VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the

Victoria State Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

's creative and economic screen development agency. It supports screen industry professionals, infrastructure, projects and events, promoting the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

as a filmmaking hub.

History

Film Victoria was created as "a new statutory authority to be responsible for Government activities related to the production and distribution of film in Victoria including film for educational purposes", under an Act of the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly ...

introduced by

Norman Lacy Norman Henry Lacy (born 25 October 1941) is an Australian former politician, who was a Minister in the Hamer and Thompson Cabinets of the Victorian Government from May 1979 to April 1982. He grew up in Richmond, Victoria and was educated at N ...

, Minister for the Arts, on 6 October 1981, known as the ''Film Victoria Act 1981''. The Act provided for Film Victoria to be established by the amalgamation of the Victorian Film Corporation (as it had been constituted initially in 1976), the State Film Centre, and sections of the Audio Visual Resources Branch of the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. The purpose of the amalgamation was to avoid the unnecessary duplication of functions by the three organisations; to enhance the capacity of the Government to meet the present and future media needs of Victorians; and to simplify access to film materials and to enlarge the benefits to be derived from the use of such materials. In 1997 the functions of Film Victoria were amalgamated with those of the State Film Centre, to form Cinemedia Corporation, under the ''Cinemedia Corporation Act 1997''. In 2001 the Cinemedia Corporation was abolished and Film Victoria and the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of screen culture including film, television, videogames, digital culture and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbo ...

(ACMI) were established as separate statutory authorities. In 2017, the Victorian government’s screen agency appointed Caroline Pitcher as its new chief executive officer (CEO). VicScreen's 2020/2021 Annual Report reported support for 114 projects across film, television, and video games projects, A$391.4m amount spent in Victoria by projects that commenced production. In 2021, VicScreen and the Victorian Government announced Victoria's "Screen Industry Strategy 2021-2025", known as the VicScreen Strategy. The strategy was the Victorian Government's first screen strategy in more than 10 years. Early in 2022, Film Victoria rebranded as VicScreen.

Timeline

The following timeline is published on VicScreen's website: * 1976: Established as the Victorian Film Corporation. * 1982: Became Film Victoria through the creation of Film Victoria Act 1981. * 1997: Integrated with the State Film Centre of Victoria, to form Cinemedia Corporation, under the Cinemedia Corporation Act 1997. * 2001: ''Film Act 2001'' abolished Cinemedia Corporation and established Film Victoria and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) as separate statutory authorities * 2015: Film Victoria integrated with Creative Victoria, along with other government agencies across arts and culture, screen and design * 2021: Launch of "Victoria's Screen Industry Strategy 2021-2025", a whole of Victorian Government plan to reshape and expand Victoria's screen industry * 2022: Film Victoria re-branded to VicScreen, better reflecting the diversity of screen activity the agency supports, from film, television, online, VR and digital games

Description

VicScreen provides services and invests in production and content development, including industry placements, filming incentives, and training.

Awards

Screen Leader Awards

In 2012, Film Victoria established the Screen Leader Awards, "to recognise screen professionals who've shown leadership through their achievements and a commitment to further developing the industry and nurturing talent". These comprised two awards: * The

Jill Robb Jill Robb (1934 – 16 January 2022) was an English-born Australian film producer and executive who worked mostly in Australia. Early life and education Jill Robb was born in England in 1934. Career Robb began in the film industry as a stand i ...

Award for Outstanding Leadership, Achievement and Service to the Victorian Screen Industry, which in its inaugural year was won by producer

Sue Maslin Susan Mary Maslin (born ) is an Australian screen producer. She is best known for her feature films '' Road to Nhill'' (1997), ''Japanese Story'' (2003), and '' The Dressmaker'' (2015), but has produced or executive produced more documentary ...

, and the following year by film editor

Jill Bilcock Jill Elizabeth Bilcock (born 1948 as Jill Stevenson), is an Australian film editor. She was nominated for BAFTA Awards for ''Strictly Ballroom'' (1992), ''Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), and ''Moulin Rouge!'' (2002), and ''Elizabeth'' (1998). In 2007 ...

. Other recipients of the Jill Robb Award have been

Nadia Tass Nadia Tass (born Tassopoulou or Tassopoulos; ), is an Australian theatre and film director and film producer. She mostly makes films with her writer-producer husband David Parker, through their production company Cascade Films. Tass is known ...

, Sonya Pemberton, Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox, Mitu Bhowmick Lange, and Claire Dobbin. * The John Howie Award for Outstanding Leadership, Achievement and Service to the Victorian Screen Industry, which in 2013 was awarded to sound engineer Roger Savage.

References

External links

* * , the sister agency for non-digital media investment {{Cinema of Australia Film production companies of Australia Government agencies of Victoria (state)