Film Victoria’s Digital Media Prototyping and Downloadable Games Initiative funding rounds close Tuesday 27 April 2010. This funding offers Victorian producers, publishers and developers financial assistance in the development of locally owned intellectual property.

Film Victoria’s new Downloadable Games Initiative seeks to empower local producers looking to target digital distribution projects toward Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, Wiiware, iTunes, Steam and other relevant digital distribution networks. Funding is limited and investment of up to $75,000 is available. Producers should contact Film Victoria prior to submitting.

Film Victorias longstanding Digital Media Prototyping funds enable local producers to create product prototypes with up to $500,000 Sony PlayStation® 3 / Microsoft Xbox® 360 / Nintendo Wii® game projects; $150,000 for online, handheld and PC projects and $50,000 for mobile phone projects. Funding is limited and producers should contact Film Victoria prior to submitting.

For more details, check out their website.

(and as an aside, Freeplay gets a mention in their State of Play games booklet )

One of our partners, the Student Youth Network, is holding a Media Learning Week from August 24 – 28 at the State Library of Victoria.  Sessions are free, but bookings are essential.

In SYN’s own words:

SYN Media Learning Week is underway next week!!

We will be hosting a week-long series of Free Teacher Professional events at The State Library of Victoria.

One of the highlights of SYN Media Learning Week will be the Keynote Presentation by Mark Pesce.  Known internationally as the man who fused virtual reality with the World Wide Web to invent VRML, Mark Pesce has been exploring the frontiers of media and technology for a quarter of a century.
Mark Pesce will be speaking about the “four domains” of importance to educators in the 21st century: Constructivism, Sharing, Mobile and Digital Citizenship.

This presentation is an amazing opportunity for teachers to experience the knowledge of Mark Pesce in person.

There are still spaces available in this session, Thursday August 27 1:30 – 2:30 pm and it is FREE!

Book online http://www.eventbrite.com/event/373156120 or email training@syn.org.au

One of the supporters of this year’s Freeplay, especially in regards to sourcing equipment for our public expo area, has been iDef, and they’re returning later this year.

The International Digital Entertainment Festival (iDEF) is heading back to Melbourne, Australia in 2009 playing host to a series of events and activities supporting and promoting the exciting and innovative digital world. The festival will include the eGames Expo, Digital Lifestyle Show and Develop ICT Skills and Careers Expo. Featuring leading game publishers and the opportunity to engage with industry representatives iDEF is a great opportunity to gain a greater insight into the world of games and interactive entertainment. For more info check out www.idef.com.au

Freeplay has, over the years, become something of a fixture in Melbourne’s game development calendar. When, earlier this year, we spoke to people about running Freeplay, the response was overwhelmingly positive…. which was nice.

Festivals, however, don’t fund themselves, and having taken on the commitment to do Freeplay, we set about making sure that ours would have a roof over its head, and that we could afford to print programs, publicise it, and generally make Freeplay the event we wanted it to be.

Luckily, we’ve found brilliant partners in Next Wave, who previously ran Freeplay and have been excellent and generous mentors, in the Victorian Government, who are very focused on growing the Victorian game industry, and last but by no means least, the State Library of Victoria, who have really embraced game culture, and are keen to explore video games as an artistic and cultural medium.  (And gave Freeplay a roof over its head.)

We’ll keep saying this, but our thanks go out to our partners for helping Freeplay play on. You can check them on our Partners page.