By Hayley Roman

The Film and Television Institute (FTI) of WA has raised nearly $40,000 for local screen projects, under a new philanthropy program launched less than a fortnight ago.

While philanthropy is common in visual and performing arts, the film sector typically sees people invest for a financial return.

The FTI worked for nearly two years before launching the program, which saw eight WA filmmakers pitch their ideas to an audience of about 100 people.

Individual donations ranged from $50 to $7,500.

The organisation hopes the money will attract matched funding to bring the total amount closer to $100,000.

Director of screen production, Ros Walker, said it was a fantastic result for the local film sector.

“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but $90,000 at exactly the right moment in a project, even $10,000 or $15,000 at the start of a project, can make the difference between a project getting up or not getting up,” she said.

“So far that’s going to pay for a comedy pilot, somebody’s got script development for their project, we’ve got casting and the initial costs to start getting a feature film made.”

Mad Kids Productions producer Lauren Elliott was among those who pitched an idea, seeking $40,000 to write and shoot a pilot for a new television sketch series.

She said if successful, the series would be a first for Western Australia.

“We’re kind of known internationally for feature films now and also some great documentaries but we’re yet to produce a comedy series,” she said.

Ms Elliott said it was far more persuasive to approach networks with a pilot episode rather than a script.

“We’d love to take our idea out to all the commercial networks as well as the ABC and hopefully one of them will be keen to put us out on the air,” she said.

Philanthropic funding growth ‘coming off a low base’

The WA Chamber of Arts and Culture has welcomed the FTI’s program, with executive director Harry Boston describing it as a “terrific incentive”.

“This [program] is … about investing in people, and looking to tell our stories, both fictional and documentary stories and encouraging the development of our creative resources in this area,” he said.

Mr Boston said the WA film community has typically lacked enough money to reach its full potential.

“We are effectively the California of the southern hemisphere and we could be such an amazing state in terms of the locations we have and the creative people who have to disappear to make a living,” he said.

He said while philanthropy in WA arts had grown, it was coming off a low base.

Ms Walker said it was important for the sector to broaden its funding sources.

“We’re getting some cuts to our federal funding agency and what we can potentially see in the future is that we won’t have the types of funds available to help make projects we’ve that we’ve had in the past,” she said.

The FTI’s program will be ongoing with other “pitching” events expected in the future.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-14/new-philanthropy-program-raises-nearly-for-wa-film-industry/6544890