The 2015 ADG Awards will be presented in Melbourne on Friday May 8, the first time the awards have been held outside Sydney.
In other innovations, there will be a special dedication to a group of directors who have been pioneers in Australian TV drama. Also, the Michael Carson Award for TV drama will be reinstated, recognizing a director working in TV drama who has an outstanding body of work. The winner will be selected by the ADG board.
ADG executive director Kingston Anderson tells IF the organisation has been keen to stage the awards in Melbourne, where many of its members reside, made possible this year with financial assistance from Film Victoria.
Hosting the event down south also will tie in with a planned celebration of the 30th year of Neighbours, saluting all the directors who have worked on the serial.
Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi said hosting the ADG awards in Melbourne was a welcome addition to the many screen industry events on the Victorian calendar.
“As well as recognising Australia’s talented screen directors, the ADG awards are an excellent opportunity for its members and the broader industry to connect and celebrate success,” she said.
The deadline for entries is February 16. To be eligible, all work must have screened publicly for the first time between July 1 2013 and December 31 2014, except for student films where the project needs only to have been completed within these dates.
Award applicants must be financial ADG members for the 2014 – 2015 year. Membership details available at: http://www.adg.org.au/membership.aspx.
Each award is judged by a panel of director peers. The awards ceremony will be held at the Sofitel.
The 18 categories in the 2015 ADG Awards are:
1. Feature Film
2. Telemovie
3. Animation
4. Documentary Standalone
5. Documentary Feature
6. Documentary Series
7. TV Drama Series
8. TV Mini Series
9. TV Drama Serial
10. TV Comedy
11. TV Reality / Light Entertainment
12. TV Children’s
13. Cross Platform Project
14. Original Online Project
15. TVC
16. Short Film
17. Music Video
18. Student Film
This year the Finders Award will be presented to one of the nominated films which does not have US distribution. The American DGA will host screenings of the film for distributors in Los Angeles and New York, as happened last year with Catriona McKenzie's Satellite Boy.
Ticket sales open in March, and tickets can be pre-booked by emailing the ADG on awards@adg.org.au, or contacting the ADG office on 1300 539 639.