The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) and G’day USA have today announced a new partnership going into 2015.
The announcement was made this morning at an intimate media event held at Sydney Airport and hosted by AACTA President Geoffrey Rush and Robert Tranter, First Assistant Secretary Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Public Diplomacy and Communications Division.
The partnership will see the AACTA International Awards presented as the centrepiece of G’Day USA’s LA Gala in 2015, a program designed to create new opportunities for Aussies working in America and to raise awareness of the Australian screen sector in general.
The integration of the two events will no doubt be seen as a good move by much of the Australian screen industry, after some contention last year surrounding the need for International Awards when the Australian AACTA’s are considered by many to be lacking in funds and categories.
This debate was lightly addressed by Geoffery Rush this morning, who spoke of the need for both Awards.
“Our national AACTA Awards are heading into their 4th year next January with a tremendous momentum. They shall continue to reflect our homegrown creative output. The AACTA International Awards are Australia’s international stamp of screen success. They recognise our international screen peers, add an Australian voice to the International Awards season alongside the BAFTAs and the Oscars, and celebrate our fellow Australians working in screen internationally,” he said.
“The new G’Day USA/AACTA partnership provides the perfect platform for celebrating the strength of and synergies between the Australian and global screen industries in the epicentre of film, Los Angeles. By partnering with G’Day USA, we will raise the profile of the Australian screen industry, which determines the AACTA International Awards, and will celebrate the role that Australian screen plays in relation to G’Day USA’s core promotional pillars, particularly Australian culture.”
Hon. Kim Beazley AC, Australian Ambassador to the United States also said, “G’Day USA remains Australia’s foremost program of public diplomacy promoting Australian capabilities in the United States. We are thrilled this year to join forces with AACTA to celebrate innovation and the business of film in Los Angeles.”
The G’Day USA Gala, featuring the AACTA International Awards, will be presented by Qantas and will take place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on 31 January 2015.