Television commercials are a well-worn path for directors wanting to get runs on board but it is not known as a level playing field for men and women. IF speaks with directors and screen guilds about what progress still needs to be made.
Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe's 'Girl Like You', the story of a couple told over six years as one of them transitions gender, was recognised with the major award at last night's AWGIE Awards.'.
Female directors have taken the lion's share of nominations for this year's Australian Directors' Guild awards, with Sian Davies and Stef Smith each securing three nods and their counterparts dominating the feature film categories.
This year's AACTA Award for Best Film will be a contest between Baz Luhrmann’s 'Elvis', George Miller’s 'Three Thousand Years of Longing', Leah Purcell’s 'The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson', Thomas M. Wright's 'The Stranger', Western Sydney anthology feature 'Here Out West', and Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes' horror 'Sissy'.
When writer/director Stef Smith approached actor Ana Maria Belo about one of the episodes of 'It's Fine, I'm Fine' potentially being in Auslan, Belo was excited for the opportunity and determined to do it "the right way".
'It’s Fine, I’m Fine' follows a suburban Australian psychologist and the ups and downs of her patients as they explore love, loss, anxiety, obsession, and the uncertain future ahead.
'Blaze', 'How To Please A Woman', 'Sissy' and 'Sweet As' will contend for the best original feature prize at this year’s AWGIE Awards, while 'Mrs Harris Goes to Paris', 'The Stranger' and 'The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson' are up for the adapted gong. 'The Newsreader' leads in television with two nominations alongside 'Total Control', 'Firebite', 'Bump' and 'Heartbreak High'.
Netflix ANZ Grow Creative manager Penny Smallacombe, ABC head of comedy Todd Abbott and writer and director Stef Smith came together for a panel discussion on career pathways at the ADG's Director's Cut conference on Saturday.