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> TRAINING LINKS
> FUNDING LINKS
> PROMOTION AND DISTRIBUTION
> INFO, OPPORTUNITIES, HELP
TRAINING LINKS
BBC Webwise The beeb’s
guide to using the Internet and includes an on-line course, a facility
for posing questions and having them answered (“Ask Bruce”)
and a Jargonbuster.
BBC Training & Development for
courses, fees and dates.
BBC free online
courses
Community
Channel filmmakers guide includes stuff on funding and advice on music
copyright and clearances. Its invaluable stuff!
CSV
Media Training offered to individuals through CSV’s ‘clubhouses’
of which there are 10 regionally. These are multimedia centres striving
to give the community a voice. Equipped with the latest digital media
technologies, they offer training in video, radio, web and simple IT skills
to individuals and the voluntary sector. They also deliver web, video
and audio services for charities and community groups. Media production
training is also offered to voluntary sector organisations.
CSV
Action Desks, a BBC Local Radio helpline project run by CSV volunteers.
Action Desks are often looking for more volunteers so it’s a good
way to get into local radio production.
Floodlight
the directory for training courses if you live in any of the London boroughs
– includes part-time and night school. Usually there are excellent
discounts for people on state benefits.
The Media Trust offers a wide
range of services including online guides, training for voluntary sector
organisations and media matching (matching a media professional or service
with a voluntary sector organisation that needs their skills). The Media
Trust also oversee The Community
Channel
National Film and Television School
is based in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire and is where many of the British
TV and film ‘greats’ were trained. If you fancy yourself as
the next Molly Dineen, Nick Broomfield or Ridley Scott you might want
to start saving your pennies now…though they do offer a number of
scholarships.
Shed 22 - Digital arts training
charity for individuals and groups based in Newham, East London. Good
for web technology training.
Skillset/BFI
Media Courses and Multimedia Courses Directory lists details of 5,551
courses across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Film courses,
television courses, video courses, radio courses and web authoring courses
are included. The Directory provides comprehensive and reliable information
both for those needing professional upgrading and anyone contemplating
a career shift. (NB The inclusion of a course in this listing does not
constitute a recommendation. For course queries you would need to contact
the course provider directly.)
VET run regular courses and bespoke
training VET to address the skill and knowledge gaps of the modern media
practitioner. Regular short courses and AVID certified courses are offered.
Freelance rates are available on some courses due to financial support
from Skillset.
FUNDING LINKS
Awards for All is a Lottery
grants programme aimed at local communities. We award grants of between
£500 and £5000 in a simple straightforward way. Sometimes
quite small sums of money can have a big impact.
Digital
Shorts - the New Cinema Fund has partnered with organisations in each
region and nation of the UK to enable filmmakers to make innovative shorts
using digital technology
Get Your Documentary Funded
& Distributed by Jess Search and Melissa McCarthy. A wonderfully
helpful handbook recently published mid 2005 by Shooting People.
Mental
Health Funding Advice – funding contacts page created by East
Herts council.
Phoenix
Fund encourages enterprise in disadvantaged communities and groups
under-represented in terms of business ownership.
UnLtd supports social entrepreneurs
- people who have the ideas and the commitment to make a difference in
their communities. We do this by providing a complete package of funding
and support, to help these individuals start up and run projects that
deliver social benefit.
PROMOTION AND DISTRIBUTION
Artsadmin provides a comprehensive management service and unique national
resource for contemporary artists who cross the spectrum of new theatre,
dance, music, live art and mixed media work. With consistent and supportive
administration we develop and promote artists' work, from the initial
stages of a project through to its final presentation. Seeking to establish
partnerships with producers, promoters and relevant arts organisations
in Britain and abroad, we endeavour to bring the new and challenging work
of our artists to an ever increasing audience.
The Community Channel
wants to show your films on air! They are looking for short films, dramatised
films, documentaries, student programmes and community programmes from
film-makers of ALL ages and backgrounds. For more details see their filmmakers
guide which includes stuff on funding and advice on music copyright
and clearances. Its invaluable stuff!
Disability Film Festival is
an annual opportunity to get your project screened to an appreciative
audience. This unique and internationally acclaimed Festival is a showcase
of drama, documentary, animation and experimental films made by disabled
filmmakers.
Get Your Documentary Funded
& Distributed by Jess Search and Melissa McCarthy. A wonderfully
helpful handbook recently published mid 2005 by Shooting People.
The Rendezvous
with Madness film festival is an annual film festival in Ontario,
Canada, that presents features and shorts touching upon the facts and
mythology surrounding mental health and addiction. Each program focuses
on a different theme. Post-screening panel discussions involve filmmakers,
artists and people with professional and personal experience with mental
illness and addiction. Filmmaker entry forms available to download from
the site.
INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES, HELP
Avid Free DV - the world leader in digital video editing has now made
available a free downloadable version of its Avid Xpress editing programme.
The site includes tutorials. Be sure to have a broadband connection as
the download is pretty hefty. There is also a minimum spec for the machines
this can work on. So only pretty up-to-date computers with big hard drives
and plenty of RAM should really attempt to run this programme.
Apple UK - If you buy an iMac,
a Power Mac, an iBook or a PowerBook, Apple will start your digital production
life off running with a raft of pre-installed free programmes (iTunes
- to organize your music and turn them into MP3s; iMovies - simple
editing, compression and organisation of your digital video work;
iDVD – to create simple interactive DVDs, Garageband
– a basic midi recording and mixing system with sample sounds to
get you started and finally iPhoto – for organizing and
basic manipulation of your photos). All the programmes are pretty low-rent
and easy-to-use but not really for professional use. However it has to
be noted that Jonathan Caoette’s award-winning movie Tarnation
was edited on iMovies and cost just $218!
BBC Webwise - The beeb’s
guide to using the Internet and includes an on-line course, a facility
for posing questions and having them answered (“Ask Bruce”)
and a Jargonbuster.
Cremeer Projects, hosted by Oh Art Associated Artists
Scheme, promotes and distributes the work of disabled artists in the area
of media, sound arts, performing and live art at a National and International
level. Contact Silvia Pereira, assistant coordinator at 0207 7491120 or
cremerprojects@yahoo.co.uk
Community Media Association
- CMA is community owned and controlled, giving access to voices in the
community and encouraging diversity, creativity and participation. Community
media provide a vital counterbalance to the increasing globalisation and
commercialisation of the media. Community Media is providing media and
information communication technology access, training and employment and
is an exciting source of social innovation and practical 'joined up' outcomes.
Combining social enterprise, creative content production and skills for
the digital economy, Community Media has a vital role in reaching out
to people and communities at risk of exclusion and disadvantage. Community-based
radio, television and Internet projects work by enabling people to become
media producers, to send as well as to receive, and, by working together,
to reinforce knowledge, dialogue and cultural expression at neighbourhood
and community level.
Free
web space - This article outlines the pitfalls and tells you where
to find the best service. Its absolutely invaluable information if money
is too tight to mention!
Mindfull Productions
is a film and theatre production company based in London, dealing
with mental health issues. Apart from giving people a creative outlet,
Mindfull Productions hopes to perform original pieces about mental health
issues to schools, universities, and mental health professionals. There
are also opportunities for its members to act in short films and perform
at events. You can do as little or as much as you want in a supportive
environment.
Regional Screen
Agencies list - A list of the twelve UK screen agencies comprising
the nine English regions (including Film London) and three nations of
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The agencies offer filming support
in each region. This includes help with funding, crews, equipment, locations,
projection and some also help with digital technologies and new media.
Shooting PeopleTo take advantage
of this site you need to pay up and become a member. But it is full of
useful stuff for freelance and independent filmmakers and anyone wanting
to work in indie film and video/TV - writers, directors, actors, producers,
agents, cinematographers, animators, crew, editors, stuntwomen, animal
wranglers and you. SP covers the whole of the UK with thousands of members
in every part of the country. Since 2003, it also operates in New York.
And it’s not that expensive: £20 a year, or if you’re
the non-committal type a measly £1.66 a month!
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council
for the Audio Visual Industries (comprised of broadcast, film, video,
interactive media and photo imaging). Jointly funded by those industries
and the Government, Skillset ensures that the UK audio visual industries
have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the
right time, so that industries remain competitive. If you are looking
to get into the industry you will find lots of useful information on these
pages.
The Video
Activist Handbook - This 2nd edition of the popular handbook from
Undercurrents includes numerous examples of global contemporary video
activism, covering key topics in a step-by-step guide:
• Choosing and using the right equipment
• Planning what, when and where to record
• Supplying video images to TV networks
• Making a campaign video
• A history of radical film making
• How to be a video activist
• Legal considerations
Undercurrents is the best
site for video activists. They publish The Video Activist Handbook (see
above), the
Activists Media Toolkit and have a list
of links to alternative and independent media groups.
Wikipedia is an
online editable encyclopedia where you can look up words you don’t
understand and get detailed definitions and links to related words/subjects.
It’s brilliant for anything to do with websites, programming and
technology.
Wired 2000 Submit Corner has
all kinds of guides, tips, tricks and resources for getting your website
noticed on the web, explaining search engine optimization, bandwidth conservation,
META tags, etc.
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