MEDIA RELEASE 13 Dec 2017
Screenworks is delighted to announce that they are very proud recipients of Screen Australia Enterprise funding towards their business initiative – Evolution. Through Evolution Screenworks will scale up their operations in order to discover and support more talented voices and stories from across regional, rural and remote Australia, helping to bring diverse regional Australian stories to national and international screens.
Based in the NSW far north coast and led by General Manager Ken Crouch, Screenworks has evolved in recent times to become a national screen industry service provider. They successfully implemented their Screen Australia Gender Matters funded initiative The Athena Project across regional Australia and then partnered with Every Cloud Productions to include talented Australian writers and regional youth in a script development workshop for the ABC iView drama Deadlock.
“This Enterprise Funding is an acknowledgement our recent success and the hard work by our team to ensure that we can better address the needs of screen industry practitioners in areas outside of the major metropolitan centres” explained Screenworks General Manager Ken Crouch.
“Screenworks now has the foundations in place to increase its national presence in 2018 and this funding will allow us to discover and support regional talent and stories that truly reflect the rich diversity of Australian society.”
The three key elements to Evolution include three script development labs, a new organisation structure for Screenworks and relationship building with national and international screen industry organisations.
The first element of Evolution, directly supported by Enterprise funding, is three script development labs which are to be run over 18 months starting from January 2018. They are for projects from various production companies that will be regional in location and employ local talent. This initiative will bring larger city-based companies to regional areas to uncover and work with new talent and voices.
State agencies Create NSW, Screen Queensland and Screen Territory have offered their support to run these three labs.
“The Script labs are designed with a flexible and responsive framework,” explained Screenworks General Manager Ken Crouch. “Screenworks will organise and deliver the innovative labs so they can be dropped into any non-metropolitan centre, for any production at any stage of development.”
In addition to the Enterprise funded Labs, the second element of Screenworks Evolution is the implementation of a new organisational structure to support the growth of the business. The lead role will go from General Manager to Screenworks Chief Executive Officer and responsibilities will include ensuring the organisational systems and practices are able to manage the staged growth and establish standardised and repeatable practices.
To successfully deliver more programs on the ground across regional Australia, Screenworks will contract remote Project Coordinators in each region who will be overseen by the current Programs and Operations Manager, Lisa O’Meara. With the extra support Screenworks will be able to continue to deliver its existing slate of programs, events and initiatives.
The third element of Evolution is the relationship building and pitching activities where Screenworks will present their products and services to Australia’s leading production companies and screen organisations as well as create new international partnerships that will form pathways for regional voices and stories to reach the international marketplace.
“With so many changes across the screen industry including increased online viewing and subscription options, there is an even greater demand for Australian stories,” said Mr Crouch. “We believe that the time is right for Screenworks to step up and become the go-to national service provider for all things screen-related in regional, rural and remote Australia.”
