At the 2007 SPAA Conference’s annual dinner last Thursday the winner of the inaugural SPAARTAN Award was announced as John L Simpson, producer of Men’s Group (who more recently came to the attention of film audiences as the distributor of The Jammed). Simpson’s film was up against contenders including Boxing Day, produced by Kristian Moliere and directed by Kriv Stenders.
‘It’s a great honour to be announced the winner of Digi SPAA and to win the inaugural SPAARTAN Award. Men’s Group was created purely on good will, from the cast and crew to suppliers, who all became investors. So this Award is for the entire team, they will also be participating in the cash prize money.’ says John L Simpson.
MOVIE NETWORK’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Forrest, presented the award to Simpson. In addition to receiving $15,000 cash prize and $20,000 worth of post production sponsored by MOVIE NETWORK CHANNELS, Men’s Group will also be screened on the MOVIE EXTRA channel. On top of this, Simpson also receives a subscription to Movie Network and return airfare and free registration to the prestigious Rotterdam Cinemart international feature film market.
Now in its third year, Digi SPAA provides a forum for Australian and New Zealand filmmakers to showcase their work in a competitive environment.
Digi SPAA is a creative project of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) an industry body that represents Australian independent film and television producers on all issues affecting the business and creative aspects of screen production.
For further information go to http://www.spaa.org.au/
[release from Tsuki]