MUMBAI: MPA APSA Academy Film Fund has received more than forty entries from seventeen countries.
The submissions that have come from across Asia-Pacific have been received for the inaugural MPA APSA Academy Film Fund with final numbers to be confirmed as submissions arrive in Australia over the coming week.
Projects submitted by APSA Academy members from seventeen countries including Armenia, Australia, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Philippines, Fiji, Lebanon, Japan, Israel, People’s Republic of China, Singapore and New Zealand are to be considered for the US$100,000 script development fund which was formed earlier this year by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA).
Four grants, of US$25,000 each, will be allocated to the script development of four new projects. A member of the APSA Academy must be attached to the project in one of the key roles of: Producer, Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Actress or Cinematographer. The APSA Academy is a body of filmmakers comprised of past APSA nominees, winners, Jury and Nominations Council members – among them many of the region’s most respected names in film.
MPA president and managing director Asia Pacific Mike Ellis said,“The number of submissions illustrates the enthusiasm with which this initiative has been embraced by the Asia-Pacific filmmaking community and the critical importance of developing creative pathways to develop production-ready scripts. All of us involved in this project are looking forward to seeing the gems that will be unearthed through the fund.”
Ellis also announced that joining Ronin Films managing director Andrew Pike, chair of the film fund judging panel, will be Korean producer Hanna Lee, producer for 2007 APSA Best Feature Film Miryang (Secret Sunshine) and a member of APSA’s International Jury in 2008; and Australian-Chinese writer, director, actor and producer Pauline Chan, best known for her feature film Traps and director of the new Australian-Chinese co-production Mei Mei, currently in post-production.
APSA chairman Des Power said, “APSA is committed to finding new ways to build business opportunities and creative partnerships between filmmakers of Asia-Pacific. The MPA APSA Academy Film Fund is of consequence in that it provides significant finance and real opportunities for the development of exciting new films. Since we announced the Fund, we’ve also seen around 100 filmmakers join the online APSA Networking Forum to engage in dialogue with their peers, share ideas and explore partnerships.”
“I am delighted with the response to our inaugural funding round which also includes submissions from our newest Academy members, the 2010 Nominees,” he added.
All APSA nominees are automatically inducted into the APSA Academy whose Patron is Australian acting legend Jack Thompson.
The inaugural recipients will be announced at the fourth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Ceremony, which will take place in Australia on Queensland’s Gold Coast on 2 December , 2010. Thirty one films from fifteen countries and areas are nominated in the APSA’s with Best Feature nominees coming from Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and People’s Republic of China. This year, Lord David Puttnam will head the International Jury to determine the Asia Pacific Screen Award winners. The Awards Ceremony will be webcast live through www.asiapacificscreenawards.com.
