Renowned for his visual, kinetic style, his deeply informed passion for screen history and his tireless championing of film preservation, Scorsese’s innovative and multifaceted work has defined him as one of the world’s greatest filmmakers.

In this talk, our experts are uncovering the range of influences that have helped shaped Scorsese’s own films, discussing the iconic collaborations that have defined his work, and exploring the rich cinematic history that routinely inspires the filmmaker.

Examining the distinctive cinematic impact of the screen legend, Dr Mark Nicholls (University of Melbourne) will lead a group of special guests including Dr Bruce Isaacs (Film Studies, University of Sydney), Dr Adrian Danks (RMIT) and writer, editor and critic Rebecca Harkins-Cross in a cinematic exploration of the indelible cinematic legacy of the prolific and passionate auteur.

Featuring a special address from renowned film scholar Professor Ian Christie (UK), editor of Scorsese on Scorsese (Faber and Faber, 1996).

Supported by United States Consulate General Melbourne

"Martin Scorsese's films, from Mean Streets to The Aviator, are explosive in their impact, crammed with information and detail. Scorsese is torn between the sacred and the profane. On the one hand, his Catholic upbringing leads him to tackle religious subjects, while the Saturday matinee kid in him revels in the trashy gore of his gangster films." - David Stratton

Describing Scorsese as the most passionate of the post-1960’s new wave of young directors, which included cinema luminaries such as Bogdanovich, Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas, Stratton anoints the great director as “the cinema’s greatest proselytiser”, a film maker consistently converting audiences with his rapid fire style and palpable passion for the art form.

In this rare opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s leading voices on world cinema, Stratton will survey the master filmmaker’s impactful catalogue of films, examining the body of work on show in Essential Scorsese and exploring the impact of one of contemporary cinema’s most influential creators.

David Stratton

David Stratton was the director of the Sydney Film Festival from 1966-1983. He contributes film reviews to The Australian, and is the author of two books on Australian cinema: The Last New Wave and The Avocado Plantation. From 1981-2004 he presented films on SBS Television and was, with Margaret Pomeranz, co-host of The Movie Show from 1986-2004. In July 2004, Margaret and David moved to ABC Television with their show, At The Movies, which aired until 2014.

Prison Songs is an award-winning documentary musical made by WA filmmakers Kelrick Martin and Harry Bardwell, working in association with Indigenous singer/songwriter Shellie Morris and acclaimed British documentary maker, and pioneer of the documentary musical form, Brian Hill.

It is a real musical set in a very real situation, and like any musical it uses the expressive qualities of music, songs and dance to communicate intimacy and conviction, giving it an emotional resonance unfamiliar to conventional documentary forms.

In this session, Prison Songs forms the basis of a case study in documentary musicals, acting as a launching point to illuminate elements like structure, casting, musical composition and intended impact.

Speakers: Kelrick Martin (Director), Harry Bardwell (Producer) and Shellie Morris and Casey Bennetto (Composers)

Host: Leanne Pooley

In 2015, a number of very high profile blockbuster documentaries or docbusters showed cinema managers and audiences that it is possible to lure patrons to the cinema in large numbers to experience non-fiction feature length films.

The rise and rise of cinema on demand as a way to de-risk the decision to screen documentaries in the cinema has also meant that many more films have a shot at drawing audiences (in large numbers) to the cinema.

This session looks at the financial model of cinema on demand and what it takes, in general, to mount a successful theatrical release using crowd-sourced audiences and discuss in particular what it took to make two films – Graceful Girls and Black Hole –two of 2015’s docbusters.

Speakers: David Doepel (Managing Director Leap Frog Films and TUGG Australia &

NZ), Olivia Peniston-Bird (Producer, Writer and Director of Graceful Girls) and Joao

Dujon Pereira (Producer, Writer and Director of Black Hole)

Host: Roy Ackerman (Pulse Films UK)

Screenrights is the not for profit collecting society for the Australian and New

Zealand screen industry. It collects licence fees related to the use of broadcast

programs and distributes the money to rights-holders. Screenrights licensees include

Government, Educational institutions and Pay TV operators.

