The first round of Aacta Award winners have been announced today at the 4th Aacta Award Luncheon held at the Star Event Centre in Sydney.
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
Celebrating screen craft excellence in Australia, 22 awards were presented, recognising the work of screen practitioners working in television, documentary, short fiction film, short animation and feature film.
The Luncheon was hosted by writer/actor/producer/director Adam Zwar, who was also joined throughout the event by a list of distinguished presenters. including Aacta President Geoffrey Rush, David Stratton, Damian Walshe-Howling, Alexandra Schepisi, Charlotte Best and Diana Glenn.
In the feature film category, Predestination took home the most Awards; with Ben Nott Acs taking out the prize for Best Cinematography, Matt Villa Ase winning the award for Best Editing, and Matthew Putland scooping Best Production Design.
Tess Schofield was honoured with the Aacta Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Water Diviner while...
- 1/27/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Russell Crowe-Directed Movie Up for Australian Film Award; Crowe Shortlisted Only in Acting Category
Director Russell Crowe Movie up for Best Film: Australian Academy Awards 2015 nominations (photo: Actor-director Russell Crowe in 'The Water Diviner') Aacta Awards: Feature Film Categories Best Film The Babadook Kristina Ceyton and Kristian Moliere Charlie's Country Nils Erik Nielsen, Peter Djigirr and Rolf de Heer Predestination Paddy McDonald, Tim McGahan, Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Railway Man Chris Brown, Andy Paterson and Bill Curbishley Tracks Emile Sherman and Iain Canning The Water Diviner Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger and Troy Lum Best Director The Babadook Jennifer Kent Charlie's Country Rolf de Heer Predestination Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig The Rover David Michôd Best Actress Kate Box The Little Death Essie Davis The Babadook Sarah Snook Predestination Mia Wasikowska Tracks Best Actor Russell Crowe The Water Diviner David Gulpilil Charlie's Country Damon Herriman The Little Death Guy Pearce The Rover Best Supporting Actor Patrick Brammall The Little Death Yilmaz Erdogan...
- 12/3/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
On the set of the ABC’s new teen dance drama, Dance Academy, Laine Lister discovered that a love of ballet, weak ankles and chance meetings combine to create a very sweet series.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
- 6/8/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
SYDNEY -- The winner of the inaugural Australian Project Greenlight scriptwriting contest has watched one too many Las Vegas-set crime thrillers. Or maybe not enough good ones. Morgan O'Neill, a 32-year-old TV actor making his writing and directing debut with Solo, might have transplanted the fear and loathing to the streets of inner-city Sydney, but the gambling dens, flophouses and neon-lit strip joints, the smoky jazz soundtrack and the cast of shady players are all too familiar.
This somewhat contrived retread, about the efforts of a jaded hitman to extract himself from the Sydney underworld, should arouse some local curiosity (it opens July 6 in Australian theaters) but regular moviegoers will feel as if they have seen it all before.
Lending some authority to the production is Colin Friels (Malcolm, A Good Man in Africa), a veteran actor who has grown into his good looks, much like an antipodean Dennis Quaid.
He plays silver-haired Jack Barrett, an old-school enforcer who works for a group of sketchy operators called the Gentlemen. We meet him up to his elbows in blood, clutching a chainsaw and retching as he dumps body parts over the side of a boat. Rough day at the office, he explains afterward in the first of several wry one-liners.
At 53, Barrett has developed a conscience, possibly after discovering that he orphaned two children with his most recent job, and the work is literally making him sick. He wants out. Naturally, it's not that easy.
As Barrett works to disentangle himself from his life of crime, the plot snarls up with the number of low-lifes lining up to off him, from a coke-snorting cop (Vince Colosimo) to his latest victim's Vietnamese associate (Anh Do) to the Gentlemen themselves.
This is where the plot takes a sharp turn into implausibility.
A young university student named Billie (promising newcomer Bojana Novakovic) is researching a thesis on organized crime and it seems she is getting a little too close for the comfort of the Gentlemen who, despite presumably having faced down their share of drug-dealers, contract killers and cops, are made to quiver in their boots by this twentysomething's questioning.
They agree to cut Barrett Loose provided he does one last job -- bump off Billie. O'Neill, who shot his film in 21 days, sets up an effectively off-key dynamic between Barrett and Billie, but clearly manipulative plot twists dilute the power of the "surprise" ending.
