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AFTRS invites applications for two-part Talent Camp

A still from web series 'Girl, Interpreted', which was developed by Talent Camp participants, Grace Feng Fang Juan and Nikki Tran.

AFTRS will welcome aspiring screen content creators across a broader range of disciplines for its annual Talent Camp this year, as it sets about building screen skills across industry sectors.

Established in 2017, the initiative aims to increase diversity and inclusion in the screen industries by providing opportunities to practitioners from diverse backgrounds in the early stages of their career.

Talent Camp 2022 will be a two-part project, featuring one component on narrative screenwriting, producing and directing for comedy and drama, and another on documentary directing and producing. The expanded program will accept submissions from both film and episodic web or TV series, whether it be long or short form.

For the comedy and drama stream, there will be five state talent camps held in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, and Adelaide. The five-day workshops will begin with storytelling and screenwriting skills development, followed by a choice between the directing or producing strands. The workshops will be followed by one national talent camp for narrative, with two participants from each state camp selected through a separate application process.

The documentary stream will take place as a national talent camp only, with two applicants selected from each of the five states across Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. The participants will attend a one-week workshop, hosted in Melbourne, which will be held during the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC).

Following the completion of the national programs, Talent Camp will fund one narrative and one documentary short form work, whether it be a short film, pilot episode, or proof of concept, with $20,000 allocated for a comedy/drama production and $15,000 for a documentary production.

Talent Camp 2022 is a partnership between AFTRS, Screen Australia, South Australian Film Corporation, Film Victoria, Screen Queensland, Screen NSW, and Screen Tasmania.

AFTRS director of First Nations and outreach Romaine Moreton said the institution was once again looking forward to working with Screen Australia and the state screen agencies to support diverse stories from the country’s emerging talent.

“Since launching in 2017, the program has successfully developed a number of young creatives, many of whom have since received production funding and career opportunities within the industry,” she said.

“For 2022, we are thrilled to introduce a new documentary camp and have reworked the overall program structure to encompass directing and producing, in addition to screenwriting.”

Submissions open from midnight on October 25 and close at 11.59pm December 6. Find out more information about how to apply here.