell Rings – Disney Channel Children’s Drama Series and many others.

Shaun Miller
Shaun holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) degree from the University of Melbourne. He also has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Melbourne. Shaun is a Senior Associate at Marshalls & Dent Lawyers' Media and Entertainment Department. He is currently on the Board of the Victorian College of the Arts Film and Television School Course Advisory Committee. Shaun also lectures in film and entertainment law at Open Channel, VCA, AFTRS and RMIT. Recent projects Shaun has worked on include the feature films Ned Kelly, The Rage in Pacid Lake,“Gettin’ Square and Suburban Mayhem; numerous FFC-funded documentaries; AFC and Film Victoria funded shorts and documentaries; as well as the television program John Safran’s Music Jamboree and telemovie Curtin. Shaun also acted for the producer of the short animated film Harvie Krumpet which won an Oscar at the Academy Awards in 2004. Shaun sees the role of today’s film and entertainment lawyer as a "facilitator", that is, liaising with producers, government funding bodies, distributors, financiers and creative talent in order to get films and television programs onto the big and small screen.

Past Tutor
Sue Marriot
Sue currently works as a freelance film production and events management consultant and lecturer in arts management. She was an Industrial Organiser for 16 years with the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) and a recent Film Victoria Board Member until 2004. Sue is currently President of Women in Film & Television (WIFT) Victoria and a Vice-President of the MEAA, Victorian Branch. As a lecturer at Melbourne University for the last two years, Sue taught Industrial Relations and Arts Management for Post-Graduate Diploma students. She has a recent broadcast screen credit as Production / Location Management Consultant for the documentary “Endangered”. Sue knows and has worked or consulted with, nearly every established producer/production company in Victoria and many interstate.

Testimonials
"Loved the direct contacts to gain employment in the industry, learned how to break down a real script and make a budget, tutored by a current production manager that is actually working in the industry - not retired or out of touch."

"Amanda-she was a wealth of knowledge who went above and beyond the call of duty by taking us to city homicide at the end."

"Excellent teaching techniques"

From 2009 courses, three graduates went on to work on feature films shortly after completing the course. Kate Straus and Craig Turnley as Production Managers on the Kate Whitbread film Surviving Georgia, and Angela Lee as Production Co-ordinator and Re Lim as Production Assistant on the Dee McLachlan film Eliminated.