It’s been a tough year with the Covid shutdown for the live performance and screen industries, but as we welcome spring we can see the green shoots of new productions. In the screen industry’s case, these green shoots have taken on a rather vigorous grow with many projects in production or about to start, and the scramble for crews is now on across the county. 

This is an opportune moment to remind all our members to update their profiles on the APDG website, as producers and directors are using this resource more and more to find designers and design professionals for their projects.

On behalf of all members, I would like to thank our colleagues who have volunteered their time over the last few months putting together virtual ‘get togethers’ for our live performance and screen colleagues. I’d like to also thank all our colleagues who have given their time, experiences and knowledge by participating in the APDG Dialogues in Design talks, a series which has been hugely popular and is set to be a regular feature in the coming months. You can check out all APDG Dialogues in Design episodes on the website, it has been a wonderful morale boost and a way of staying connected for all of us through these troubled times.

The government is still failing the arts industries in this country with little support over the past months and making announcements with little action. This has been demonstrated by the much trumpeted screen recovery plan made over a month ago, that still has no guidelines on how to apply or when it will become available, and the baffling omission of a screen representative on the new Covid arts recovery advisor body. The recent government announcement of abandoning local content rules on free to air TV is equally as baffling. I urge everyone to hassle their local MPs and demand a better deal for the live performance and screen industries.

On a happier note, congratulations to all the mentees participating in the 2020 MENTORAPDG programme and good luck to those entering the Thelma Afford Award for Costume Design in Stage and Screen.

Enjoy the warming weather and we send our love and regards to our colleagues in Victoria suffering their prolonged shut down and hope as the infection numbers go down, they will be able to get back to work and enjoy a near normal life.

George