[Press Release by TM Publicity]
Tania Chambers, Chief Executive of the NSW Film and Television Office (FTO), today welcomed the news that one of Australia’s most important screen industry events – the Australian Director’s Guild Conference and annual Awards – will once again take place in Sydney.
Ms Chambers said the Australian Director’s Guild Conference and Awards, to be held in Sydney later this month, was one of several major screen industry events to be staged in NSW, such as the SPAA Fringe Conference, the inaugural Sydney Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival and the upcoming Asia-Australia Media Executive Leadership Program.
“The ADG Conference will bring together directors and other industry professionals over three days from 25-28 September. These important events bring together screen professionals from around the world, highlighting Sydney’s status as a sophisticated global city that is friendly to screen business. They encourage collaboration between NSW screen professionals and their international colleagues, and drive innovation and excellence,” she said.
Ms Chambers announced that three of the four finalists in the ADG Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film received production investment from the FTO. They are Two Fists One Heart, The Square and The Black Balloon. The ADG Awards will be announced on the evening of Saturday, September 27.
Ms Chambers also noted that the Australian Directors Guild Awards has already acclaimed several NSW filmmakers with the announcement that Bruce Petty, political cartoonist and filmmaker, is the recipient of the Australian Directors Guild Outstanding Achievement Award for 2008, to be presented at the Awards ceremony. The annual award recognises a director’s entire body of work. Other NSW directors to be presented with non-competitive honours from the Guild at the 2008 Awards will be documentary maker Tom Zubrycki, who will receive the Cecil Holmes Award, and Looking for Alibrandi director Kate Woods, who will receive the Michael Carson Award for Excellence In Television Drama Direction for her work.
Speakers at the Conference will include Peter Andrikidis, Gillian Armstrong, Jill Bilcock, Stephan Elliott, Greg McLean, Jonathan Ogilvie, Bruce Petty, Sam Petty, Geoffrey Simpson, Rachel Ward, Rowan Woods and Tom Zubrycki. The Awards will be hosted by Leah Purcell and Paul McDermott, both award-winning directors in their own right.
For more details regarding the ADG Conference, go to www.adgconference.com