Join Bettina Hamilton in this full-day Launch Lab on budgeting productions with Screen Australia’s A-Z industry standard budgeting tool

The widely adopted Excel format is deeply comprehensive and can seem formidable at first glance. Bettina will demystify all aspects of the A-Z budget template and walk through how to budget screen productions appropriately under MEAA and MPPCA award minimum rates.

“Fundamentally, a good short film budget is just the A-Z feature budget template with some lines hidden or deleted.” 

– Bettina Hamilton.

Whether you’re a short-filmmaker, or aspiring towards your first feature, this Budgeting A-Z Launch Lab is essential.

* Note that applications for the 2026 Quicksilver Production Fund – to be announced later this year – will move to being mandatory for all short film budgets to be submitted in the Screen Australia A-Z template.

This Budgeting A-Z Launch Lab is your opportunity to understand exactly how to present your short film production budgets for assessment.

As well as the Screen Australia industry standard A-Z production budget template, Bettina will walk through production accounting, drawdown and cashflow schedules, and correct cost reporting.

Date:  Saturday 27 June 2026

Time: Doors 9.30am | Lab 10.00am – 4.00pm | Networking 4.00pm – 5.00pm

Venue:  The Mercury

Cost: Free for Mercury Subscribers · $75 General Admission · $35 Secondary and Tertiary Students *Must present Student ID at the door.

Bettina has been working as a Production Manager and Line Producer in South Australia and Western Australia for several years managing budgets for low-to-high-end projects across both film and television.

Bettina produced her first narrative feature film in 2022 through the Film Lab: New Voices program. Monolith the sci-fi mystery-thriller generated in that program, made its international debut at SXSW 2023. Its yearlong festival run enjoyed several highlights, including being one of the four films nominated for the coveted Best Film Award at CinefestOz and being selected for the Noves Visions category at Sitges 2023. The film was released in the USA, the UK and most of Europe and is currently available on Prime in Australia.

Bettina most recently produced the dramedy Kangaroo Island with producers Peter Hanlon, Tim Piper and Daniel Rosenberg. The film, starring Rebecca Breeds and Erik Thomson, premiered at Adelaide Film Festival in 2024, was released in Australian cinemas last year to box office success, and is currently available on Netflix. Bettina is in development on a slate of projects while continuing to work as a freelance Line Producer for both film and TV. Bettina also recently launched and oversees the Hamilton Health & Safety Fund, an open-round fund for short films designed to increase safety and wellbeing in the South Australian film industry.