The next great movies could be found online, not in the movies, and Google and the Australia’s film funding group that is Screen Australia want to make sure it keeps happening.
Not too long ago, the two announced they would team up for a third go of an initiative designed to help push forward film-making careers, while also supplying solid local content to YouTube in Australia.
Called “Skip Ahead”, it’s a program designed to attract Aussies already making YouTube content who have audiences online, which could be kids of all ages up to adults.
If you know someone with an audience that you (and Screen Australia) would consider “substantial”, the Skip Ahead program exists to give those people an opportunity to make “narrative-driven” films of at least 30 minutes or a pilot for a series, basically making a proof of concept.
“Skip Ahead fosters the next generation of Australian storytellers by providing funding, education and support for the production of new online content,” said Kristen Bowen, Head of Top Creators at YouTube Australia.
“The first two rounds of Skip Ahead winners created fantastic online series and we hope this third wave of funding for long-form content will help budding Australian filmmakers reach global audiences on YouTube,” she said.
There are no specifics as to what sort of genre the film should be, but Screen Australia makes it clear that it “should play to the applicants’ strengths and their audience’s expectation”.
Three entrants will be picked, with funding for up to $250,000 each out of a pool of $750,000, and once the productions are funded, people will not only find them on the YouTube channel they operate, but also possibly at film festivals.
“This is an extraordinary program for YouTubers to make the leap from short form to longer content.
“We are constantly blown away by what YouTubers achieve with very little resources,” said Screen Australia’s Mike Cowap.
“This is a great opportunity for our local content creators to get the extra support they may need to take their work to the next level.”
There are some terms entrants will have to work with, and these are must haves, with no productions being made in the form of advertorial, a minimum of 50,000 subscribers needed for the creative’s subscriber bass, and at least one video with one million (1,000,000) views on it.
If those requirements aren’t steep at all, this could be your big shot. Go for it.
