British Council offers career boost to emerging Aussie creative talent – 5 scholarships to be won

Australia’s best up-and-coming creative practitioners are invited to apply to win one of five scholarships offering the rare opportunity to connect with industry leaders in the UK, thanks to the British Council’s Realise Your Dream Awards.

Now in its eighth successful year, Realise Your Dream is open to anyone working in creative fields such as visual arts, fashion, design, advertising, architecture, music, animation, digital media, performing arts, new media and computer games.

The scheme awards excellence and vision in Australia’s creativeindustries by providing financial and professional support to helpemerging talent make professional contacts and expand their horizons inone of the world’s most vibrant cultural settings.

Five awardsare on offer to Australians in the early stages of their careers.They’ll each be flown to the UK by Virgin Atlantic and receive an$8,000 NAB Cash Passport from National Australia Bank to cover theirexpenses.

But the unique part of the prize is this: the BritishCouncil will tap into its strong network of UK’s finest creatives tohelp craft a tailored professional development programme for eachwinner that will provide valuable networking experience and mentoring.

Winnersfrom last year included: Mark Robinson, filmmaker from Potts Point, NSW• Julian Day, sound artist/composer from O’Connor, ACT •   Timba Smits,designer/independent publisher from Richmond, VIC •  Lally Katz,playwright from Kew, VIC •   Sascha Ettinger-Epstein, filmmaker fromDouble Bay, NSW.

“Realise Your Dream presents a uniqueopportunity for young creative Australians to take their careers to thenext level by forming international connections. The British Councilrecognises the great worth of our future cultural leaders and wants tohelp them reach their potential,” said British Council Director NickMarchand.

“We’re looking for applicants with vision, talent,commitment and a passion for their craft, who will benefit fromengaging with the UK’s dynamic creative industry.”

Realise YourDream is a British Council initiative made possible by principalsponsor NAB, in association with Virgin Group of Airlines, StamfordHotels and Resorts, triple j, Access PR and Republic of Everyone.

“PersonallyI’m a very strong advocate for the Realise Your Dream programme. We’rebig supporters here at NAB, and have been delighted to be involvedsince inception. Winning this opportunity to travel to the UK is verysignificant. There’s evidence through the alumni that some of thesepeople will hit the big time, and that’s great,” said John Simpson,General Manager Group Corporate Affairs NAB.

Entries are online now and close Friday 18 June 2010. Visit the Realise Your Dream website for more details.