Our vision
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Testing Grounds
Creative Development, mentoring
2022 – Ongoing
You have the idea, you have the drive; what do you do next?
Testing Grounds is a creative development and personal mentorship program for emerging artists interested in the creation and development of new work over a 8 – 9 month period. The program is a natural extension from the CuriousWorks Writer’s Group, previously called Urban Stories.
Creative development is slow and weird, and progress is not always linear. Testing Grounds gives program participants the space, time and resources to learn, experiment and reflect not only on what they’re making, but also why and how.
Participants are offered:
- One-on-one creative development mentorship with industry mentors
- Group working sessions for the next stages of development through practical creative industry skills such as grant writing, collaboration and network support
- Access to CuriousWorks staff and space as a resource during your mentorship
- Bespoke project development outcomes with an artist stipend
2024
Meet the incredible cohort for Testing Grounds 2024.
From left to right, the mentees for 2024 are as follows: Addy Fong, Cristobal Olguin & Wendy Qi Zhang. You can read their bios here.
Addy worked on a comedy short film called PRAWN CHIP CORN CHIP and was being mentored by Grace Tan & Craig Anderson.
Cristobal worked on a horror feature called The House of Ash and Smoke and was being mentored by Natalia Figueroa Barroso.
Wendy worked on a digital exhibition called Tea Time for your Soft Body and was being mentored by Monica Lim, Henry Lai-Pyne, Susan Kosti, Narjis Mirzaa & Sunny Kim.
Watch this space for more info on their projects!
2023
Meet the 2023 Testing Grounds participants!
The Testing Grounds participants for 2023 are (from left to right): Kayla Hill, Nicole Cadelina and Sarrah Carroll!
You can read more about them and their works in development here.
Across the year, the Testing Grounds participants were a part of monthly group sessions where they learned new skills, gave feedback and support, and put in the time to develop new work. Each mentee was also paired with a specific mentor to support where they were with their projects.
The mentees and the projects are:
Nicole Cadelina and Santa Niña, a Filipino-Australia short film, and her first film project as a director.
Santa Niña focuses on the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship between two Filipina women in Western Sydney. Set during a rainy night at a local church, the two women must learn to reconcile and make amends with one another before Sinulog, a religious event celebrating the Feast of Santo Niño.
Across 2023, Nicole completed her short film script, ran a crowdfunding campaign through the Australian Cultural Fund and built up her creative team. The film is currently planned for production mid-2024.
Santa Niña Instagram; Nicole Cadelina’s website.
Nicole was mentored by Jules Orcullo.
Sarah Leigh Carroll and Chronically Single, a comedic short-form series for TikTok exploring sex, shame and asexual/demisexual representation.
Maddi is 25 years old and has never been in a relationship let alone had sex; after she gets rejected, she’s determined to become an expert before she embarrasses herself again. Will she learn virginity is a construct? Or will she finally pop her cherry by episode six?
Sarah has been developing her craft as a theatre maker and performer, but was unfamiliar with the screen world. Through Testing Grounds, Sarah refined her concept, developed scripts and a team for the project, and has learned more about how to navigate the screen world.
Sarah was mentored by Laurrie Mansfield.
Chronically Single Series IG; Sarah Leigh Carrol’s website
Kayla Hill and Strike!, a tv series peeking into the chaotic world of youth climate activism.
Strike! is a fictional teen dramedy that explores the insides of the youth climate movement. Think, what goes on with Greta Thunberg and the likes between protests? Surely not any relationships or fights or identity crises or breakdowns…right?
Kayla has spent years as a teen climate activist, but was completely unfamiliar with the screen world. She applied for Testing Grounds with an idea and some writing samples, but she had never written a script. Through Testing Grounds, Kayla wrote and revised her first pilot script, had a filmed table read with actors, and transformed her project from an unnamed concept to Strike! She’s currently working on how to independently film the pilot episode.
Kayla was mentored by Elias Nohra.
Strike! IG; Kayla Hill’s website
Since its pilot in 2022, CuriousWorks Testing Grounds program is now proudly supported by Screen NSW.
2022
The Testing Grounds participants for 2022 are (from left to right): Natasha Pontoh-Supit, Sivani Yaddanapudi and Kim Pham.
Over 2022, this pilot program supported three emerging artists, who each applied for the program with a specific project in mind. Both senior staff and external mentors were brought on to guide and support each artist with their goals and to take the projects to the next stage of creative development – be that writing a grant, script development or proof of concept production. The group were also part of a range of masterclasses including understanding budgets, grant writing and self promotion.
“My mentors Miranda and Andrea not only helped me navigate the often-opaque process of grant writing but also helped pull together funding and a filming crew to film a proof of concept short film for my project as well.” – Kim Pham
“I have been working on an ensemble devised project called The Feminist Race, during my time with Andrea and Miranda at CuriousWorks they were able to provide support both creatively and practically. By helping establish a mentorship with an Artist I wanted to work with, to providing resources and tools on budgets and grant writing. Creatively, they have been able to give critical feedback on my work as a devised piece, both having different approaches to the feedback as well.” – Natasha Pontoh Supit
You can read more about them and their works in development here.
Since its pilot in 2022, CuriousWorks Testing Grounds program is now proudly supported by Screen NSW.
CREDITS
Program Producer: Miranda Aguilar
2022 Mentors: Miranda Aguilar, Andrea Lim, Shy Magsalin
2023 Mentors: Jules Orcullo, Elias Nohra, Laurrie Brannigan-Onato
2024 Mentors: Grace Tan, Natalia Figueroa Barroso, Monica Lim, Henry Lai-Pyne
Supported by ScreenNSW
Contact
Contact us here
Find us at:
Fairfield City HQ
17 Kenyon St,
Fairfield, NSW, 2165,
Australia
Mail us at:
PO Box 112,
Liverpool, NSW, 1871,
Australia
View our visual story to know exactly how to find us
02 9602 9568
ABN 49 717 992 269
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Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.
Our office is located on Darug land at Fairfield City HQ. We would like to acknowledge the Cabrogal Clan of the Darug Nation, the traditional custodians of the land. Our work takes us across Darug, Dharawal and Eora lands. Sovereignty was never ceded.