Australian pay TV channel the Movie Network -- which funded the local offshoot of the Project Greenlight competition created in the U.S. by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and American Pie producer Chris Moore -- gave O'Neill AUS$1 million ($763,000) and he has turned out a polished production on that modest budget, bringing on board Academy Award nominee Marcus D'Arcy (Babe) as editor and Ben Osmo (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Strictly Ballroom) to do sound.
The visual styling of production designer Murray Picknett, a two-time AFI Award winner, creates an undertow of menace that accompanies Barrett as he moves within yet apart from a world of seedy stereotypes.
SOLO
Dendy Films pressents a Movie Network Channels/Screentime production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Morgan O'Neill
Producer: Sue Seeary
Executive producers: Sue Milliken, Bob Campbell, Chris Berry, Tony Forrest
Director of photography: Hugh Miller
Production designer: Murray Picknett
Music: Martyn Love, Damian Deboos-Smith
Costume designer: Paula Ryan
Editor: Marcus D'Arcy
Cast:
Jack Barrett: Colin Friels
Billie: Bojana Novakovic
Reno: Linal Haft
Kate: Angie Milliken
Keeling: Vince Colosimo
Kennedy: Bruce Spence
Arkan: Chris Haywood
Louis: Tony Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
This somewhat contrived retread, about the efforts of a jaded hitman to extract himself from the Sydney underworld, should arouse some local curiosity (it opens July 6 in Australian theaters) but regular moviegoers will feel as if they have seen it all before.
Lending some authority to the production is Colin Friels (Malcolm, A Good Man in Africa), a veteran actor who has grown into his good looks, much like an antipodean Dennis Quaid.
He plays silver-haired Jack Barrett, an old-school enforcer who works for a group of sketchy operators called the Gentlemen. We meet him up to his elbows in blood, clutching a chainsaw and retching as he dumps body parts over the side of a boat. Rough day at the office, he explains afterward in the first of several wry one-liners.
At 53, Barrett has developed a conscience, possibly after discovering that he orphaned two children with his most recent job, and the work is literally making him sick. He wants out. Naturally, it's not that easy.
As Barrett works to disentangle himself from his life of crime, the plot snarls up with the number of low-lifes lining up to off him, from a coke-snorting cop (Vince Colosimo) to his latest victim's Vietnamese associate (Anh Do) to the Gentlemen themselves.
This is where the plot takes a sharp turn into implausibility.
A young university student named Billie (promising newcomer Bojana Novakovic) is researching a thesis on organized crime and it seems she is getting a little too close for the comfort of the Gentlemen who, despite presumably having faced down their share of drug-dealers, contract killers and cops, are made to quiver in their boots by this twentysomething's questioning.
They agree to cut Barrett Loose provided he does one last job -- bump off Billie. O'Neill, who shot his film in 21 days, sets up an effectively off-key dynamic between Barrett and Billie, but clearly manipulative plot twists dilute the power of the "surprise" ending.
Australian pay TV channel the Movie Network -- which funded the local offshoot of the Project Greenlight competition created in the U.S. by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and American Pie producer Chris Moore -- gave O'Neill AUS$1 million ($763,000) and he has turned out a polished production on that modest budget, bringing on board Academy Award nominee Marcus D'Arcy (Babe) as editor and Ben Osmo (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Strictly Ballroom) to do sound.
The visual styling of production designer Murray Picknett, a two-time AFI Award winner, creates an undertow of menace that accompanies Barrett as he moves within yet apart from a world of seedy stereotypes.
SOLO
Dendy Films pressents a Movie Network Channels/Screentime production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Morgan O'Neill
Producer: Sue Seeary
Executive producers: Sue Milliken, Bob Campbell, Chris Berry, Tony Forrest
Director of photography: Hugh Miller
Production designer: Murray Picknett
Music: Martyn Love, Damian Deboos-Smith
Costume designer: Paula Ryan
Editor: Marcus D'Arcy
Cast:
Jack Barrett: Colin Friels
Billie: Bojana Novakovic
Reno: Linal Haft
Kate: Angie Milliken
Keeling: Vince Colosimo
Kennedy: Bruce Spence
Arkan: Chris Haywood
Louis: Tony Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
- 6/13/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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