METRO SCREEN Raw Nerve Initiative

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Metro Screen Raw Nerve Initiative 2005

Metro Screen is proud to announce the 2005 Raw Nerve CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Are you an emerging filmmaker who has not previously had a writer or director film credit to your name?
Are you wanting to make a high quality, low budget short film to showcase your storytelling and filmmaking talent?
Want some tips on how to best realise your creative vision? Too poor to fund it yourself? Raw Nerve is for you.

In its 4th year, Raw Nerve is a joint project between the Australian Film Commission [AFC] + Screen Development Australia [SDA] aimed at assisting emerging filmmakers to get their short films out there.

In total, 20 emerging filmmakers will be selected across Australia to participate in the fully subsidised Raw Nerve program, with 5 filmmakers selected from NSW. Metro Screen is the NSW Coordinator of Raw Nerve + has been assisting emerging television, film + multimedia artists gain that ever important “leg up” since 1981.

Successful Raw Nerve applicants will work with Metro Screen staff + tutors on the development of their creative concept. The program spans the complete filmmaking process; initial script editing, pre-production, production + post production. The program also incorporates mentoring, orientation + training by industry practitioners. Final works will be screened both
locally + around the country.

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2005 RAW NERVE FILMMAKERS ANNOUNCED

41 applications were received for this round of Raw Nerve.
Congratulations to the 5 successful applicants of the 2005 Raw Nerve scheme, a initiate that is jointly sponsored by the SDA'S, AFC and Metro screen:
• Luc Anthony
• Tresa Ponnor
• Michelle Bleicher
• Maree-Louise Evans
• Sam Phelps
Award winning supervising producer Samantha Jennings was very impressed with the calibre of all applicants. "It was an extremely difficult to the select the final 5 applicants from such a rich and talented field"
Metro Screen received over 40 high quality applications and we wish to congratulate everyone that applied and hope that in the future we may be able to offer them the opportunity to further develop their filmmaking skills.

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Metro Screen RAW NERVE Subsidy Productions 2004

	Assumptions - Lisa Sharpe Will is hiding a secret from his Gran. He recruits his friend Amber to be his girlfriend when they visit for Gran’s birthday. All appears to be well over pikelets and tea. Or is it? Lisa Sharpe is a 35-year-old mother of two young children living in the northern NSW town of Bangalow, in the hills behind Byron Bay. Following many years in the hospitality industry, Lisa has now been running a successful photography business for the last seven years and has made seven films since devoting her talents to film making three years ago. Lisa has recently combined her photography and writing skills by producing an acclaimed film, ‘Bangalow Love Stories’, chronicling the loves and lives of people from her town.
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	Lucy's Voice - Elizabeth Cooper Lucy’s Voice explores the relationship of two 12 year old girls, Lucy and Jane, as they face the problems of becoming a woman in a world in which their voices and strength are marginalised. As the conflict between these two characters build they discover that they have been each other’s worst oppressor, and that their true voices have been overshadowed by competitiveness and jealousy. Liz Cooper is currently studying a Bachelor of Media in Visual Production at Macquarie University. Part of the OPVS Films creative team, Lucy’s Voice is her first time directing a short film.
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	Fathers Day - Simon Blythe Ten year old Michael has never met his Dad. When his Dad promises to visit him for the first time, the day he has waited so long for doesn't quite go as planned. After becoming a father for the first time last year, filmmaker Simon Blythe was inspired to write and direct the short film Father's Day - a story that explores the important role a father plays in his son's life. Simon has worked as a field producer for the ABC's Fly TV and has had fiction and non fiction articles published.
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	Luna and the Moon - Adam Bayliss In a harsh world, where men are repulsed by her, Luna, a transgendered woman, is stunned one night to encounter James, who treats her with respect and charm. Full of self-doubt, Luna tests this amiable stranger’s attention and in doing so, places them both in danger. Adam grew up working in theatre companies, performing on & off the stage in various productions from Musical theatre to Shakespearean tragedies. As well as independently producing numerous short films and doco's, Adam has been working with Latent Image Productions for several years in the development and production of various projects including the most recent feature film, “WillFull”.
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	Angel Dust - Madeleine Allen In this experimental short the action follows a man’s ethereal journey through the urban landscape. As traces of Angle Dust appear he is guided by a mysterious force towards the unknown. Madeleine has spent the last three years completing her Media Arts degree at the University of Technology in Sydney and is currently in her final semester. She has worked on various student films at university and Angel Dust is her directorial debut.

PROFILE: Jackie Loeb
Congratulations to Jackie + the cast/crew of "Girls at Beach with Mum" for being selected for "The Best of The Rest" Sony Tropfest Screenings in Sydney and Melbourne.

Tropfest has also selected "Girls at Beach with Mum" as one of 24 (out of 48) to feature as part of the Tropfest 2004 library of shortlisted films, which will be made available through iPrimus Broadband until March next year.

