about us
Useful Links
Here's a huuuuuuge list of current, useful online resources to check out.
Please note websites have a habit of shifting, coming and going. As such, some sites may no longer be accessible despite this resource being frequently reviewed.
- Industry Partners
- Screen Development Australia
- Education and Resource Organisations
- DIY/Budget Film Tips
- Online Cinema
- Volunteering
- Legal/Advocacy
- Pro Forma Documents
- Rental/Retail Equip and Stock
- Melbourne Screenings/Events
- Our Business Partners
- Government Support
- Grants and Funding
- Digital Art
- Festivals
- Locations
- Tech Help: Hardware
- Tech Help: Software
- Guilds & Associations
- Industry & Crew Directories
Industry Partners
- Australian Film Institute
- Melbourne International Film Festival
- Centre for Contemporary Photography
- St Kilda Film Festival
- Melbourne Popcorn Taxi
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image
- 3RRR - Film Buffs Forecast
Screen Development Australia
- Metro Screen (NSW)
- Qpix (QLD)
- Media Resource Centre (SA)
- Film and Television Institute (WA)
- Wide Angle (Tas)
Education and Resource Organisations
- Pool.org.au - Pool is a social media project developed by ABC Radio National. It's a place to share your creative work with the Pool community and ABC producers - upload music, photos, videos, documentaries, interviews, animations and more. It's a collaborative space where audiences become makers.
- Cinemarket - Support and assist the screenwriting industry and those involved with the craft.
- Culture and Recreation Portal - Comprehensive database of film/TV/multimedia training offered in Australia.
- ACMI - Australian Centre for the Moving Image, features a guide to its programs and activities and links to the State Film Library
- National Film and Sound Archive - The NFSA is Australia’s audiovisual archive, collecting, preserving and sharing this rich heritage. The website has an intriguing range of historical material available via a reliable search option.
- Artsinfo - Directory of arts industry services, government support agencies and culture and recreation portals in Australia.
- The Rehearsal Room - Training facility for actors and presenters in Melbourne.
- OzDox - The Australian Documentary Forum has been established as a joint initiative from documentary filmmakers, industry bodies and academics, to foster, promote and provide a monthly forum for documentary culture.
- Manage Your Film - online production office, providing twenty-four hour access to your production details so you can make your film anywhere, anytime, online. The website is both an online production management application and a communication portal for filmmakers. Members of the site create a private online headquarters for their production with the option of inviting cast and crew to view or contribute information
DIY/Budget film tips
- Eejit's Guide of Filmmaking - Fake blood recipes, period costumes on a shoestring and more.
- Fuel4arts - Tips on marketing and promotion for artists.
- Locations - Locations tips.
Online Cinema
- New Venue - The arthouse cinema of online film exhibition. Surprising, creative and edgy. Has fast downloads.
- Atom Films - The multiplex of the web cinema world. Features a large range of accessible and topical shorts. Downloading can be cumbersome.
- Indie Films Online - Extensive list of online film exhibition sites.
- Snap Files - Good range of free media players to download. Gives a brief description and rating of each one.
- I Film - Vast and growing portal for streaming film and video online. High-speed is your friend...
- The Reel Show - Free International Website Dedicated ONLY to Film Students and Graduates.
- SHORT ATTENTION - an Australian based distributor of Short Films and selected series to all types of broadcasters internationally.
Volunteering
- Filmnet Messageboard - Online message board for filmnet, includes news, events, screenings, advice, employment (paid/deferred payment) for the Australian film and television industry. Advertise here for anything and everything.
- SKA TV - Volunteer run community media group. Programs often highlight minority groups in the community.
- Channel 31 - Melbourne's largest community based television station. Contains programming info and details for volunteer positions.
- My Connected Community - OPEN CHANNEL members' forum and message board. Specialising in video and digital media.
- Vibewire - a dynamic non-profit organisation that supports young people to effectively shape their world through media, arts and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Legal/Advocacy
- Arts Law Centre - Community legal information and advice service for a large range of arts related legal and business matters. Good explanation of film contracts and agreements.
- Arts Access - Provides access to arts and cultural activities for people who are disadvantaged, including people with a disability.
- WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Very slick site funded by the United Nations featuring solid explanations of all types of intellectual property rights.
- ALGA - Australian Local Government Association. Good fast find index of local councils on the web.
- Viscopy - The copyright collecting society for visual artists in Australia and New Zealand. This site has basic info on intellectual property rights and copyrights in Australia.
- ScreenRights - Screenrights facilitates access to film, TV and radio and provides payment to copyright owners for the use of their work.
Pro Forma Documents
- Done Deal - Various examples of contracts, outlines, scripts, release and consent forms, and other legal documents.
Rental/Retail Equip and Stock
- Hire Image - Sales, service and rental of a wide range of Audio Visual equipment including data projectors, plasma screens, video conferencing, staging and lighting. Special pricing available to OPEN CHANNEL members.
- Lemac - Equipment rental and sales for film and tape. Comprehensive tech info and specs on all equipment. Handy tips for achieving the money shot.
- FATS Digital - Film, audio, tape sales are great for film and audio stock. Order online, check out their tape: dos and don'ts tips, appreciate their native Australian animal homepage pics.
- Cinevision - Duplication and conversion for film, video and electronic media. Contains a useful international television standards table.