2015 marked an eventful year for Screenrights. In addition to relaunching its

Disbursement Service, Screenrights negotiated licences with Australian schools and

universities, and advocated for a simplification of the Copyright Act.

In this session, Screenrights representatives update AIDC attendees on progress

across these fronts and answer questions about their work in the year ahead

Speakers: Simon Lake (CEO, Screenrights), Emma Madison (Head of Member

Relations, Screenrights) and Veronica Fury (Producer, WildBear Entertainment)

Host: Ruari Elkington

In this session, a panel of experts illuminate the opportunities, success factors and deal terms existing in the booming VOD sector that is disrupting the programming plans of established channels.

Key topics addressed include defining SVOD, TVOD and AVOD; identifying what Netflix, Amazon and platforms like CuriosityStream pay for programs; considering the differences in deals; exploring how they commission originals; and also how producers can sell to them.

Speakers: Rebecca Heap (Head of Strategy and Digital, iView), Roger

Jackson (Producer and Co-founder, Kinonation), Sharon Ramsay-Luck (Head of Sales & amp; Business Development, ABC Commercial)

Host: Peter Hamilton (DocumentaryTelevision.com)

With tough local TV market conditions and the influence of globalisation on the film and television industry, 'patchwork' financing has become a way for producers to secure financing by cobbling together multiple markets and platforms. But in order to successfully finance and secure multiple deals, it is important to understand these international marketplaces and manage the expectations of multiple deals. 

This session explores the issues around managing stakeholder expectations and the pressure of keeping everyone happy; issues around delivering one offs vs multiple versions; and issues around different languages, tones and styles as well as cultural and historic differences.

Speakers: Ewan Angus (BBC Scotland), Seniha Tunaboylu (Modern Times Group)

and Julia Redwood (Prospero Productions)

Host: Veronica Fury (WildBear Entertainment)

It’s not often that a documentary makes headlines, but that’s what happened

during The Jinx’s six-week run on HBO in 2015. It was one of the most fascinating

and celebrated documentary series of recent times – the now-famous finale

reported on the front page of the New York Times and its revelations prompting a

new murder trial for its subject, Robert Durst.

Two of the series’ filmmakers – Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier – discuss the

long and complicated production of the series and the ethics of investigation in a

revealing discussion with The Saturday Paper’s Martin McKenzie-Murray. The

session examines questions of access – and considers whether Australia’s legal

jurisdictions would ever permit a project of similar scope. Marc and Zac also provide

a sneak preview of their latest project, a true crime podcast about the American

mob.

Speakers: Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier

Host: Martin McKenzie-Murray

Opportunities for commissioning, financing and distributing short form docs are increasing every day. Short form is arguably better suited to the dynamic shifts and new opportunities occurring in global media than long form. They are less complicated to finance and produce, and more agile and quick to reach target audiences.

Alongside the shrinking demand for long-form and the log-jam at the door of broadcasters, comes a boom in online platforms and a growing appetite for short form. Whether it’s arts and culture, powerful human-interest stories or urgent global issues, audience demand for short docs is growing.

In this session, leading players in the burgeoning short docs space explore what these changes mean for the future of documentary, and also provide insight into what they’re looking for and what their platforms offer.

Speakers: Lindsay Crouse (New York Times Op-Docs Coordinating Producer), Katy

Roberts (VICE Media), Jennifer Byrne (Head of Video at Dazed Media, UK) and

Charlie Phillips (Guardian News & Media, UK).

Host: Dr Cathy Henkel (Director, WA Screen Academy)

Filmmakers Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier of The Jinx reveal how the tools

of narrative filmmaking – in particular, ‘detective stories’ – can serve the documentarian, and share the cinema and television that has most informed their approach to documentary storytelling.

By taking us inside scenes from their landmark HBO docuseries, Smerling and Stuart-

Pontier dissect the techniques and challenges of unravelling a mystery with suspense, character and complexity, and also unpack the ethics of applying the

conventions of fiction to documentary. It provides a unique insight into the relationship between storytelling and truth, and the philosophies and techniques that go into building narratives around real people and real events.

Speakers: Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier

Host: Sari Braithwaite