B.C(M) Industry Talks: Gianna Mazzeo

B.Comm(Media) Industry Talks is a webinar series for students in RMIT’s Bachelor of Communication (Media) program. This talk was recorded live on Tuesday 26 May 2020.

CONTENT DIRECTING MASTERCLASS with GIANNA MAZZEO

For this talk we were joined by director/DOP and B.Comm(Media) grad GIANNA MAZZEO, who walked us through the process behind two of her projects.

The first is a project she put together for Mecca Cosmetics featuring the great Melbourne band Client Liaison (watch here) And the second is her amazing short film Miss Pisces (watch here).

We broke down how Gianna approached her shots, communication on set, the opportunities and challenges of working in corporate film, post-production practices and much more besides.

Media students hard at work-from-home with Atlasshorts

Eleven undergraduate students from the Bachelor of Communication (Media) program have now commenced work on their remote internships with the short film streaming platform Atlasshorts. The remote internships initiative was established by the Media program and Atlasshorts to help those students whose original work attachments were affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Media students and Atlasshorts team hard at work-from-home

The students will spend 30 hours each working with Atlasshorts to secure metadata for their catalogues, as the platform has been taken up by a number of new institutions now delivering media courses online due to the lockdown. The students will also be learning about film distribution, streaming services, and e-meeting those institutions who have subscribed to the platform to discover how it’s being used.

B.C(M) Industry Talks: Jim Lounsbury

B.Comm(Media) Industry Talks is a webinar series for students in RMIT’s Bachelor of Communication (Media) program. This talk was recorded live on Friday 22 May 2020.

DIRECTING AND STORYTELLING FOR DRAMA AND DOCUMENTARY with JIM LOUNSBURY

For this B.C(M) Industry Talk we talk the role of the director. A perennial figure on set since cinema’s earliest moments, the director’s role is a fluid and exciting one. What does a director do? How has this role changed over time? And what skills does a director need? We discuss this and much more, including what a jobbing director gets up to in quarantine, with our special guest in this talk.

JIM LOUNSBURY is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked with fellow artists, online communities, and some of the world’s biggest brands to explore new ways to engage with people through story. From feature documentaries The Meaning of Vanlife (Stan) and The Aussie Who Baffled the World (National Geographic) to his feature film Love is Now (Universal), Jim is passionate about stories that explore nomadism and adventure, tackling big themes through the prism of personal stories.

B.C(M) Industry Talks: Mike Jones

B.Comm(Media) Industry Talks is a webinar series for students in RMIT’s Bachelor of Communication (Media) program. This talk was recorded live on Tuesday 12 May 2020.

FILM, TV, CONCEPTS AND CONTENT with EVERY CLOUD PRODUCTIONS

For this talk, we’re joined by MIKE JONES, the Head of Content and Development for Every Cloud Productions. Founded in 2009, Every Cloud is the production company behind Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (and the recent Miss Fisher film) and Newton’s Law. Every Cloud was formed by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger, who produced/created SeaChange, East of Everything, and The Gods of Wheat Street, among much more.

Our guest Mike Jones is a development producer, story editor, and writer with a depth of experience across scripted narrative genres and platforms. His body of work has received numerous awards including AACTA, Emmy, AWG, SPA, & ADG accolades. He has previously worked with companies including the ABC, WarnerBros, Jungle, Princess Pictures and, with SweetPotatoFilms, collaborated on major international TV series including mystery drama The Gloaming and celebrated supernatural series The Kettering Incident. For Every Cloud, Mike story-produced the AACTA-winning youth drama series Deadlock, and for the ABC steered script development of much-loved comic-drama series F*cking Adelaide and the Emmy award nominated Wrong Kind of Black. Mike is also a published horror novelist and co-creator of multiple immersive VR projects.

B.C(M) Industry Talks: Karim Ford Sarhan

B.Comm(Media) Industry Talks is a webinar series for students in RMIT’s Bachelor of Communication (Media) program. This talk was recorded live on Tuesday 28 April 2020.

FILM DISTRIBUTION & STREAMING MEDIA with ATLASSHORTS

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, online media, streaming, and the digital media landscape are more important than they’ve ever been. How is this global phenomenon affecting the creative industries? What will the landscape look like once the immediate threat has passed? What opportunities are creators given here?

In addition to these questions, we talk about what film distribution is, and how it’s evolved with digital technology. What roles/careers are available here? How might students use their degrees to pick up skills that are useful in creative industries?

Our guest is KARIM FORD SARHAN — actor, film director, and managing director and founder of Australian streaming platform Atlasshorts.

Media partners with Atlasshorts

A number of Bachelor of Communication (Media) student works are now streaming on Atlasshorts (formerly Exile Shorts). This is the result of 18 months of collaboration between Media and the Atlasshorts team. Six student works have been licensed, and many more recent Media studio productions and archival works are being considered for publication.