Melbourne Screenings/Events
- Portable Film Festival - Delivers an annual competition of international film and video direct to your screens, ipods, psps, and mobile phones, and also provides daily content and curation, delivering a film a day direct to your digital doorstep, curated from the most exciting new content from the most difficult to navigate corners of world film culture, as well as the trusty video vaults of the interweb.
- ScreenPlay - Monthly event featuring rehearsed readings of new film scripts held at ACMI, Melbourne.
- Upstart Films - Short film screening events at Cinema Europa at the Jam Factory, Melbourne.
- Realm of the Senses - Annual outdoor short film festival.
- Senses of Cinema - List of screenings and local film nights in Melbourne.
- Popcorn Taxi - A regular in-depth film event where filmmakers and enthusiasts can meet, watch films of all types, and discuss the filmmaking process.
- Splodge - Unusual films of discernment presented on groovy 16mm film, first Monday of every month at The Back Room, 714 Nicholson St (cnr Scotchmer St), North Fitzroy.
- Cinematheque - Program and info for the cinematheque season at ACMI every Wednesday. Classy, thoughtful and rewarding cinema.
- Screen Sect - A night devoted to rarely seen, obsessively loved and criminally neglected cult classics of cinema. Every Monday, from 7pm at Bar Open (Upstairs), 317 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.
Our Business Partners
- Lemac
- Music and Effects
- Designwyse
- Digital Pictures
- Tasman AV
- Cinema Nova
- Palace Cinemas
- Classic Cinema
- Encore
- The Production Book
- Inside Film Magazine
- Metro Magazine
- Spinach 7 Magazine
- Screenhub
Government Support
- Film Victoria - Guidelines for state government funding. Also check out the What's Shooting PDF for current and upcoming productions.
- Australian Film Commission - Primarily info on federal funding for the film industry. It's also a gateway site for Australian and international film festivals, contains industry stats and figures and an archive of film and TV production in Australia.
- Film Finance Corporation - Primary investment body for the big boys and girls. Provides the current and upcoming funded productions.
Grants and Funding
- Grantslink - Government website offering direct links to information on commonwealth government grants programs.
- Arts Victoria - Outline of funding programs for cultural projects, programs, and services.
- Philanthropy Australia - Gateway site for grant-making trusts and foundations in Australia. Has links to government grants as well.
- AbaF - Promotes private sector arts support, connecting business, the arts, donors and foundations
- The Documentary Australia Foundation - A private philanthropic initiative which brings together philanthropic grantmakers, charities and filmmakers to create documentaries that can make a difference.
Digital Art
- Experimenta - Melbourne electronic art online. News and info on electronica, digital art and multimedia.
- VDB - Video Data Bank. Showcase for work by and about digital artists. Contains weird and cool sample clips.
- ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology) - creates connections and collaborations across art, culture, science and technology.
Festivals
- Directory of Film & Video Festivals - International directory of film and video festivals with handy links to relevant festival websites.
- International Film Festivals - Links and a short description for a savvy list of underground/alternative video and film festivals.
Locations
- Film Ballarat Hepburn & Beyond - On-line Locations Gallery for regional Victoria. They can put you in contact with the right people, services and equipment to keep your film shoot on schedule; they streamline necessary permissions and provide you with local information, resources and guidance.
- Film Victoria's Locations Guide
Tech Help: Hardware
- DV Format - Latest info on DV cameras, editing systems, etc. Good FAQ section for DV basics.
- Adam Wilt - Lots of useful technical information regarding DV, including camera reviews and format comparisons.
- Sony - Sony cameras, specs and description of all the cameras. Handy FAQs and e-mail tech help option.
- DV & Firewire Central - What is DV? What is firewire? Provides comprehensive and understandable answers to these and other fundamentals questions.
- Mac Auction - Make a bid for a macintosh product. Bargains to be had but can get a bit clogged with higher priced dealers stuff.
Tech Help: Software
- Apple - Final Cut Pro - Tech info and specs. Decent resource directory containing support/DV info sites.
- 2 Pop - Packed with updates and info for the Final Cut Pro geek. Possibly too many bells and whistles, although handy posting board for tech help.
- Media 100 Operating Tips - Media 100 technical tips. Defragging disks, audio levels etc.
- WWUG - The World Wide User Groups is a large posting board for digital editing. Its search engine yielded more than 11,000 pages of tips and info for Media 100 alone.
Guilds & Associations
- Screen Producers Association Of Australia - SPAA
- Australian Cinematographers Association - ACS
- Australian Writers Guild - AWG
- Australian Directors Guild - ADG
- Australian Screen Editors - ASE
- Victorian Writers Centre
Industry & Crew Directories
- Film Victoria's Industry Directory - a free listing of film, television and digital media professionals based in Melbourne and Victoria.
- Film Crew Victoria - Melbourne’s finest Crew & Film Technicians are available to you for your next production through Melbourne’s fastest growing crew booking agent.
- Freelancers Promotions - Crew agency representing professional film technicians for over 30 years, with the largest crew list in the state.
- AT2 - an online tool listing around 20,000 artists, that is used by professional casting directors to broadcast casting auditions to talent agents and freelance artists, specifying production dates, rates and role information.
- Showcast - Showcast is Australia’s leading and most respected casting directory.
