Press release from SPAA
2010 is the 6th year the DigiSPAA digital feature film competition is rolling out for filmmakers in Australia and New Zealand. Launching on Wednesday 21st April, the competition offers one of the most lucrative film prizes in Australasia, as well as a recognised career boost with the support of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA), the MOVIE EXTRA Channel, Digital Pictures and CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.
The official launch of the competition will be held at the Beauchamp Hotel in Darlinghurst, Sydney on 21st April, with a glamorous array of film industry movers and shakers in attendance.
“Each year the caliber of entrants in DigiSPAA has continued to rise as producers become more adept with digital filmmaking. The cutting edge new talent we spotlight each year is exciting and exhilarating” said Antony I Ginnane, SPAA President and co curator of DigiSPAA.
Digital filmmaking has gained exceptional ground in recent years with high profile directors including James Cameron with Avatar, Steven Soderbergh with Che and Danny Boyle with Slumdog Millionaire, which won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, championing the format to great success.
The DigiSPAA digital feature film competition follows in these ground breaking footsteps to support filmmaking that is affordable, creative and appealing to audiences. The competition is recognised as the leading showcase for low-budget digital filmmaking in Australia and New Zealand and boasts a prize pool of $15,000 cash and $20,000 worth of post-production, a guaranteed screening of their film on the Movie Extra channel, plus a return airfare and free registration to the prestigious CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Previous winners have enjoyed exceptional success since winning the grand prize of the ‘SPAARTAN Award’. 2009 winner Missing Water from writer/director/producer Khoa Do will have its national theatrical release in 2010 through Titan View. Little Deaths, winner in 2008, has since screened at the Dungog Film Festival (2009) and is set to confirm a national theatrical release in 2010 as well.
The 2007 winner Men’s Group went on to win Best Feature at the 2008 Inside Film Awards, and had a national theatrical release in Nov 2008, to much acclaim. Producer John L. Simpson won the 2nd AFI Fellowship award worth $25,000, and Men’s Group was subsequently released on DVD through Madman Entertainment.
Four DigiSPAA finalist films will screen at the annual SPAA Fringe Conference on 22 and 23 October at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. An expert industry panel of judges will award the winner based on the quality of the film and the filmmakers’ ability to demonstrate a clear marketing plan across a range of digital platforms.
The winner will be announced at the annual SPAA Conference to all attending delegates including some of the most successful film producers and distributors in the country.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 17 September 2010. Eligible films are feature length, with a running time of at least 70mins, digitally produced and completed to advanced post-production stage no earlier than 30 August 2009, and independently funded.
For full details, application form and guidelines go to www.spaa.org.au
DigiSPAA 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.