Introductory speech, 15 November 2006, Raw Nerve screening event, hosted by Popcorn Taxi, Greater Union Theatre, Melbourne. All up, 159 attended, of which 38 were comps.

Raw Nerve Q & A at Popcorn Taxi.

Graeme Sward is a gentle hearted, blustery and passionate man in his mid-50s. Graeme grew up in Tasmania and began working in TV around 1974. He went on to become a Director and Producer finally settling into his present position as CEO of the Film and Television Institute, OPEN CHANNEL's sister screen development agency in Perth.

Graeme was standing on the streets of Perth one afternoon as skateboarders fanged their boards across footpaths, weaving through passers-by and he thought how great it would be if he could offer these kids the opportunity to make a film... a short film with a small budget, mentoring and equipment... This was the genus of Raw Nerve, a production support initiative funded by the Australian Film Commission and managed by the five screen development centres spread around the country.

Raw Nerve provides entry level filmmakers with the resources to realise their first government funded film. Graeme doesn't like to use the term emerging... as he asks, emerging from what?

Raw Nerve encourages experimentation, team building and collaboration to filmmakers who have often come from unlikely sources to find expression in the moving image in a rigorous production environment, tight budgets and tight schedules and the obligatory addled nerves and sleep deprivation... good, wholesome, natural ingredients found in every great film... including stock standard Raw Nerve sweat, tears and angst, pride, passion and determination... and you will see all this in the 5 shorts we will screen here tonight.

Of 72 scripts, of the 72 applications (I'm told far more than any other SDA in the country) Alice Daley, Nicki Johnson, Natalie Faulkner, Paul Anderson and Anthony Noack, along with their Producers and crews, have completed a compelling body of work... a body of work that would not have been possible without the support of OPEN CHANNEL staff, in particular Supervising Producer and Mentor, Suze Houghton. They would not have been chosen were it not for our script readers and assessors: Jan Sardi, Chris Ryan, Natascha Stellmach, Suze Houghton and Ness Alexandra.

We would also like to thank LEMAC, Music & Effects, Kodak, Digital Pictures, Complete Post and Popcorn Taxi.

The call-out for Raw Nerve 2007 will be made in December... so drop in on site at Docklands, visit us online at openchannel.org.au and cast your eyes on screen as we introduce Raw Nerve 2006, so hot off the hard-drives of some are as fresh as a few hours ago!

Thank you...