PAST PROGRAMS
WRITER’S ROOM TRAINING PROGRAM
Cinespace invited aspiring screenwriters, creatives, and storytellers to join a unique five-weekend writers’ room intensive in the heart of Footscray. Together, participants learned real-world skills in how a writer’s room works in creating a season of television or streaming drama.
Writers in the room collaborated to develop an original web-series concept, set in Foostcray in Melbourne’s west – a story world that reflects the vibrancy, humour, and humanity of our intercultural communities,
HOLDING SPACE
HOLDING SPACE was a program designed to give emerging and grassroots community filmmakers an understanding of the skills and resources required to package and pitch their projects to approach the Australian media marketplace. As well as developing the necessary networks and contacts to represent the stories of their communities on screen.
Through a partnership with Business Victoria and facilitated by Barış Ulusoy; We provided a series of ni-person Community Conversation events, as well as an online Bootcamp. This culminated in application for our 2025 Summer RESIDENCY program.
ABOUT US, FOR YOU:
A Cinespace collaboration with Naarm-based initiative SXSEA, About Us, For You: A Festival of Stories was a series of workshops for culturally-diverse young people (18-25 years) around storytelling in film, music, and theatre.
Through 3 workshops, across 3 weeks, participants worked with experienced mentors and each other, to create artistic pieces that shared people's stories, in their voices.
The music tracks, films, and theatre monologues they created were showcased at an event, hosted in collaboration with Brimbank FReeZa's Half-Baked Open Mic, at The Bowery Theatre.
SOUTH EAST PROJECT
Cinespace Inc. with funding from Casey Council and in collaboration with Oz Malik present a series of filmmaking and acting workshops to local creatives, filmmakers, actors, and residents between 2024 and 2025.
You will learn more about acting, script analysis and storyline, using a case study “training project” developed with writer Irshad Khan together with community input, and designed to be filmed in set South-East locations.
The film tells the story of two brothers who run a family rug store and face unexpected challenges. This dark comedy will highlight the local area and showcase local talent.
no waiting
Employees of a fictitious government ‘Hype Unit’ must use all the skills they have in their bureaucratic arsenal to hype the community up to get the jab - all the while working out of the waiting room of a vaccination clinic.
'No Waiting' is a product of Cinespace's Training Grounds program, aimed at giving emerging culturally diverse creatives a holistic understanding of screen production - and their first screen credit. It is the pilot season of Victoria's first trainee production.
Training Grounds was made possible through the Multicultural Communications Outreach Program (MCOP), funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
here’s the real joke, mate!
Here's The Real joke, Mate! is an anthology of short antiracism films pitched at 12-15-year-olds funded by Victorian Government Multicultural office's Local Anti-Racism Initiatives Program.
The phrase "It's just a joke, mate!" is often used to excuse racist behaviour. This series of ten short clips turns the 'joke' on its head by exposing the toxic underpinnings of racism and demonstrates strategies for non-confrontational responses.
The series was produced and directed by Cinespace's Steve RE Pereira. A training session on Tik Tok was run by Tamarah Scott from Short Cut Creatives. Funding support from the Victorian Government and Victoria University Live Stream Studios
SMARTPHONE STORIES
Smartphone Stories is a program developed in partnership with Cinespace that empowers individuals to become filmmakers using the device they carry every day—their smartphone. Through engaging, hands-on workshops, participants learn to write, shoot, and edit their own short films, all within a supportive and inclusive environment.
Smartphone Stories has delivered workshops across more than 50 locations, reaching over 500 participants. These workshops have been conducted in various settings, including community centers, schools, and organisations, and have catered to diverse groups such as seniors, youth, people with disabilities, First Nations communities, and LGBTQI groups. By equipping individuals with the skills to tell their own stories through film, Smartphone Stories fosters creativity, inclusivity, and community engagement, proving that everyone has a story worth sharing.
Want to see the broader impact of our work?
View our Annual Reports at the end of our About page for a full overview of activities, the creatives we’ve supported, and community reach.