Metro Screen provides a range of professional services to assist you at all stages of you project. Development is key to a great end product and so we offer script editor services, producer consultations and pitching consults that can assist your production to run smoothly. We also provide skills training in a one on one environment, tailored group training and professional crew to work you with on your next project.

One Hour Script Advice Days
To accommodate the shorter 10 minute project or a scene within a longer script. Within a one hour intensive your industry professional will read and explore the issues within the script or treatment you provide. $80 for members includes one hour face to face. Script is not assessed in advance and must be brought on the day. Suited to a 10 minute project or a scene within a longer script. These sessions take place on an allocated date between allotted times. Please contact Metro Screen direct to book. $130 for non-members

SCRIPT AND PRODUCER CONSULTATIONS
Choose from our list of qualified professionals who will read and work through your script before they meet you for an intensive one hour.

• Short – Defined as up to 35 pages $180 for members which includes assessment of the script and a one hour face to face meeting with an industry professional. $230 for non-members
• Short Feature – Defined as over 35 pages and up to 55 pages $234 for members which includes assessment of the script and a one hour face to face meeting with an industry professional. $284 for non-members
• Feature – Defined as over 55 pages and up to 100 pages $317 for members which includes assessment of the script and a one hour face to face meeting with an industry professional. $367 for non-members
• Epic Feature – Defined as over 100 pages Price upon application but will include assessment of the script and a one hour face to face meeting with an industry professional.

"Despite working on my screenplays for several  years I always felt I feel short when it came to  concise and spontaneous way of describing my stories to industry professionals. In just a few hours, Georgia not only helped me come up with a format for delivering a great "pitch," but also helped clarify my screenplay's strongest points and focus my rewrite."  Carolina Starin
PITCHING CONSULTS
For 1.5hrs VIA Skype. $70 flat rate, Skype is not provided by Metro Screen.
Presented by Georgia Clark [bio below]

Online, one-on-one coaching to help new and emerging screenwriters construct a perfect five minute pitch for their film, television or web series. Pitching is the art of verbally communicating your story idea. If you're serious about making or selling your screenplay, you'll need to be able to succinctly and powerfully explain it, and yourself, in a short period of time, over and over and over again. If you've invested time in your screenplay, you can't afford not to invest time in learning how to write the perfect pitch to give yourself the best headstart to getting it made. A professional pitch is essential if you want to be treated [and paid] like a professional writer.

The consult runs for 1.5 hours. During this time, you will learn all the basic elements of a perfect pitch with specific reference to your own work. We will use popular films as reference points to help explain concepts, as well as your individual screenplay ideas.

Covering:
1. Writing and pitching a logline.
2. Your story's premise: Communicating the theme and point-of-view of your story.
3. Expanding the summary: Characters, obstacles, dramatic turning points
4. How to discover your screenplay's unique selling point.
5. A knock-out one-liner and grab: How to win them over in under 15 seconds.
6. The power of YOU: how to make your life experience sell your script.
7. Audience and market: Realistically identify who will pay to see your idea
8. What you need and what you have: Why are you pitching in the first place?

These services are an excellent opportunity for filmmakers and screen practitioners to be given sound advice on what does and doesn’t work. Gain tips, insider knowledge and give your next project whether it’s a short documentary or a feature film the best chance of achieving success. Advice is always worthwhile especially when it comes from those who are working successfully in the film and screen industries.

See below for our list of industry professionals for you to choose from.
If you would like to become a Metro Screen Industry Professional and believe you can provide the services of a Script, Producer or Pitch consult please contact us.

To book in for a consultation please contact us on 9356 1818 or metro@metroscreen.org.au
 
SCRIPT AND PRODUCER CONSULTANTS

SCRIPT EDITORS

Simon Bennetts
Simon has a BA [honours] in Drama from Flinders Uni in South Australia, Majoring in Scriptwriting and Direction for Documentary and Drama. He assessed scripts for Universal Pictures and read numerous feature length screenplays for Beyond International. He taught Scriptwriting at Macquarie University and was Script Editor on Hunt Angels the AFC funded Feature length doco-drama directed by Alec Morgan about Australian con man and filmmaker Rupert Katner. His Metro script assessments include the AFC funded short Brother Boys. Recently he was script consultant on early drafts of Prey the soon to be released horror feature.

