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QPIX training to close doors

Brisbane not-for-profit training facility has its funding cut and will close its doors on 1 January 2014.

2013-07-16_0018Brisbane not-for-profit training facility QPIX has had its funding cut by Screen Queensland and will close its doors on 1 January 2014.

Confirmation of its closure follows a a statement posted on its website last Wednesday which was pulled down on Thursday afternoon.

The film and television training centre was established in 1997 to support emerging filmmakers. It has three staff, adds two production specialists to support projects, has around $450,000 from Screen Queensland and Screen Australia and costs about $1m to run. It raises half its revenue externally, through special programs, production fees, and courses.

For that it makes sixteen shorts per year, and 3-5 documentaries, supported by the broadcasters at half an hour or fifty minutes, develops 20-25 writers through their projects. It supports with gear, advice and feedback, roughly three hundred external productions, and advises eight thousand people per year through emails, phone conversations and face-to-face meetings.

Kerry O`Rourke, the CEO of QPIX, said he and Screen Queensland had been working through transition issues for some time.

“I don`t know why it happened. We can surmise, but there has been no reason given, and no written set of criteria.

“When you cut something down, you are cutting more than just QPIX. You cut down its many branches. So it would be great to be able to discuss it – and get the decision changed.”

Both Screen Queensland and Screen Australia have agreed to provide some transitional funding to allow QPIX to complete its teaching obligations in 2013 and to produce its final funded slate of 3 Raw Nerve dramas under QPIX’s broadcast agreement with ABC2 and 5 Indigenous documentaries under its broadcast agreement with NITV/SBS.

Jenny Hughes, from Screen Queensland, said: “Basically, we have just come through a big review in terms of our direction, and we looked at every single area in great detail. We decided after industry consultation to go in a different direction, which will be annnounced in the new future.”

Source: ArtsHub

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