Forty thousand dollars is up for grabs for Christian filmmakers looking for opportunities to develop their skills and showcase their talent.
The 2015 SPARC Development Project is calling for entries, with production ideas for 3 interconnected stories on the theme of ‘This thing called love’. The winning submission will receive funding and assistance to develop the concept into three 8-min segments to be presented on Channel 7 as a national TV special for Easter Sunday in 2015.
Mark Reddy, CEO of SPARC, says the organisation wants to foster local Christian talent and create space for Christian creatives to develop meaningful content linked to their faith.
“We believe Christians have something powerful to add [to the film industry]. It’s all about sourcing great ideas and helping make them happen,” says Reddy.
Five applicants will be selected to go through to a workshop stage, where mentors from the film industry will help them develop a production brief and start a scripting process. It’s an opportunity, says Reddy, to get a foot in the door with those already in the industry.
“The mentors will be tailored to the specific interests of the applicants. But they’ll have been in filmmaking and production for a while. In the past we’ve had cinematographers, directors and post-production representatives on hand to help out.”
This will be the third film development project from SPARC, modelled on an ABC initiative to identify emerging filmmakers. In the past, the final product has been a standalone TV programme. This year, SPARC has teamed up with yesHEis.com, a website and app dedicated to helping Christians share the gospel online.
“We wanted to ensure an online presence to give the final product an ongoing value. It won’t just be a once-off, the film will have a digital existence and an online marketing campaign to help it along.”
Reddy says they’ve had a lot of interest from established producers and filmmakers, but he’s particularly interested in encouraging young, up and coming filmmakers to have a go. Emerging filmmakers are always on the lookout to get broadcast credits, and this is one opportunity for them to do that.
“The production value of the end product will help springboard a career in filmmaking,” says Reddy.
Applications close 30th September.
Watch the trailer for the winner of the 2014 SPARC Development Project:
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