Luke Eve
Luke formed his production company, More Sauce in 1999. He is a graduate from the AFTRS in Producing. In 2004 Luke was invited to pitch a feature film project as a finalist at the SPAA annual conference. He recently returned from an AFC funded internship with This is That productions in New York City and his film Australian Summer was the winner of Tropfest 2005. He also has a number of feature films in development both as a producer and a director.

Karel Segers
Producer and Story Analyst Karel Segers, a Licentiate of Germanic Philology [University of Louvain, Belgium] has produced two short dramas and co-produced a documentary and a feature film. Before moving to Sydney, Karel was the Head of Production and programming at the Digital Broadcasting Company in London [Sky, UK], a film buyer for Europe's largest Pay TV Group Canal Plus and a movie show host for MTV Europe. Alongside his screen development work, Karel is in post-production with a short animation and a feature film. Over the past few years Karel has consulted to award-winning writers, directors and producers on films in development as well as post-production. His views are published in The Story Dept. www.ozzywood.com and 'Karel's Feedback Forum' on the AWG website. Both nominees for last year's AWG Monte Miller Award were Karel's clients.clients.

Jonathan Wald
Jonathan received his MFA in Film Directing from UCLA Film School and spent a year in the MA Directing program at AFTRS, as well as receiving a certificate in documentary making from Metro Screen. As part of his degree, Jonathan directed 5 short films, most of which he wrote, produced, and edited as well. These films have been accepted at over 200 festivals around the world, including Slamdance, Hof, and Montreal World. They have aired on the Sundance Channel in the U.S., been included on DVD collections in France and Germany, and won numerous awards, including Best Short at the Mardi Gras Film Festival; two Silver Remis at Worldfest/Houston; Best Direction, Cinematography, and Acting from the International Student Film Festival/Chile; and many others. Jonathan brings his diverse skills to his work as a script editor and consultant. He has been a script editor for short films at the AFTRS and recently edited Robin de Crespigny’s feature script Intersection, which received development funding from the AFC and is currently a finalist in the IF Awards for Best Unproduced Screenplay. Jonathan has taught writing and directing at AFTRS, Metro Screen, and UCLA Film School, and has won UCLA’s Jim Morrison Directing Award, a Motion Picture Association of America Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship in film.


PRODUCER CONSULTANTS

Carolyn Johnson
Following a career in merchant banking and the business world, Carolyn Johnson commenced her career in film production in 1993. She has produced six award winning short films and worked as a producer, production manager and line producer in television, documentary and drama. She is an AFTRS graduate with a feature film in post-production and a feature, TV series, and documentary in the advanced stages of development.

Luke Eve
Luke formed his production company, More Sauce in 1999. He is a graduate from the AFTRS in Producing. In 2004 Luke was invited to pitch a feature film project as a finalist at the SPAA annual conference. He recently returned from an AFC funded internship with This is That productions in New York City and his film Australian Summer was the winner of Tropfest 2005. He also has a number of feature films in development both as a producer and a director.

Kath Shelper
Kath has produced two half-hour films which both premiered at Sundance. One of these films Green Bush won Best Short Film, at the Berlin Film Festival Panorama. Her previous shorts have screened at festivals worldwide and won numerous awards including the AFI Award for Best Short Fiction for Confessions Of A Headhunter. Kath received the IF Award for Rising Talent in 2005, where Green Bush was also awarded Best Short Film. Kath’s production company is Film Depot.

Louise Smith
Louise co-produced The Rage In Placid Lake and was sound post production supervisor on Little Fish Louise has produced numerous short films, documentaries and feature length scripts that have picked up international awards and been screened at Sundance and Telluride. Louise has also produced music clips and TV commercial for the likes of The Super Jesus, Toyota and Yamaha.  Louise is currently in development on three productions and is financing another with the Edgerton brothers.