Metro Screen RAW NERVE Subsidy Productions 2003

	Girls at beach with Mum - Jackie Loeb \| drama/comedy Girls at Beach with Mum’ is the story of two girls who accompany their mother to the beach only to discover they have run out of sunscreen. The film may be devoid of the once imperative story line, however it has plenty of product placement and flesh to compensate. Jackie Loeb graduated from the University of Western Sydney Nepean in 1994 where she majored in Performing Arts. Post graduation Jackie worked as a food demonstrator, singing teacher and as a bird, mole or grandma in various theatrical productions. Jackie has worked as a stand-up comedian for over a decade and has performed across Australia as well as stints in New Zealand, New York and Kuala Lumpur. Her television credits include Full Frontal, Beauty and the Beast and Australia's Most Wanted.
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	Men From Marrs - Andrew Quirk \| documentary Cranes are as much a part of the city skyline as the buildings they help create. Filmed from the roof of World Square, Sydney's tallest apartment building, The Men from Marrs shows the beauty and danger of life working at 1,000 feet above the ground. Andrew Quirk has spent many years in the construction industry as a labourer, union delegate and safety officer. He is interested in using the documentary medium to explore the lives of working Australians. The Men from Marrs is his first film.
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	My Neighbour - Susan Pelligrino \| drama As a child, Nathan, is subjected to a nighttime ordeal of abuse, we witness the responses of Nathans next-door neighbour the following day. Nathans story weaves in and out with the reports given by the neighbour on the events of the previous night. The neighbour is given the face of four different people representing a cross section of Australian society. The story portrays an apathetic response by a community when faced with violence towards a child. A long-time advocate for social justice issues and an aspiring filmmaker, Susan Pelligrino has embraced film as an engaging way to reach and affect a wider audience to provoke social change.
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	Khatabah - Ridwan Hassim \| drama/comedy A young woman consumed with passion… in a land hostile to her desires…meets a Khatabah (Match Maker) brave enough to defy the law…to help make her greatest fantasy, a reality. Ridwan Hassim is a first time director. He originally wrote Khatabah in October 2001 after the events of September 11.From South African Muslim Heritage, he aspires to make films that tell the stories of ‘the forgotten and unheard voices’ in the world, encouraging universal brotherhood, greater human rights and understanding of cultures. He is the CEO of Speedy Riddy Creations and is working on his first feature film set in the Middle East.
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	Weed Eater - Robert Hutchinson \| drama/horror/comedy Weed Eater is a post-modern genre film, relationship-conflict comedy meets psychological suspense/thriller. David kills his girlfriend's plant while she's on holiday, Gabby forgives him, but is determined that he will learn to care for plants. All the good advice in the world doesn't prevent David going through several more plants over the following weeks. Gabby begins to doubt there's a nurturing bone in her useless boyfriend but perhaps there's more to this plant massacre than meets the eye. Robert Hutchinson works in the media and Internet industries. Weed Eater is his first film. He has a lot more stories to tell.

Metro Screen RAW NERVE Subsidy Productions 2002

	The Cage House - Angela van Boxtel The Cage House is a modern fairytale set in an Australian refugee detention centre. Ali, a seven-year-old Iraqi boy, escapes into his imagination to deal with the hard reality of being locked up and deprived from his freedom. Sydney Morning Herald "Short film, big picture." Angela van Boxtel is a passionate storyteller fascinated by the untold. ‘Film is a beautiful medium to capture forgotten reality into imaginative visual history.’ Those are the words from an inspired first time filmmaker.
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	Etching Life - Tim Brothers Etching Life is a dramatic [and occasionally comic] short film which explores the themes of memory, life's passage and loss. An old man Alex relates something of himself through his regular visits to the park, and the rich tableau of events he witnesses there. Tim Brothers is a first-time film director, who has worked on several shorts as part of a Communications degree at Macquarie University. He has recently completed his second film, The Hand That Rocks The Camera about that most evil of all social diseases-- camcorder obsession. He is currently working as an animator with Disney, though has several independent projects on the boil [to keep him enthused].
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	In The Family - Christine Armstrong In The Family follows a mother's dilemma as to whether to protect her abusive son or hand over evidence that implicates him in the brutal attack of a girl. "For such a character-driven piece it was vital to have actors who could convey the range of emotions that a mother and son experience in such a situation," said Christine. "Even while they seem to be repulsed by the other's actions there needs to be an element of defiant love there." Acclaimed actor Denise Roberts plays the mother, while young up-and-coming actor Owen Elliott plays her son. "Denise was just so giving with her experience and skills," said Christine. "Myself, the cast and crew all benefited from working with her."
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	Alex - David Britton Inspired by "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by Jean Dominique Bauby, and shaped by Dante's "Inferno", Alex is a visual poem about who we are when we have nothing. David Britton is a poet and a playwrite who works as an intellectual property lawyer to eat. This is his first film. He is currently adapting a play for the screen.
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	All My Friends are Getting Married - Tristram Baumer All My Friends Are Getting Married is about two friends who decide to take the plunge, and find out the true meaning of "mateship". Tristram Baumer is a twenty-four year old retiree, who enjoys talking to his television and finding alternate uses for umbrellas. He will be forty-six in twenty-two years.
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	Coffee - Timothy Albertson Coffee is a modern comedy of manners set in the world of dating, courtship and sex in the 21st century. Timothy Albertson is an emerging short filmmaker with serveral projects in various stages of development.

Metro Screen RAW NERVE Contact

If you require further information about Raw Nerve, please contact:

David Opitz - Projects Manager
P: 02.9361.5318
E: d.opitz@metroscreen.org.au

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