[Release by Solid Ink Communications]
In celebrating Victorian screen industry achievements in 2007/08, Film Victoria has presented two industry leaders, director Matt Saville and digital media company Infinite Interactive, with the Greg Tepper and Tim Richards Awards respectively.
AFI Award winning director, Matt Saville, received Film Victoria’s annual Greg Tepper Award for his work creating feature film Noise, telemovie The King and the television series Summer Heights High. Each year the Greg Tepper Award acknowledges the hard work of an emerging practitioner and their ability to deliver outstanding screen content. All of Saville’s productions have achieved high acclaim, making him a deserving recipient of this award.
Recognising the growth and impact of digital content on the industry landscape, Film Victoria presented a new award this year named in honour of sector advocate, Tim Richards. The inaugural Tim Richards Award was presented to Steve Fawkner of Infinite Interactive for their leadership in the digital media arena. The local game developer has produced three significant original IP game projects, successfully signed international publishers and made several worldwide top-ten gaming lists. One of the company’s creations Puzzle Quest, Challenge of the Warlords was also recognised as the only non-movie game ported to most platforms in 2007.
Sandra Sdraulig, Film Victoria CEO, reflected on the outstanding year for the Victorian screen industry and the two award recipients, “We are very proud of how successful the last 12 months has been for the local industry. Our practitioners have worked tirelessly to drive new projects and develop fresh ideas in content creation, and I believe this dedication is consistently resulting in projects that engage and excite audiences.
“I’d like to congratulate Matt Saville and Infinite Interactive for setting new benchmarks in their fields of expertise. We greatly appreciate their inspiration, commitment and desire to create projects for us to see, in an industry that’s not always easy to work and survive in.”
In keeping with Infinite Interactive’s dedication to the growth and sustainability of the industry, the organisation will utilise the Tim Richards Award prize money to send five junior practitioners to the Game Connect Asia Pacific conference in Brisbane later this month.