Masterclass in Assistant Directing for Film and Television

Two day AD Masterclass with Vicki Sugars

This is for ADs, directors, producers: anybody interested in the AD process.

Vicki Sugars bio:

Vicki has worked as a 1st Assistant Director for over 30 years with credits on 10 feature films and over 120 hours of television drama. She was also associate producer to Bridget Ikin on the feature film Look Both Ways and Gillan Armstrong's feature documentary Love Lust & Lies, as well as co-producer and story developer with Tom Zubrycki on the AWGIE nominated documentary, The Panther Within.
Vicki has a MA in Creative Writing from UTS and has also written, directed and produced live action and animated shorts. Her first short film Moustache premiered in competition at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, selling Canal+, ZDF, MTV and ABC TV, screening in over 130 countries winning 12 international awards. Her second short film Past Midnight premiered at the 2009 Adelaide Film Festival and won the SASA Award for Best Director. Between 2010-2013 Vicki resided on the Board of the Australian Directors Guild and in 2013 was awarded Screen Australia's Talent Escalator Program when invited to the BingerLab in Amsterdam as writer/director in Residence.
Between 2013-2014 Vicki was Course Convenor of the Graduate Diploma Program at AFTRS, overseeing HODs delivery of course content and the student's major productions. Between 2015-2017, she was the Manager of Production, Development and Studios at the South Australian Film Corporation, as well as also designing and overseaing the first round of SAFC/ABC iview and Indigenous Short Film Productions.
Currently, Vicki is enjoying her new life in the Illawarra complimented with some occasional overseas travel.

Course overview

This 8-hour masterclass delivered by 1st Assistant Director Vicki Sugars, will take you through all the steps of what it takes to work as an assistant director on a production. The role and duties of a 3rd and 2nd assistant director will also be covered and how they work with the 1st AD and rest of crew to ensure the production is shot on time within the limits designed by the producer. Topics covered will include all the stages of pre-production, running production meetings, working with the Producer and Production Manager, the importance of location recces, Safety, working with additional crew and Actors, as well as how the 1st AD works with the Heads of Departments to ensure the Director's vision is realised onscreen. A demonstration of Movie Magic Scheduling software will also be provided, as well as talking through all the documents managed by the ADs, included Daily Progress Reports, Call Sheets, One Line schedules and the all-important Master Shooting Schedule. The production models of working on TV Commercials and short films will also be covered. Three short films will be screened where Vicki was 1st AD and will talk through the unique nuances of each and what determined the shape of their shooting schedule. Each section of the Masterclass will allow for questions from participants.

Lunch will be provided and catered for at 12pm. Please let us know if you have dietary requirements for catering.

Reminder: This is a free workshop for Screen Illawarra members. If you’re unsure of the status of your membership, please reach out to confirm you’re a current member. 

Non-members please join Screen Illawarra/renew your membership to attend.