The votes have been counted and the winners of the 2007 OPEN CHANNEL LOVE YOUR WORK! Awards announced at the lively and well-attended screening event held at Cinema Nova, Carlton on Wednesday 31 October.
Each year, LOVE YOUR WORK! showcases works by emerging and independent filmmakers, with audience members voting for their top five favourite films. Two industry awards were also presented this year – the Lemac Cinematography Encouragement Award, and the Music & Effects Award for Best Sound Design. These Awards are judged by Lemac and Music & Effects, respectively.
The Last Days of Connie Hays, directed and produced by 25 year-old Dana-Lee Mierowsky, was the first prize winner of the Audience Choice Awards. The film also garnered the Lemac Cinematography Encouragement Award for Director of Photography, Carl Robertson. LOVE YOUR WORK! gave audiences the first opportunity to view this tender and heartfelt short film.
Dana-Lee’s self-funded film is a testament to the persistence and determination of the independent filmmaker. The cast – Christine Greenough, Rob Queree, Russell Jeffrey, Sam Atwell and Wil Traval – and crew worked for free and many favours were called in to gain access to film equipment.
The film’s writer, Melbourne-born Luke Preston, recently won an IF Award for Best Un-Produced Screenplay and a Fellowship of Australian Writers Award for Best Screenplay.
According to Dana-Lee: ‘With all the dramas that a person making a short film endures, it is important to recognise that it only happens due to team work and support from co-workers, industry professionals, friends and family. Big thanks to LOVE YOUR WORK! for acknowledging our film and everyone’s hard work.’
Second-place winner Black Button, a two-hander starring Hayden Grubb and his dad, well-known Australian actor Robert Grubb, was made for $200 by first-time filmmaker Lucas Crandles.
The 2007 LOVE YOUR WORK! Award Winners are:
First Prize – The Digital Pictures Audience Choice Award
The Last Days of Connie Hays (Drama)
Synopsis: Everything seems to be going wrong for Connie Hays, until an unexpected visit from a cranky old
neighbour.
Writer: Luke Preston. Director/ Producer: Dana-Lee Mierowsky. DOP: Carl Robertson. Editor: Stafford Wales.
Second Prize – The OPEN CHANNEL Audience Choice Award
Black Button (Experimental Drama)
Synopsis: Mr Roberts finds himself awoken inexplicably in a white room. A man sits before him at a desk and
offers him a deal which will take someone’s life.
Writers: Lucas Crandles, Hayden Grubb. Director/Producer/ Editor: Lucas Crandles. DOP: Brian Walsh.
Third Prize – The Cinema Nova Audience Choice Award
Bob (Comedy)
Synopsis: A man floating alone at sea survives on whatever office supplies drift past. But can he face the
ultimate dilemma: to pop or not to pop?
Writer/ Director: Anika Ervin-Ward. Producer: Chris Lassig. DOP: Lauren Bourke. Editor: Mitchell Forrester.
Fourth Prize – The Inside Film and Production Book Audience Choice Award
Bastard (Drama)
Synopsis: By taking some time out, to relax because they’re both having a ‘Bastard’ of a day…Jacky and Harry,
bridge the gap between their lives.
Writer: Allan West. Director/ Producer: Eugene E-NRG. DOP: Laurence Balmer. Editor: Marc C-Scott.
Fifth Prize – Encore Audience Choice Award
Campsite (Experimental Drama)
Synopsis: Three young men venture into the heart of the Australian bush to escape the evils of suburban life.
They learn that the darker side of humanity cannot be escaped so easily.
Writer/ Director/ Producer/ Editor: Lucas Crandles. DOP: Brian Walsh.
Lemac Cinematography Encouragement Award
Carl Robertson for The Last Days of Connie Hays
Music & Effects Award for Best Sound Design
Hour of Prayer (Drama)
Synopsis: One day, when her father is out, Maha takes Jafar up to her family’s apartment on the fifth floor. Her
father returns early.
Writers: Goran Stolevski, Ghanem Sultan Al-Hameli. Director/ DOP/ Editor: Goran Stolevski. Producer: Goran
Stolevski, Ghanem Sultan Al-Hameli.
The 2007 LOVE YOUR WORK! Screening & Awards Presentation was kindly sponsored by Cinema Nova, Crumpler, 3RRR, Digital Pictures, Lemac, Music & Effects, Inside Film, The Production Book, Encore, Screen Hub, Australian Film Institute and Cinemarket .
LOVE YOUR WORK! qualifies as an accredited film screening for eligibility in the Inside Film Awards 2008.
OPEN CHANNEL gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Film Commission and Film Victoria.
[release from OPEN CHANNEL]