RMIT now shares the platform with esteemed Australian and international institutions including AFTRS, Ringling College of Art + Design, the British Film Institute, USC Cinematic Arts, and the National Film Board of Canada. The Media and Cinema teams are also making use of the platform in the classroom, as it streams quality short works from recent and historic filmmakers.

Log in to watch some amazing films now!

Three more exciting tidbits:

1) From April to June 2020, Atlasshorts and the B.Comm(Media) program will be offering remote internship opportunities to assist students affected by work attachment cancellations due to COVID-19.

2) Later in Semester 1, guests from Atlasshorts will join us for a live webinar on streaming media, film distribution, and the Australian media landscape.

3) Atlasshorts wants your work! Check the announcement on Canvas for more info.

Media students partner with Foxtel

A group of RMIT students and recent graduates worked hard to record the Foxtel broadcast of the 2016 Australian Directors Guild (ADG) Awards at the Sofitel on May 6.

Sarah Petrie-Alutt (Media), Ben Grant (Advertising), and Mollie Cowell (Honours).
Sarah Petrie-Allbutt (Media), Ben Grant (Advertising), and Mollie Cowell (Honours).

For the first time ever the ADG Awards have received a television broadcast, possible through the dedication and creative skill of a team of RMIT students and recent graduates, who worked as production crew for the broadcast and production assistants for the event itself.

The students were responsible for the entire broadcast and informal vox pops with attendees.

The broadcast was produced and directed by Mark Poole, who teaches into the Media program, co-produced by recent graduate Maree Prokos and edited by graduate Bella Walker.

The evening was compered by comedian Nazeem Hussain, and presenters included industry leaders such as Jenni Tosi from Film Victoria, directors Fred Schepisi and ADG President Samantha Lang, former President Ray Argall and actors Lisa McCune and Catherine McClements.

Winners included well known directors Nash Edgerton, Emma Freeman, Daina Reid, Jennifer Peedom and Rachel Perkins. Looking for Grace director Sue Brooks and John Hughes, RMIT Adjunct Professor, were presented with a lifetime membership award.

Kingston Anderson CEO of the ADG said he was very excited that they are able to secure a broadcast of the 2016 Awards for the first time.

“It is very important to profile the talented directors that Australia has across all genres and the broadcast gives people the opportunity to see the depth of talent we have,” Anderson said.

Mark Poole, the Chapter Head of the ADG in Victoria and member of the media teaching team said he was incredibly impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the crew that filmed the Awards throughout the night.

“This was not only a fantastic opportunity for students to rub shoulders with the industry, to get real-world experience but also, to get meaningful industry credits for their CVs,” Poole said.

“RMIT staff Paul Ritchard, David Stanley and Windsor Fick ensured we had the right gear for the job,” Poole said.

The crew were co-producer Maree Prokos, editor Bella Walker, camera/sound and production Mollie Cowell, Ben Grant, Sarah Petrie-Allbutt, Angus Strachan and Jordan Williams.

Media and Communication Honours student Mollie Cowell said being given the responsibility to produce a broadcast was test of whether students have the skills to go out into industry and the experience showed that they did.

“We worked well as a team and performed under pressure and this was a great affirmation of not only what we learnt, but what we can do with our skills,” Cowell said.

Lisa French, Deputy Dean (Media) said the School of Media and Communication has an ongoing working relationship with the ADG’s and this is just one of the many outcomes of a productive industry engaged partnerships.

“The President of the ADG, filmmaker Samatha Lang, included in her speech reference to the need to improve the participation of women in film and television industries.”

“I was delighted to look to the back of the auditorium and see the two key cameras were being operated by women (Sarah Petrie-Allbutt and Mollie Cowell) and that RMIT had visible gender equality with a 50% gender balance on this crew,” French said.

“RMIT is equipping them for the industry but this is a very good example of how we are creating industry experience in that industry, and flagging that women have an equal place in it.”

The ADG awards will be broadcast on Foxtel’s Aurora channel on Sunday 29 May at 8pm.

Story: Wendy Little

Back row: Maree Prokos (Media graduate), Sarah Petrie:Allbutt (Media), Mollie Cowell (Honours), Ben Grant (Advertising), Imraan Khan (Media student), Angus Strachan (Media student) Front row: Jordan Williams (Media student), VE student Maria Romas, and Simone Lau (Media student)
L-R: Maree Prokos (Media), Jordan Williams (Media), Sarah Petrie-Allbutt (Media), VE student Maria Romas, Mollie Cowell (Honours), Simone Lau (Media), Ben Grant (Advertising), Imraan Shah (Media), Angus Strachan (Media).

[This story featured on RMIT News]