INTERACTIVE SKILLS LABS 2021
SKILLS LABS 2021
The Producer depends on creative, business and management skills. The role is multifaceted and complex. Inevitably, there can be gaps in your knowledge.
Use these individual courses run by experienced practitioners Andrena Finlay and Daphne Paris to upskill or refresh, with a wide selection of bite-sized Skills Labs.
Affordable, time-flexible (day or night to work around “day-job”), limited numbers of participants, and a dynamic “classroom” setting.
Avoid sitting in a weekend long seminar; pick and choose the two (2) hour courses to suit you.
WHAT
Following the successful running of our skills labs in 2020, we are pleased to confirm that we will be running skills labs in 2021. Designed to continue the producer empowerment and education.
– 8 x 2-hour Skills Labs on different subjects relevant to the producer journey.
– Delivered live online via Zoom. Interactive, not webinar.
– Two lab topics per week. Each repeated twice.
PRICE
– $79.20 (incl GST) discounted price . $99 (GST incl) per Skills Lab less 20% discount from partner affiliates and Screen ABC membership (new). (Discount promo codes cannot be combined). SEE DISCOUNT CODES ON INDIVIDUAL LAB PAGES
POINT OF DIFFERENCE AND WHY THESE MAY BE OF VALUE TO YOU
– No obligation to commit to all skills labs – you can select based on your skills gaps and interests
– Content specifically designed to be applied practically in real world scenarios
– Comprehensive handouts included
– Anyone can attend – no “auditioning”
PARTICIPANTS – EMERGING OR EARLY CAREER
– Producers, Line Producers, Production Managers, Production Accountants
– Writers, Directors, and other Heads of Departments
– Actors and Performers developing their own screen content
– Related professionals such as Financiers, Agents, Lawyers
– Anyone sitting at home with an idea and curious about the Producer role
Please note – the content of the labs assumes an understanding of film process and terminology. If you are not yet at that stage, then the learning will be steeper, but no less rewarding and useful.
If you wish Screen ABC to run skills labs with content pitched at entry level on any of these topics, please contact Andrena Finlay. We also welcome suggestions for new skills labs content.
WHEN?
Rolling out from Saturday April 10, 2021 to May 5, 2021.
Please see the skills lab schedule below.
Do not hesitate to contact Andrena Finlay for further information.
SKILLS LABS CONTENT OVERVIEW
1. CHAIN OF TITLE & COMPANY STRUCTURE.
Saturday, April 10 (10.00am) and Monday, April 12 (10.00am)
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Sara McFarlane (E/S Collab). Note: Sara is based in New York. Hence the two 10.00am labs – one on Saturday and one on the following Monday.
Overview: Without a clean & comprehensive chain of title your project will not be released. It is the producer’s job to ensure that your project has all the licences and clearances necessary to sell and distribute it.
In this Skills Lab we will take you on an overview of an Extended Chain of Title list, covering licences and agreements for the Underlying Rights, Writer, Producer, Director, Cast, Key Crew, Music and all other third party rights and clearances. Learn how to set up your ownership through a Rights Holding Company (RHC), Joint Venture (JV), Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): when, how, and with whom?
2. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRODUCING
Wednesday April 14 (10am and 7pm).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Daphne Paris
A must-attend skills lab for anyone interested in producing, and for emerging and early-career producers. A powerful examination of what makes an effective producer. How to maximise leadership, emotional intelligence, judgement, conviction and communication, as well as the key industry processes that are the producer’s role and responsibilities.
Join Daphne Paris and Andrena Finlay, who between them have produced and contributed to some of the most significant Australian films and television. And come and meet and talk to our special guest, producer, Al Clark “in conversation”.
3. LANGUAGE OF SCREEN BUSINESS DEMYSTIFIED.
Saturday April 17 (10.00am) and Monday, April 19 (10.00am)
The producer’s main function is to take an idea from its genesis to production and release. Along the way there is an endless cycle of negotiations, and then contracting, with financiers, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents, cast and key creatives, all using particular terminology unique to our industry.
In this skills lab we will examine the basic language of such conversations, the key legal and business terms: their meaning, and how and when they are used.
A not-to-be-missed opportunity to learn or refresh. To understand the whole jigsaw of the industry’s business and commercial language, enabling fluency and clarity in conversations and negotiations.
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Sara McFarlane (E/S Collab). Note: Sara is based in New York. Hence the two 10.00am labs – one on Saturday, the other on the following Monday.
Wednesday, April 21 (10:00am and 7.00pm).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Daphne Paris
Monday, April 26 (10.00am and 7.00pm).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Emma Madison (Screenrights)
Being able to confidently explain how the revenue flows back to stakeholders is a vital part of securing investment and is a complex and detailed process. In this Skills Lab you will be taken through two recoupment waterfalls – one television and one feature film. Using these examples, you will gain an understanding of the various deductions of commissions and charges, the net result back to the producer, and the disbursement of income to investors and profit participants.
