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Gold Coast Film Festival joins forces with Supanova Pop Culture Expo

Press release

Get ready to travel to a galaxy far far away in April 2012 when the Gold Coast Film Festival ("GCFF") joins forces with the Supanova Pop Culture Expo to bring the Gold Coast an entertainment experience that is out of this world!

The GCFF will move its festival date from November to April to co-inside with the newly announced Gold Coast Supanova expo following a new three year cultural partnership between the GCFF and Supanova Pop Culture Industries.

This partnership is exclusive to the GCFF and no other film festival in Australia will be afforded the same alignment.

The GCFF has seen unprecedented growth in the last two years under the leadership of Festival Director Casey Marshall Siemer, with attendance jumping 90% in 2009 and a further 65% in 2010. These figures have been due to a number of factors including:-

staple programming of Asia Pacific Screen Award ("APSA") nominated films and a cultural partnership with the APSAs;

the championing on emerging Queensland film makers;

exciting pre release films introduced by celebrity guests including Kimberly Joseph (When the Dust Settles), Adrienne Pickering (The Reef) and Alex Russell (Wasted on the Young);

running impressive industry workshop programs (past special guests have included Hollywood screen writer Todd Farmer, executive producers Chris Adams and Steve Kearney, AFI award winner David Hannay, Emmy Award winner Jason Baird and Academy Award winner John Cox.);
a free outdoor program; and

an exciting anime showcase (past special guests have included APSA winner Noriatka Kawaguchi, Jun Awazu, Ushio Tazawa and international voice actress Yuko Miyamura (Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance).

Armed with a new cultural partnership of this magnitude these numbers will continue to soar into the stratosphere.

Supanova Pop Culture Expo is Australia's premier Pop Culture event bringing all aspects of the entertainment industry together in a celebration of film, television, gaming, comics, illustration, costuming, music, anime culture and technology.

In 2010 attendance reached an all time high of 60,000 people across four cities (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney). There is a natural synergy between the new Gold Coast Supanova Expo and the GCFF and it is anticipated that in 2012 several high profile celebrity guests will be attending and participating in complimentary activities at both events.

"I can only see positive outcomes from this partnership and I am very excited by the opportunities which are already presenting themselves. There is an obvious compatibility with our two events and the winners will be the fans and supporters who will get the opportunity to enjoy the pop culture expo supported and enhanced by a screen culture event, and vice versa. This will allow us to extend the experiences we offer our audiences. For example, someone can attend the Supanova expo during the day to hear a personality speak at a forum and then attend the film festival in the evening to see directly relevant work and potentially to see the celebrity again to introduce the film or to participate in an audience Q&A regarding the film". Casey Marshall Siemer, Festival Director, Gold Coast Film Festival.

"Supanova has grown exponentially over the last decade which reflects the coming "out of the closet" of Geekdom, of us reaching our target audience of enthusiasts, and providing them opportunities to express themselves freely and interactively. In doing sowe've sought to further embrace the creative process and to this end we started our Directors' Day programming in Brisbane resulting in even greater relevance to a community that is inspired to create not just consume. In the Gold Coast Film Festival we've recognised a kindred event resulting in a cultural partnership where their innovative approach to screen culture activities will take Supanova to yet another level again and we are so very, very excited by the potential outcomes we are sure it will yield". Daniel Zachariou, Event Director, Supanova.

The GCFF would like to acknowledge the support of the Gold Coast City Council and Councillor Jan Grew Division 11 in the creation of the GCFF/Supanova cultural partnership. We are grateful to our supporters and sponsors in their support of the local creative and screen culture industries.

Also announced for April 2012 are the inaugural Apollo Awards for Science Fiction & Fantasy Film, Television and Online. The awards will be streamed live online on Sunday April 29 and will be followed by the official red carpet closing of the GCFF. Special guests confirmed for the Apollo Awards already include actor Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica fame. For more information see www.theapolloawards.com.

2011 Gold Coast Film Festival Date

The 2011 Gold Coast Film Festival presented by Australia Fair Shopping Centre, will be held from November the 21st to the 27th at Australian Fair Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas in Southport over 6 days. The program will include a showcase of Asia Pacific Screen Award nominees, Cool Japan Gold Coast: a program celebrating Japan's cultural industries with a special focus on anime films, Queensland Showcase: a program of films shot in Queensland, Action on Film: a series of workshops and forums on action film making supported by action genre film screenings, and a free outdoor program along with invitation films and an opening night red carpet gala. Gold Coast City Council's Film Gold Coast and Business GC are the major Government sponsors of the event.

2012 Gold Coast Film Festival Date

The 2012 GCFF presented by Australia Fair Shopping Centre, will be held from April 20-29 over 10 days. The official program details will be announced in due course. For more details please see www.gcfilmfestival.com.

Supanova Dates

The next Brisbane Supanova will be held November 4, 2011 and the Gold Coast Supanova will be held April 21-22, 2012. For more details please see www.supanova.com.au.