It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and Gary Hayes (producer of new media at the BBC for 8 years) having teamed together to conduct workshops on cross-media storytelling. They are touring Australia, running one-day workshops, residencies and ongoing mentoring. The Laboratory of Advanced Media Production, LAMP, is described as follows:
According to AFTRS’s head of digital media, Peter Giles, LAMP will comprise “a series of cutting-edge seminars, workshops and labs that will enable Australian content creators to create entertainment for the global stage.” Much like the AFI Digital Content Lab’s workshops, LAMP’s workshops will be tasked with bringing together teams of producers, writers, directors and designers, in order to create prototype, cross-platform (TV, Web and mobile), interactive digital programs and applications. “LAMP will follow similar models in the UK and USA that have really stimulated the interactive industry, but it is important that we do not lose sight of the uniqueness of the Australian story,” Hayes said in a prepared statement. “In Australia, only 24% of new TV programs are created locally, compared with 91% in the UK and 75% in Canada. LAMP will help redress that balance as the audience shifts over to online delivery of content.”
I am very lucky to be selected as a presenter and mentor for the Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney workshops. Wohoo! I’ll keep you updated with all the juicy details soon.