BSF Launches in Gold Coast with Griffith University

Award-winning social enterprise film school and production company Bus Stop Films will expand its acclaimed Accessible Film Studies Program in QLD to the Gold Coast. Bus Stop will extend its existing partnership with Griffith University and Griffith Film School Brisbane, to now include classes at their Gold Coast campus as well.

The innovative Program offers young adults with intellectual disability or autism a film school experience. The class works together with industry professionals to create a short film. Through the Program participants learn all aspects of the filmmaking process including script development, casting, sound, lighting and camera techniques as well as production design and costuming. Additionally, they gain social confidence, improve literacy and grow their independence, with many participants gaining work in the screen industry. In Brisbane, Griffith’s own students have been able to take up opportunities to collaborate with Bus Stop Films through internships on their productions.

The films made through the program amplify the creativity of people with disabilities and celebrate film as a medium for social change, while challenging community expectations about disability. To date films made through Bus Stop’s QLD program including Sunshine, We’ll Always Have Dance and Joie have screened at festivals around the world and the Program’s 2022 film Hell Yeah will shortly premiere at Brisbane International Film Festival.

Bus Stop’s CEO Tracey Corbin-Matchett OAM said, “We are so thrilled to see our foot grow in Queensland and to have Griffith’s continued support to make it happen. With the Gold Coast being such a hub of production, we look forward to connecting our participants into the region’s active screen industry.”

Associate Professor Richard Fabb, Creative Director, LiveLab, Griffith Film School said, “Our partnership with Bus Stop Films has added significant value to the film school experience of both the Program’s participants and our own students as well. I am excited by the opportunity to extend the partnership to our Gold Coast campus and what this means for the University’s ongoing commitment to inclusion and collaboration through the arts.”

Bus Stop’s Accessible Film Studies Program is open to people aged over 17 living with mild to moderate intellectual disability or autism. The 40-week rolling program will be delivered on Saturday afternoons from February to December in 2024. It includes face to face classes, guest workshops from industry professionals, excursions and working on a professional film production. Participants can access their NDIS funds to pay the program fees.

Interested participants are invited to attend free “Taster workshops” in coming months so they can get a feel for the Program and the classroom space. Each workshop topic is different so you can attend one or all of them.

Registrations for the workshops are essential: https://busstopfilms.com.au/gold-coast-tasters/

Workshop 1 – Saturday 4th November – 10:30am-12:30pm

Workshop 2 – Saturday 18th November- 10:30am-12:30pm

Workshop 3 – Saturday 2nd December- 10:30am-12:30pm

Griffith University

Gold Coast Campus

Parklands Dr, Southport QLD 4215

For more information about Bus Stop’s Accessible Film Studies Program, go to https://busstopfilms.com.au/programs/

Media Contact – Tracey Corbin-Matchett

0408 475 736