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To keep abreast of what's happening in the South West, see our events section, or subscribe to our e-bulletin to have fortnightly news delivered direct to your inbox.

Strategy for UK Screen Heritage
In October 2007, the then Culture Secretary James Purnell announced an award to the UK Film Council of £25 million to safeguard the future of the UK's national and regional film archives and collections. Following on from this, the nine Regional Screen Agencies are launching The Survey of Moving Image Collections held in the Regions to create a consistent England-wide map that will provide up to date information enabling us to plan for future delivery. To find out more and complete the survey, click here.

South West Screen on YouTube
South West Screen has set a channel YouTube channel - click here to view a showreel of work produced in the region, interviews with people we've worked with and a selection of brilliant films made by young people which were screened at our recent Virtual Voices event. We will be adding new content regularly - if you have any comments on the channel please contact us.

SWS Production Guide goes mobile
In a continual drive to promote the region's talented crew and facility company infrastructure, South West Screen is launching a Mobile version of its online production guide. Production teams are now able to access our comprehensive databases from any phone or mobile device that is WAP enabled. The service is available 24hrs a day and is free to access. Normal mobile call charges will apply from your service provider. To access the service just input the following URL http://m.moviesite.biz/sws

Apply for South West Screen funding online
We are simplifying our application process - you can now apply for South West Screen lottery funding online. This new online application process will make it much quicker and easier for prospective applicants to apply for funding. Once registered, applicants can complete and submit funding applications online via their own secure account. The online application process will soon be available for all South West Screen schemes and opportunities - keep an eye on our funding pages for more details. Click here to apply for lottery funding or click here to find out what opportunities are currently open for application.

Virtual Voices a success
Over 190 delegates including 40 young people, attended Virtual Voices, a unique event bringing together the media industry with young media-makers and their teachers and tutors, at the Watershed in Bristol on 10 July. Keynote speaker Iain Dale inspired many people to begin their own blog with his talk about how journalism is changing, and the industry panels sparked many a debate about how to get young people's work into the mainstream. This was complimented by a series of hands-on workshops and the day was rounded off by a screening of fantastic films created by young people. We have released the introduction (by Caroline Norbury and Alison Bown, South West Screen) and Iain Dale's key note speech as podcasts - subscribe here. Podcasts of the panel sessions will be released over the coming weeks. You can also view the films screened at the event on You Tube and a selection of photos on Flickr.

Third Screenwriters' Festival a success
This year's Screenwriters' Festival took place last week in Cheltenham with speakers including Mike Leigh (Vera Drake/Happy Go Lucky), Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons/Atonement), Ronald Harwood (The Pianist/The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and bestselling author Terry Pratchett (Discworld). Barbara Machin (writer and creator of Waking the Dead) got the Festival underway with an engaging opening address about the importance of innovative and original thinking in contemporary screenwriting. Delegates also heard from Controller of BBC Fiction Jane Tranter and Director of ITV Drama Laura Mackie about their wisdom and vision for 21st Century drama.

£300 000 for Creative Training in Gloucestershire
The Gloucestershire Media Group has just launched its brand new EVOLVE training scheme which will see an investment of £300 000 from the European Social Fund channelled into the county specifically aimed at up-skilling young adults as well as professionals within the Creative industry over the next three years. The scheme will provide a variety of training opportunities and development programmes specifically designed by industry professionals to ensure that all activity is purely demand-led. To ensure the scheme is a success, detailed research of industry skill needs will be undertaken locally that will help in putting together a diverse and unique training scheme. GMG hope to conclude the research by the end of July and roll-out GMG EVOLVE in late autumn this year. Keep an eye on the GMG website for more details.

Wildscreen finalists announced
Wildscreen are delighted to announce the finalists of this year's prestigious Panda Awards. The Nomination Panel met over a week in Bristol and comprised of thirteen judges from nine countries, who represented a wide range of industry skills and backgrounds. The team was also joined by an editor and an earth sciences expert, who helped provide those particular categories with additional expertise. Separate specialist judging panels were assembled for the New Media, Theatrical and Children's Choice Awards (the latter comprising school children in both Bristol and Zimbabwe).
The judges identified 62 films which will go forward to the final jury in October, just prior to the Festival which takes place from 19 - 24 October 2008 in Bristol. The full list of finalists can be found here.

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