Grant Page accepts the Screen NSW Award from George Miller.
Screen NSW has gifted its inaugural annual award to legendary stuntman Grant Page, who has coordinated stunts for the likes of Mel Gibson and Jackie Chan.
Page was presented the $10,000 award, designed to “honour an individual to whom both screen audiences and the industry owe a significant debt”, by George Miller. The director first worked with Page on the original Mad Max, as well as Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
“Working, under fierce and extraordinary circumstances, on the first Mad Max, I came to know the calibre of Grant Page. A masterful and innovative stuntman, he has a deep and elegant intelligence. He taught me a lot about filmmaking but even more about life. Inspirations which have sustained me ever since. Grant is heroic in every sense of the word,” said Miller.
Courtney Gibson, CEO of Screen NSW, said: “When the director yells ‘action’ on set, no one takes it more literally than Grant. He created the high-octane hallmarks of 1970's Ozploitation cinema, designing and executing the most radical and pioneering action sequences in the world.
“In terms of legacy and influence, Grant's DNA runs all the way from when Max first got "mad", right through to the Oscars glory of Fury Road, and the ambition, rigour and outright spectacle of his work is simply without compare.”
Page’s early credits include seminal films such as Mad Dog Morgan, The Odd Angry Shot and The Picture Show Man, as well as TV series Police Rescue and All Saints.
Page has also worked as an actor on Rolf de Heer’s The Tracker and 1981 thriller Roadgames. He featured as himself in the 1970's documentary series Danger Freaks.
Page has spent five decades in the game and continues to work, recently completing stunt work on Gods of Egypt, Danger Five, and Patrick.
The Screen NSW Award is one of three awards the agency gives out annually, the others being The Sydney UNESCO City of Award and the Annette Kellerman Award.