The Knowledge - Lizzette Atkins
The Knowledge is a series of interviews with leading screen industry figures, conducted by experienced film journalist Andrew Urban and published via the CSB blog.
Lizzette Atkins - biography
Lizzette Atkins is an award-winning producer. She began by working in distribution, acquisitions and exhibition (including Newvision Films and Dendy Films) for over 15 years gaining extensive knowledge in marketing, distribution and the overseas market place. In 1999 she formed her own production company and had early success with the films The Way Back, Blow and The Last Pecheniuk. Collectively, these films garnered awards at a number of leading events, including the San Francisco, Chicago, London and Sydney film festivals, as well as the National Geographic Award for Best Documentary.
In 2002, Lizzette formed Circe Films with producer Beth Frey. They have subsequently produced a number of nationally televised documentaries including the AFI award-winning Vietnam Nurses, as well as the TV drama Stranded, which premiered at the Melbourne and London Film Festivals and went on to win 3 AFI awards, and the feature documentary Night, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival and was selected for the ‘Visions’ section at the Toronto International Film Festival. Circe Films has a slate of feature films and documentaries in financing and development.
Audio download
Chapter 1 - Starting out in the business - 9 minutes
- Dabbling in film and photography in the ’70s
- Jobs in cinemas
- Moved to distribution
- Getting more involved - motivated to produce
- Learnt the ropes, had the background experience
- Had some assets by then
- Had a romantic notion about film
- Worked from home - minimum overheads
- Realised you need a strategy
- Knowing what to do is one thing - implementing it is another
Video downloads
Chapter 2 - Timing, support and survival - 18 minutes
- Night – a case study (feature doco)
- Lucky timing
- Selecting a theatrical distributor (Dendy)
- International deals
- Toronto fest - an ideal launch
- FFC and Film Victoria support
- Exploiting elements for marketing
- Managing the production slate
- ‘Fingers-crossed’ strategy – lurching from project to project
- Creating an alternative income strand
- Producer needs to get up-front fees to survive
Video downloads
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