Participate Film Academy is now able to offer a place in its feature filmmaking course – the only one of its kind in the world – to a scholarship applicant, thanks to Art of Multimedia.

“We are proud to provide this groundbreaking program with financial support, and look forward to giving a disadvantaged Australian the chance to gain valuable vocational skills and the potential to enter the creative industry,” says AOM’s managing director, Beata Kade.

The film school’s Diploma of Screen and Media program gives students the opportunity to make a full-length feature (80 minutes plus), learning all aspects of film production in the process.

“Knowing what a director does to complete a movie is totally different from actually doing it,” says Martin Alvarez Garcia, co-director and editor of the 2009 Participate film, Sweet Marshall.

Participate graduate and actor Ashleigh Cummings says, “You learn so much about yourself, gaining self-confidence as well as improving your skills through the filmmaking experience.”

Ashleigh was 14 years old when she took a lead role in the 2008 Participate film, Green Fire Envy. She has since appeared in Tomorrow, When the War Began, the $20 million Australian movie that gained financial and critical success in 2010.

Participate’s teaching method is so different from other schools, because it produces highly employable graduates. Students acquire and practice broad filmmaking skills, and the agility to develop further across multiple disciplines in the converging film, creative and IT industries.

Guided by mentors who are practitioners in the movie industry, students make all the important production decisions and experience their consequences. They face the real creative and business challenges involved in completing a project under time, equipment and budget constraints, gaining the equivalent of years of commercial experience during the course.

“I have seen first-hand the quality of Participate’s graduates and consider it a smart investment in the future of our creative industry. I encourage companies large and small to invest in innovative education for Australian youth,” Beata adds.

Anyone interested in this scholarship opportunity is invited to get more information and apply at participate.com.au/scholarships

For more about Participate go to www.participate.com.au