Sydney Film School

Sydney Film School, Australia, was established in August 2004 by a group of founding partners including Mark Allen, John Buckmaster, Ben Ferris, Phillip Handy, Leslie Oliver, Uracha Oliver, John Saunders, Joe Skrzynski, Emile Sherman and Willie Weinstein. It was officially launched on 3 February 2005 by the Premier of the State of NSW and Minister for the Arts, the Hon Bob Carr. The Founding Director was Ben Ferris (2004–18).

The school's campus was located for many years at 82 Cope Street, Waterloo and has now moved to the exciting state of the art Production House, Waterloo Studios. In the decade following its establishment, the school has gained a reputation as one of the top film schools in Australia and the world, attracting a high number of international students. In turn, this built a wide-ranging network of alumni creative professionals throughout the world.

As of February 2012, seventy-eight Sydney Film School produced films had screened at one-hundred-and-six international film festivals worldwide with thirty-four first place wins[4] This number only continues to grow.

In 2019 Sydney Film School changed ownership as part of an amalgamation with Sydney Acting School (formerly known as International Screen Academy) at Waterloo Studios. This amalgamation took place after the school had moved into the Academy's Young Street campus from its Cope Street campus. Although the Sydney Film School name, brand and course structure live on, the original founders and staff are no longer involved with the current school.[1]

Sydney Film School has a one-year full time Diploma of Screen & Media and a one-year Advanced Diploma of Screen & Media. The Diploma of Screen and Media is a foundational course that covered the entire filmmaking process. The Advanced Diploma provides students with the opportunity to further their studies.

Some of the accolades afforded to Sydney Film School graduates for their work include:

Best Student Documentary Film at Antenna Film Festival: "Ol' Blue Eyes", Matt Cooney [5]

Finalist at Bondi Short Film Festival: "Letters Home", Neilesh Verma [6]

Industry Advisory Board (IAB) Pitch Competition winner: "Lotus Sonny", Gary Sofarelli [7]

Opening Night screening; Best Australian Animation & Best Australian Composer at World of Women WOW Film Festival, 2012: "Camera Obscura", Marta Maia [4][8][9]

Best Comedy Feature & Best Supporting Actress at the American Independent Filmmaker Showcase: "Sick", Nick Danger [10][11][12]

Best Direction in a Student Film at 2012 Australian Directors Guild Awards: "The Room", Epiphany Morgan [13]

Best Drama at Blue Mountain Film Festival and Audience Award at Sandfly Film Festival: "The Good Neighbour", James Crisp [14]

Best Drama Short at Stockholm Independent Film Festival,[15] The Newcomer Award at Video Junkee 2017,[16] Bronze Award for Best Film at Novemberfestivalen 2017[17] and Best Nordic Film at The Nordic Youth Film Festival 2018:[18] "Waltzing Tilda", Jonathan Wilhelmsson

At the end of each semester, the school organises the Sydney Film School Festival to display the students' work.

Previous guest keynote speakers at the Sydney Film School Festival awards ceremony have included: George Miller (July 2005), Tom Zubrycki (July 2006), Phillip Noyce (December 2006), Paul Keating – Former Prime Minister of Australia (July 2007), Gillian Armstrong (December 2007), Bob Connolly (July 2008), Phillip Hearnshaw (December 2008), Bruce Beresford (December 2009), Ray Lawrence (July 2010), Virginia Judge (December 2010), Gretel Killeen (July 2011), Wayne Blair (July 2012), John Duigan (December 2012) and David Jowsey (July 2013)

During Paul Keating's keynote address at the Sydney Film School Festival in July 2007, Paul Keating made headlines by drawing comparisons between then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard and Adolf Hitler.[19]