6. PRODUCER’S PRODUCTION PAPERWORK
Wednesday, April 28 (10:00am and 7:00pm).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Daphne Paris
We will go through the essential production paperwork – Call Sheet, Daily Progress Report, Cost Report, Cashflow and Drawdown Schedules. Investors and the Completion guarantor ultimately hold the producer accountable for this documentation.
Saturday, May 1 (10.00am) and Monday May 3 (10.00am).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Sara McFarlane (E/S Collab). Note: Sara is based in New York. Hence the two 10.00am labs – one on Saturday and one on the following Monday.
So, you have a “go” production. Champagne has been popped and creatively it’s all systems go. The sobering news is that before financiers will cash-flow your production, there are many contracts and agreements that must be signed. Financing – equity and loans, distribution & sales, collection agents, company structures, bank accounts, legal opinion letters, offset planning, completion bonds and insurances.
Even though you will be working with your lawyer, you need to understand the documents required and your responsibility in making the process as streamlined and timely as possible. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Essential knowledge for all producers.
8. DELIVERY MATERIALS – DISTRIBUTORS, SALES AND INVESTORS.
Wednesday, May 5 (10.00am and 7.00pm).
Presented by Andrena Finlay and Benita Carey
You will receive long lists of deliverables from your distributors, your sales agents, your investors and you will need to sign-off on these prior to the start of production. There is always room to negotiate, but it is important that the deliverables are budgeted properly (bonded and non bonded items), and that enough time is allocated to create and deliver.
We will go through delivery materials of a standard feature film and television series, and give structure around how to negotiate, budget and schedule them.
Your reputation as a reliable, trustworthy producer will be sorely tested if delivery is not handled smoothly, on time and on budget.
SCREEN ABC BIOS
ANDRENA FINLAY
Andrena Finlay is the founder of Screen ABC. She has a passion to inspire and inform emerging screen practitioners on the art of producing. She has been an independent film producer for nearly 40 years, taking her projects from development to release. Her production credits include Goddess, Razzle Dazzle, Me Myself I and Blessed. Her day jobs have included drama investment manager for the Australian Film Finance Corporation (precursor of Screen Australia), and Head of Producing for AFTRS. She has written her first book (with producer Sue Milliken) called Producing for the Screen: A Handbook. This book, and now the 16 x 2 hour Skills Labs, are designed to demystify and illuminate the producing journey.
DAPHNE PARIS
Daphne Paris has worked in the screen industry for over 30 years as script supervisor, associate producer, writer and director on feature films and television. Her credits include Crocodile Dundee I and II, Lorenzo’s Oil, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, The Dismissal, Vietnam, Dirtwater Dynasty, Heartbreak High and the Going Home series. During her time as Production Executive and Head of Production at AFTRS, Daphne combined her passion for filmmaking with teaching to support, mentor and supervise young filmmakers on 400+ short films plus several features.
SARA McFARLANE – E/S COLLAB
E/S Collab. is a consulting firm providing executive producing, business affairs and production management services within the U.S. and Australian entertainment, advertising and creative industries. From film and television through to podcast and new media productions of all budget levels, we handle all the business elements of the filmmaking process, bridging the gap between creative and legal.
Emma Madison is a screen industry executive with more than 15 years experience in royalty distribution. During her time at Screenrights she has overseen payment of more than $300 million in royalties to companies and screen practitioners in Australia and around the world.
In her current role as Head of New Business & Technology Emma is developing a range of new solutions for the industry to help navigate recoupment of investment and understand the financial performance of content in an increasingly fragmented market. She also oversees Screenrights’ Disbursement Service, its new Residuals Service and secondary royalty collections from overseas.
Screenrights is a non-profit membership organisation that provides rights and royalty management services to the screen industry. It facilitates access to screen content through simple licensing solutions for teachers in education, administrators in government, and home viewers with subscription TV – and makes royalty payments to its members for the programs audiences love.
BENITA CAREY
Benita has over 30 years of experience in post production with a career spanning TVCs, feature films, documentary and TV drama series. She has worked in roles from first assistant editor, assistant sound editor, picture editor, VFX producer, VFX supervisor, post production supervisor and post production producer. Her extensive experience throughout the post production ranks has provided invaluable experience and insight for her preferred role as post production supervisor/producer on drama series. Her most recent credits include The Secrets She Keeps, Upright, Lambs of God (winner of eight AACTA awards including Best Tele-feature or Mini Series) and Mystery Road. She has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and has lectured extensively at AFTRS.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Please submit a request for a new skills lab topic below!