The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) is the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n national centre for professional education and advanced training in film, television, radio and digital media. The School is an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority. It is a member of the "Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence".

AFTRS aims to advance the success and sustainability of Australia's screen and broadcast industries by developing the skills and knowledge of talented individuals and undertaking leading-edge research. AFTRS aims to transform the abilities of individuals and strengthen the skills base of the industry.

History

Established in 1972 as part of the Commonwealth Government's strategy to promote the development of Australia's cultural activity, AFTRS was opened to students in 1973 with the first intake of 12 students including directors Gillian Armstrong

Gillian Armstrong

Gillian May Armstrong is an award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries.- Career :Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Gillian Armstrong grew up in the eastern suburb of Mitcham. She graduated from Swinburne Technical College in 1968 where she studied theatrical costume design and...

, Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce is an Australian film director.-Life and career:Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, attended Barker College, Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast...

 and Chris Noonan

Chris Noonan

Chris Noonan is a Sydney-based Australian filmmaker and actor best known for the pioneering live-action / CG film Babe, for which he received Academy Award nominations as both director and writer.-Biography:...

.

In 1973 Jerzy Toeplitz

Jerzy Toeplitz

Jerzy Toeplitz AO was born in 1909 in Kharkiv . He was educated in Warsaw. After World War II he was the co-founder of the Polish Film School, and later took up an appointment in Australia for the Film and TV School.Between 1948 and 1972 he was Vice-President of the International Film and...

 was appointed Foundation Director of the School and after six years in the role, was awarded the Order of Australia

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 and the AFI's Raymond Longford Award

Australian Film Institute Longford Life Achievement Award

The Raymond Longford Award, in honour of Raymond Longford, was first presented by the Australian Film Institute from 1968-2010, and will continue to be presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts from 2012...

.

In 1975 Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

 helped to enact a range of initiatives, including the creation of funding agencies to support the Film School.

Graduates from the institution's tertiary education

Tertiary education

Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...

 programs have gone on to national and international success.

New School

For many years AFTRS was located in purpose-built premises at North Ryde, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, but in 2008 moved to a newly designed facility at Fox Studios, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. It also has state offices or representatives in most capital cities in Australia.

Courses and admission

Admission into the full time courses at AFTRS is competitive. As of 2007, AFTRS accepted around a total of 50 students each year in its full-time postgraduate programs in Sydney. Courses are organised around 13 specialist teaching departments and Full-time courses are open only to Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. Approximately 5000 people undertake courses in the national short course program.

Teaching departments

Cinematography Cinematography Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography... Design Design Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan... Digital Media Visual effects Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or... Directing Film director A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:... Documentary Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

Editing Film editing Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling... Location Sound Recording Producing Film producer A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The... Radio

Screen Music Screenwriting Screenwriting Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession.... Sound Design Sound design Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software... Television Production

Alumni

Some alumni from AFTRS include:

TV Amanda Drury Amanda Drury Amanda Drury is a journalist and news anchor for CNBC, currently based in Manhattan, New York. She has appeared on various CNBC shows as an expert in finance and business. Previously based in CNBC Asia’s headquarters in Singapore and then in Sydney, Drury relocated to CNBC's global headquarters... Directing Gillian Armstrong Gillian Armstrong Gillian May Armstrong is an award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries.- Career :Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Gillian Armstrong grew up in the eastern suburb of Mitcham. She graduated from Swinburne Technical College in 1968 where she studied theatrical costume design and... Alex Proyas Alex Proyas Alexander "Alex" Proyas is a Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing such films as The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot and Knowing. He is known for employing a stylish photographic techniques in his films, with dark overtones usually in a post-apocalyptic... Jane Campion Jane Campion Jane Campion is a filmmaker and screenwriter. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the United States... Luke Eve Luke Eve Luke Eve is an Australian film director and producer. He has had numerous short films screened, and awarded prizes, in film festivals around the globe. Luke began his career working as a freelance photographer. In 1999 he teamed up with collaborator Nicola Daley to form the production company, More... Phillip Noyce Phillip Noyce Phillip Noyce is an Australian film director.-Life and career:Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, attended Barker College, Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast... Rolf de Heer Rolf de Heer Rolf de Heer is a Dutch film director, writer and producer living in Australia. De Heer was born in Heemskerk in The Netherlands but migrated to Sydney when he was eight years old. He attended the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney. His company is called Vertigo Productions and... Rowan Woods Rowan Woods Rowan Woods is an Australian film and television director, actor and screenwriter. Woods directed The Boys in 1998 and won an AFI award for best direction. His next film, Little Fish was released in September 2005 in Australia, starring Cate Blanchett... Daniel Krige Daniel Krige Daniel Krige is a writer, director and actor. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he grew up in Australia. Krige began working as a writer at the age of sixteen for Grundy Television.-History:... Mario Andreacchio Mario Andreacchio Mario Andreacchio is an Australian film producer/director.Born in Leigh Creek, South Australia, Andreacchio graduated from Flinders University with a degree in Psychology , and then was selected to study at the Australian Film & Television School to train as a film director... Michael James Rowland Michael James Rowland - The early years :Prior to his screen career, Michael James Rowland studied graphic design at the North Adelaide School of Art in South Australia and started his early working life as a designer / illustrator specialising in the Arts. His list of freelance clients grew to include Sony , Womad ... Ivan Sen Ivan Sen Ivan Sen is an Australian filmmaker. Throughout the late 1990s Sen worked on numerous short films, before making his feature film debut with Beneath Clouds in 2002. He studied filmmaking at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, where he produced his first short films, working with the... Alister Grierson Alister Grierson Alister Grierson is an Australian film director and scriptwriter. Born in Canberra in 1969, he completed his secondary schooling at Canberra Grammar, graduated in Economics and Arts from the Australian National University and studied Japanese in Tokyo...

Producing Peter Rees Peter Rees (producer) Peter Rees is a film and television writer/ director and producer. He developed the concept and was the executive producer of the television series MythBusters. Rees created, cast, wrote and directed more than eighty episodes, devising and designing all but one experiment... Screenwriting Billy Marshall Stoneking Billy Marshall Stoneking Billy Marshall Stoneking is an Australian-American poet, playwright, filmmaker, and teacher. His son C.W. Stoneking is a musician.-Childhood and education:... Cinematography Andrew Lesnie Andrew Lesnie Andrew Lesnie is an Australian cinematographer. Lesnie attended the Australian Film Television and Radio School , graduating in 1979. His first job after graduation was as a cameraman on the Logie Award-winning Australian magazine-style afternoon TV show Simon Townsend's Wonder World... Dion Beebe Dion Beebe Dion Beebe, A.C.S., ASC is an Australian cinematographer.Originally from Brisbane, Australia, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1972... Editing Pip Karmel Pip Karmel Philippa Karmel is an Australian filmmaker. As a film editor, she has worked exclusively with director Scott Hicks in a notable collaboration from 1988 through 2007; their work together includes the widely recognized film Shine...

Composing Amanda Brown Amanda Brown (musician) Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter, renowned for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer.... Benjamin Speed Benjamin Speed Benjamin Peter Speed is an Australian musician who composes scores for film, television and theatre... Matteo Zingales Matteo Zingales -Biography: Born in Rome and raised in Sydney, Zingales graduated in 2004 from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School with a Masters in Screen Composition.He has worked... Design Felicity Abbott Felicity Abbott Felicity Abbott is a production designer in the film and television industry.-Background:Abbott is from Wellington, New Zealand, and currently lives in Sydney, Australia.-Education:... Radio Luke Jobson Reuben Mourad Reuben Mourad Reuben Mourad is an Australian radio host and television presenter, based in Sydney.-Career history:Reuben Mourad’s media career has spanned across many facets of television and radio, as a presenter, voice over and also in media programming.An Australian Film Television and Radio School ... Jason Morrison Chris Page Chris Page Chris Page is a radio presenter, currently with Austereo in Sydney, Australia.Chris Page originally was a NXFM announcer and then moved to SAFM...

External links

• Official website
• The Laboratory for Advanced Media Production An AFTRS initiative
• The AFTRS Centre for Screen Business - the business of the Business
• The Radio Branch of AFTRS
• Making Radio textbook Written by Steve Ahern - all you need to know about working in Australian Radio.