In a bid to encourage more indigenous people into the advertising and media industries, Pluto Media has teamed up with The Communications Council of Australia to form a brand new AWARD School Indigenous Scholarships program.
This includes acceptance into the AWARD School Application workshop and then, if selected, entry into the AWARD School course itself.
Pluto Media’s CEO, Peter Kirk (pictured below), is a multi-award winning multi-channel producer of content, director, screen writer and accomplished film and commercial director.
As an Indigenous creative himself, Kirk commented that the programme had been developed to attract more Indigenous people into the advertising industry.
“Indigenous people are some of the best storytellers. It’s in our blood and history,” he said.
“In an industry that needs to adapt and change, the more diverse we are the better the creative work and the better the creative work, the more clients will want to work with us.”
These sentiments were echoed by Anthony Moss, ECD at whiteGrey, who joined Kirk for a one-off podcast about working with Indigenous creatives.
They were also joined by one of whiteGrey’s copywriters, Nic Molyneaux, an Indigenous creative who has completed AWARD School and gone on to win a Cannes Lion for his work. You can have a listen to the podcast below or via this link.
To be selected into the Indigenous Scholarships program, an Indigenous student must attend the AWARD School Application workshop, where students will be given a range of briefs to crack and shown what the industry is looking for in ideas. It is hands-on, instructive and fun.
The AWARD School Application workshop has been proven to provide students with skills to apply for AWARD School.
The applications for AWARD School will open in February, 2019 and those students that are accepted will receive an AWARD School Indigenous Scholarship.
The school does not focus on how much experience you have. Rather it is assessing how, as an Indigenous creative, you think and how you submit work. They will not be assessing the standard of work but they will be providing personal tutoring throughout the course.
The AWARD School is a national program, but Application workshops are held in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
The AWARD School Application workshop days are:
SYDNEY
Date: Sunday 25 November 2018, 10am-4pm
Venue: Ovolo Hotel, Woolloomooloo
MELBOURNE
Date: Sunday 25 November 2018, 10am-4pm
Venue: HIGHLINE, Fitzroy
PERTH
Date: Friday 23 November 2018, 10am-4pm
Venue: AWARD School Pop Gallery, West Perth
The AWARD School course itself runs from April to June 2019. It is a 12-week course which is held weekly in the evening. Attendance is compulsory.
To apply for the AWARD school Indigenous Scholarship and attend the Application workshop, click here.
B&T is continually trying to improve the state of diversity within the Australian communications industry. Check out the B&T Diversity Centre for more information and we are currently planning our 2019 Changing the Ratio conference. Get in touch with your suggestions: [email protected] and [email protected].
