Flinders University’s multipurpose production stage, The Void, became the focus of attention for South Australia’s Minister for Innovation and Skills, David Pisoni, who visited the facility last week.

Mr Pisoni, whose portfolio covers the local screen industry, became aware of The Void at the official launch of Flinders University’s Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts in May, and made an appointment to see how student education and research activity is integrated within the space, along with understanding the opportunities for collaboration with industry that The Void offers.

Mr Pisoni viewed a screen production scene featuring second year drama students, before viewing the Welcome to Country motion capture production for the Darwin music festival, Bass in the Grass. Liam Somerville, director of the Welcome to Country, was also in attendance to talk about the unique opportunity to work with Flinders VEED students to create this work in The Void.

Dan Thorsland, Business Development Manager for the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, says that the visit was a unique opportunity to showcase the work being done within The Void.

“We were able to showcase how, across the practices of performance, digital visual effects, screen production and cultural exhibition/archiving, how the use of the technologies within The Void leads to positive outcomes for a number of students,” says Mr Thorsland.

“This visit gave us a chance to show how Flinders is committed to quality education in all facets of screen production.”

The team at The Void are now working with the Department of Innovation and Skill to engage with the local visual effects and game development industry to define clear employment pathways for graduates, all of which has arisen from the last year of industry engagement at The Void.