Karel Segers
Producer and Story Analyst Karel Segers, a Licentiate of Germanic Philology [University of Louvain, Belgium] has produced two short dramas and co-produced a documentary and a feature film. Before moving to Sydney, Karel was the Head of Production and programming at the Digital Broadcasting Company in London [Sky, UK], a film buyer for Europe's largest Pay TV Group Canal Plus and a movie show host for MTV Europe. Alongside his screen development work, Karel is in post-production with a short animation and a feature film. Over the past few years Karel has consulted to award-winning writers, directors and producers on films in development as well as post-production. His views are published in The Story Dept. www.ozzywood.com and 'Karel's Feedback Forum' on the AWG website. Both nominees for last year's AWG Monte Miller Award were Karel's clients.clients.

Jonathan Wald
Jonathan received his MFA in Film Directing from UCLA Film School and spent a year in the MA Directing program at AFTRS, as well as receiving a certificate in documentary making from Metro Screen. As part of his degree, Jonathan directed 5 short films, most of which he wrote, produced, and edited as well. These films have been accepted at over 200 festivals around the world, including Slamdance, Hof, and Montreal World. They have aired on the Sundance Channel in the U.S., been included on DVD collections in France and Germany, and won numerous awards, including Best Short at the Mardi Gras Film Festival; two Silver Remis at Worldfest/Houston; Best Direction, Cinematography, and Acting from the International Student Film Festival/Chile; and many others. Jonathan brings his diverse skills to his work as a script editor and consultant. He has been a script editor for short films at the AFTRS and recently edited Robin de Crespigny’s feature script Intersection, which received development funding from the AFC and is currently a finalist in the IF Awards for Best Unproduced Screenplay. Jonathan has taught writing and directing at AFTRS, Metro Screen, and UCLA Film School, and has won UCLA’s Jim Morrison Directing Award, a Motion Picture Association of America Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship in film.


PITCHING CONSULT

Georgia Clark
Georgia is a published teen fiction author and screenwriter with a passion for pitching. In 2007, she won the most prestigious pitching competition in Australia, the Holding Redlich Pitching Competition, with semi-finals at the National Screenwriters Convention, and grand finals at the Screen Producers of Australia's national conference. The prize was $2,000 and a return flight anywhere in the world: she chose New York City, where she is now based. Her pitch was for a vampire-related TV drama show, which Fremantle Media took to Foxtel with Posie Graeme Evans attached [They passed, having just acquired True Blood]. Georgia has also won state-wide pitching competitions, and regularly [and successfully] pitches story ideas to various magazines, and book ideas to her publishers. She is currently writing two teen fiction novels for an international market.


TIPS
We suggest you send in a few questions with your material to make sure your assessment targets the areas you need the most assistance with.

Script editors can assist you with:

• Character development
• Developing a documentary idea
• Dialogue
• Dramatic structure
• Industry contacts
• Reference material
• Script conventions - if, when and how to break the rules
• Script feedback and development
• Script format including: outlines, treatments, layouts for film, layouts for television
• Script timing
• Taking an idea or script to the next stage
• Where to find more information

Producer consultants can assist you with:

• Copyright issues and basic legal information
• Establishing business structure
• Festival strategies
• Film vs. video – what to shoot on
• Finding the right people for the project including: key crew, writer, producer, director, casting and investors
• Industry contacts
• Industry trends
• Marketing, distribution and publicity
• Post production options
• Preparing an application for funding
• Preparing a budget
• Preparing a schedule
• Preparing a proposal for investors
• Production implications for your project including: budget, length, locations and market
• Sample contacts
• Script feedback and development
• Tips for low budget productions
• Where to find more information

TAILORED TRAINING
We create tailor-made courses for industry, community and corporate groups, covering technical production and postproduction. We can assist in upskilling media professionals; provide team-building packages for corporations and creative outlets for communities. Please contact our Learning and Development department for a competitive quote on your organisation’s training needs: 02 9356 1818 or email us.


CREW FOR HIRE
Metro Screen provides skilled industry camera, lighting and sound operators and editors who can be booked through our facilities department. Please contact our Hire and Post Production department on 02 9356 1818 or email us.