If you're an up-and-coming filmmaker who wants backing for your first feature, consider making a short film in the same genre first.

Key points: Leading producer believes a short film in the same genre as a pitched feature will grab the attention of financiers

Leading producer believes a short film in the same genre as a pitched feature will grab the attention of financiers Key industry stakeholders will share their experience at a sold-out conference in Adelaide this month

Key industry stakeholders will share their experience at a sold-out conference in Adelaide this month Competition for finance has intensified since the global financial crisis

That's the advice Adelaide-based producer Julie Ryan will be sharing with fledgling filmmakers at the Screen Makers Conference to be held in the city later this month.

"The best example is Jennifer Kent who made The Babadook," she said.

"The short film she made first, Monster, was exactly that story.

"It was a short that was so scary, so commercial and amazing, that when you watched that short and read The Babadook script, you go, 'Yep, we know what this is going to be'."

Ms Ryan will be among leading financiers, distributors, directors, writers and producers who will descend on the Media Resource Centre (MRC) to share the latest trends, advice and industry status to an audience of creatives.

Julie Ryan says short films from up-and-coming filmmakers will get her attention. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

Boasting commercial credits such as Hotel Mumbai and Red Dog, along with Rolf de Heer films such as Ten Canoes, The Tracker and Alexandra's Project, Ms Ryan said a short film gave producers and distributors the strongest possible sense of a filmmaker's potential.

She said it was the same scenario for Adelaide director of Hotel Mumbai, Anthony Maras, whose 2018 film depicted the terrorist siege on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in 2008.

"We first made a film called The Palace, and even though it's set in Cyprus about the Turkish invasion of 1974, that 15 minutes is like Hotel Mumbai for sure," Ms Ryan said.

"So coming to me, if you've got a feature script, you'd have to have a short before I'd even consider it ... and it has to have done something and not just at some obscure film festival.

"To be honest, I'd probably watch the short before I read the script."

Pitching opportunities for filmmakers

Held over two days, the conference also offers participants an opportunity for one-on-one pitching to marketplace representatives, as well as participation in the Pitch-o-rama competition, for which the winner will receive $10,000 from the ABC and MRC towards the development of a web series.

Albert Jamae pitches his concept for Four Feet Under during last year's conference. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

One of the bigger names present this year will be E Bennett Walsh, producer of The Amazing Spiderman Two, The Kite Runner and Kill Bill, who is also making a reboot of Mortal Kombat in Adelaide.

MRC director Gail Kovatseff said a new Screen Makers Lab would be added to the program this year, giving participants a shot at applying for $15,000 cash and $15,000 in-kind support to make a TV pilot.

"Adding this initiative to Pitch-o-rama and the marketplace cements the Screen Makers Conference as one of the most crucial opportunities for screen makers to advance their careers," she said.

"There is no-one else in Australia doing anything like this, and we're hoping it will give a local team a shot at creating an ongoing entertainment show that can underpin employment and production outcomes for the local industry."

Gail Kovatseff says the conference is the only one of its kind in Australia. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

A career focused on film

Working from an unassuming house in Adelaide's south with a curious cat for an assistant, Ms Ryan has never sought financing for TV or web-series projects; she has instead focused on producing film projects.

Her latest feature, H Is For Happiness, will have its world premiere at the Melbourne Film Festival next month before its release in 2020.

Julie Ryan's latest feature H Is For Happiness stars Daisy Axon and Wesley Patton. ( Supplied: Cyan Films )

After producing mostly arthouse films while working for Rolf de Heer for 10 years, she said she made the transition to producing commercial films after the global financial crisis.

"I remember going to the Cannes film market to pitch an arthouse film, an Iranian film actually, and pretty much on the way the whole GFC happened and there just wasn't as much money around from the market," Ms Ryan said.

"Sales agents weren't putting up much, distributors weren't putting up much, it was becoming more competitive, and I quickly realised, don't develop arthouse films because you're not going to be able to get them financed."

She advised filmmakers to be aware of market trends.

"People still go to the cinema, but I worry that we are being swamped by Marvel.

"The audience that do go to see Marvel films are probably not going to be interested in an Australian film.

"For me, that says I wouldn't be looking to develop a film for a young male audience."

The SMC runs from July 26 to 27, with the Screen Makers Lab on July 28.