SCREEN WORKSHOP SERIES

SCREEN WORKSHOP SERIES: Developing Bold & Original Dark Genre Films

Whether you’re writing short films for the festival circuit or beginning to delve into longer form projects, it’s hard to develop strong genre projects without a clear understanding of your intention in terms of platform, audience, market and, most importantly of all, what you want to communicate. How can dark genre be a vehicle for personal or political expression? How can you make sure you’re offering something new and exciting within this highly competitive field? What influences and inspires you to create your best work?

Led by screenwriting teacher, script consultant and festival director Briony Kidd, this workshop is designed to help participants sharpen and intensify their unique artistic vision. Drawing on case studies encountered as a genre festival programmer, she will challenge you to dig deeper and be more courageous and specific. Participants should have some dramatic writing or fiction writing experience and at least one idea for a dark genre project (discussion of this idea with the group is optional).

Discounted tickets available for members of WIFT Australia, Screen Vixens, Film Fatales and Screen Guilds as well as student/concession prices (concession is self-declared ie underemployed etc).

We also have a limited number of places at no cost for those who are experiencing financial hardship - Click here to fill out a simple request form.

Hemlock & Cedar Films is currently running the Screen Workshop Series - Six workshops will be presented over the coming months on filmmaking and working in the genre space, particularly around women in film. All genders, filmmakers & film lovers welcome. Our July workshop will be held online on Saturday 10 July - Pathways & Pitfalls of Indie Filmmaking with Megan Riakos

These workshops are presented by Hemlock & Cedar Films with funding support from City of Sydney.

Additional links & content

Watch Dark Whispers - Volume 1 available online in Australia & UK
Watch Panel Female Voices in Contemporary Genre Filmmaking on youtube

Note: By registering for this event you will be added to the Hemlock & Cedar Films & Stranger With My Face e-news. You can also sign up here to stay up to date on latest events.

Biography - Briony Kidd

Briony Kidd grew up in Tasmania and is a graduate of VCA School of Film & Television. Her short gothic melodrama The Room at the Top of the Stairs screened internationally and was licensed by Shudder. Her short thriller Watch Me is part of Dark Whispers - Volume 1, produced by Megan Riakos for Hemlock & Cedar Films. Briony also acted as associate producer for the project, contributing expertise in curation and marketing.

As a screenwriter and producer, Briony is developing a broad slate of projects for film and television, with a focus on horror, thriller, black comedy and melodrama. Her current focus is psychobiddy post-apocalyptic thriller The Motel at the End of the World, funded for development through Screen Tasmania and Screen Australia.

Briony is a playwright and theatre director, best known as a founder and key artist for the Radio Gothic collective, which has presented experimental audio-based works in festivals including Dark Mofo and the Tasmanian International Arts Festival.

In 2012 Briony co-founded Stranger With My Face International Film Festival, which promotes new perspectives in genre filmmaking. Movie Maker Magazine named the influential event as one of world’s “15 Bloody Best Genre Fests”.

Briony is on the board of Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Australia and is the Tasmanian committee chair. She also teaches screenwriting at the University of Tasmania.