Budding filmmakers to be inspired by industry experts

The future looks bright for Australia's leading filmmaking destination - the Gold Coast - with more than 400 high school students set to learn about how they can best break into the industry at the Future Filmmakers workshop at Bond University this week (Thursday, April 26).

The University will throw open its doors to Year 11 and 12 students from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, shining a spotlight on the varied careers available and the future of the industry in the city, which has been home to recent Hollywood productions including Aquaman, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, The Shallows and Unbroken.

Bond is the only higher education partner of the Gold Coast Film Festival, with the booked-out event to showcase international, national and local identities - including Aquaman and Thor: Ragnarock location manager, Duncan Jones - who will share their knowledge of both on-screen and off-screen filmmaking roles, from script development through to final distribution.

Bond University's world-class Film and Television program has been the launch pad for a string of successful filmmakers, including alumni Harrison Norris and Emily Tate, who went on to apply their Virtual Reality (VR) and production skills in Hollywood on the set of blockbuster film Suicide Squad.

Bond University Director of Film and Television, Associate Professor Michael Sergi, said the Future Filmmaker event was a unique opportunity for the next generation of movie makers to gain highly-valuable insider knowledge of the industry.  

"The final years of school can be a challenging time for students as they decide where they want to take their careers, so it is important to provide as much information as possible on the career opportunities available," Dr Sergi said.

"The Future Filmmakers component of the Gold Coast Film Festival is aimed at showcasing the amazing variety of jobs within the industry - directly from the people who work on productions every single day.

"From art directors to editors, film journalists, locations managers, producers and directors, a host of talented professionals will be on-hand to educate the students and answer any questions they have regarding the industry."

Dr Sergi said Bond University was honoured to again be part of the renowned, and continuously growing, Gold Coast Film Festival calendar.

"Future Filmmakers has been expanding over the past seven years - so much so that this year we have had to host the event over two theatres - and we still have a waiting list of students keen to participate," he said.

"The team at Bond University look forward to being part of this year's Festival and helping to inspire and educate the filmmakers of tomorrow."

The Future Filmmaker workshop will also provide an opportunity for students to learn about Australia's largest competition for high school filmmakers - the Bond University Film and Television Awards (BUFTA). The short film competition is open to students across the nation, with the grand prize a full-fee scholarship to study a Bachelor of Film and Television at the University. 

The Future Filmmakers workshop will be held on Thursday, 26 April, at the Basil Sellers Theatre at Bond University. Registration opens at 8:30am.

Bond University's Film and Television facilities and its Abedian School of Architecture, which featured alongside Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in Hollywood Blockbuster San Andreas, will also be showcased during the Gold Coast Film Festival's 'Movie Set Bus Tour', which runs twice daily on 21-22 April and 28-29 April.

For further information, visit the Gold Coast Film Festival website.