Congratulations to our alumni participant in Impact 2

Milla Bell-Hart and Phil Tarl Denson participate in Impact. Courtesy of Screen Australia.
Milla Bell-Hart and Phil Tarl Denson participate in Impact. Courtesy of Screen Australia.

Impact 2 was launched this week in Melbourne by award-winning filmmaking company Imagine Entertainment. The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music was delighted to learn that screenwriting alumni Ramon Watkins was among the students chosen to participate.

A VCA Film and Television graduate has been selected to participate in the prestigious Impact Australia 2 accelerator program. Alumni Ramon Watkins (Master of Screenwriting, 2015) is among nine Australian ‘Creators’ selected for this coveted program that aims to discover, cultivate, and empower Australian screenwriters.

Chosen from a highly competitive field of applicants, Ramon will join other students in an intensive 8 week program, receiving the mentorship and support of an award-winning Australian or international writer. Each mentor will help craft their Creator’s project and prepare them for a Pitch Day with the goal of selling their project.

This years’ line up of mentors includes Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Collateral, Nitram, Penguin Bloom), Shaun Grant (True History of the Kelly Gang, Berlin Syndrome), Mark Bianculli (Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector) and Dana Calvo (Good Girls Revolt). Ramon’s mentor is Kai Wu (Paper Girls, Carnival Row).

Impact 2 was launched this week in Melbourne by award-winning filmmaking company Imagine Entertainment, led by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. The Minister for Creative Industries, Danny Pearson, was also on hand to launch proceedings.

Last year’s inaugural program saw eight of 10 projects connected with attachments in Australia or the United States and three unrepresented writers finding American representation. Alumni of the program have since been hired in writing rooms for Netflix and AMC, and hired on assignments by companies such as LuckyChap and Hoodlum.

The program receives principal funding from Screen Australia and Film Victoria and support from state and territory screen agencies across Australia. The University of Melbourne is proud to be the Education Partner for the program, enabling VCA Film and Television students exclusive behind-the-scenes access, opportunities to attend development intensives and workshops and meet one-on-one to discuss the program and the film industry.

Impact Australia 2 was originally intended to be in-person on the Victorian College of the Arts’ Southbank campus, but due to current COVID-19 restrictions, it has pivoted to begin as a virtual program. We are incredibly excited to see the results of the 2021 cohort and congratulate all those selected.