Competitions

SOCIAL SPY** Tropfest

Back for it’s 21st installment, Australia’s largest short film festival Tropfest had a stellar line-up of talent and celebrity guests yesterday!

This year, taking to the black carpet was a host of Aussie superstars, including Hollywood heavyweight Sam Worthington, who was one of this year’s judges.

The ‘Clash of the Titans’ star, who won ‘Best Actor’ at the ‘2000 Tropfest festival’ for his role in short film ‘A Matter of Life’, revealed to the media beforehand what he was looking out for while judging.

“The thing I want to see is how the films connect with the audience,” he confided.

Also attending the bash as judges, was ‘Packed to the Rafter’s’ Rebecca Gibney, ‘Kath and Kim’ star Magda Szubanski and actor Richard Roxborough.

The traditional signature item in each film this year was a balloon, and the story lines in each flick were original, ranging from water fights to time travel or milkshake bombs and many other themes portrayed in the 16 finalist clips.

The official event was held yesterday at The Domain in Sydney, with live sites set up across the country in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Wollongong, Hobart and Surfers Paradise.

The winner of the evening was Nick Clifford for his masterpiece ‘We’ve All Been There’, about a pregnant waitress who is down on her luck. Nick scored himself the top prize with a heap of goodies as well as a trip to LA for a week of meetings with film industry directives.

An impromptu award was created by ‘Avatar’ star Worthington yesterday, who offered $3000 for best personality in a feature. He handed this to Sydney Pensioner and dancing busker Raymond Borzelli, who appeared in Jefferson Grainger’s film ‘Better Than Sinatra’, which came in second place.

For more information on winners, check out the official website now – http://tropfest.com/au/

Sydney Social’s roving reporter Jennifer Fletcher attended last night’s event.

SOCIAL SPY** SURFING LIFE’S OAKLEY BIG WAVE AWARDS

SURFING LIFE OAKLEY BIG WAVE AWARDS 2013

NO CONTEST SINGLETS, NO RATING POINTS, JUST ONE REALLY BIG WAVE

$35,000 PRIZE MONEY UP FOR GRABS

The Surfing Life’s Oakley Big Wave Awards have been playing a huge part in Australasian surfing culture for over 10 years, celebrating the huge achievements of these incredibly fearless surfers – and this year is no different!

The Annual awards night was hosted last night by Glen Moriarty & Nick Carroll, at Simmer On The Bay, Dawes Point, with some of surfing’s legendary hero’s in attendance along with some of surf’s fresh and upcoming talent.

Categories in this year’s competition included: ‘Biggest Wave’, ‘Biggest Slab’ and ‘Biggest Paddle-In’ with the winner of the Biggest Wave ridden taking a massive cheque for $20,000 and another $15,000 award up for grabs in other categories.

Tori Jane, Ali Daher

This year’s finalists were solely decided on by the surfers themselves who were asked to vote for their favourite wave across each category. The winners were left in the capable hands of an elite panel of big wave experts to ultimately decide who wipes out the competition!

Lil Jon

Big-wave prodigy Marti ‘Moose’ Paradisis took out the 2013 grand title of ‘Biggest Wave’ scoring himself a cool $20,000 cheque. Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker took out the ‘Biggest Slab’ title and the award for the ‘Biggest Paddle-in’ went to the infamous Jeff ‘Camel’ Goulden.

The Surfing Life’s Oakley Big Wave Awards has been an ongoing event which supports and celebrated the best of the best in big wave surfing, each year challenging the surfers to take it that one step further to win the ultimate Big Wave title.

WHO ATTENDED: Lil Jon, Nacho Pop, Bondi Rescue Crew, Dingo, Kurt Tippett, Perth Standlick, Delta Riggs, Short Stack, Tom Whitaker & many more of your favourite big wave surfers

MONSTER OF A WIN AT TROP JR

Ben McCarthy (NSW) has won Trop Jr, the biggest short film festival for little people with a big imagination. Ben’s winning entry was Bumper, a claymation film about a frog who can’t jump.

One of the youngest of 16 finalists, 12 year old Ben is passionate about filmmaking, and spent most of the day today grilling Sam Worthington about Hollywood and how to make it in the film industry. Inspired by last year’s Trop Jr runner up the I Think You Stink Show, McCarthy’s Bumper is the only Claymation entry to make it to the finals this year at Trop Jr.

McCarthy says the film took him six months, which included making the figures entirely on his desk at home and creating a really huge mess. He has aptly named his future production company “Messy Desk Productions”. His inspiration to work with Claymation came from the creator of Wallace and Gromit, Nick Park.

The Trop Jr Signature Item for 2014 was also announced: next year it will be “Monster”, which should inspire some fun ideas from budding young filmmakers. Trop Jr follows the same structure as Tropfest: the film must be seven minutes or less and contain a reference to the TSI.

This year’s Trop Jr winner was awarded $2000 cash and a $500 ticket voucher, $1800 worth of AFTRS Open short courses and a PlayStationVita LittleBigPlanet bundle. McCarthy can’t wait to tell all his friends at boarding school about it!

‘The Screen Seekers Club’ was awarded the runner-up prize for their horror-comedy-mockumentary How to Make a Horror Movie. The club, made up of six boys aged 12-15 from South Australia didn’t even know each other until their parents brought them together to collaborate on this project. They cite Scream and Chuckie as their favourite slasher films.

Harri Gilbert (NSW) also picked up a runner-up prize for Where’s My Sandwich? The 15 year old won the Trop Jr Fearless Filmmaking prize last year and loves telling stories and making films. His film explored the trials and tribulations of a teenager who has lost his sandwich.

The runner-up winners took away prizes of $750 worth of short courses at Metro Screen.

Trop Jr was judged by actor Sean Keenan, author and presenter Gretel Killeen, actress Samara Weaving and children’s entertainer Sam Moran.

Tropfest managing director Michael Laverty was delighted by this year’s Trop Jr selection. “I’m always so excited to see the finalist entries for Trop Jr,” he said. “Their incredible talent and creativity is a great sign for the future of film in Australia.”

The young audience and their families enjoyed a day of entertainment in the sunshine with Australia’s Got Talent dance wonders Ziggity Crew breaking loose on the stage and host Ash London keeping things moving.

This year’s Trop Jr finalist films spanned many genres, from drama to comedy to documentary, and showcased a huge amount of talent and technical skill.

TROPFEST ANNOUNCES THE FINAL CUT FOR 2013

Tropfest has announced the 16 talented finalists for 2013’s short film festival, whose films will screen to the crowd at the Domain, Sydney, and free to air on SBS One on Sunday 17 February 2013. This year’s selection is an eclectic mix of experienced and new filmmakers and a diverse selection of genres.

From documentary to animation, with the staple comedy and drama packed in between, Tropfest 2013 is shaping up to be a brilliant showcase of the work of Australia’s creative minds. You can tell just by reading the notes on the making of these films that we’re in for an amazing night of film – the stories in these production notes are film-worthy themselves.

This year’s filmmakers have shown incredible dedication to the cause by facing creepy haunted buildings, extreme weather and various run-ins with the authorities, all in the name of independent film.

For example, the locations in this year’s films have gone above and beyond the average: a 19th Century gothic mansion in Katie Wall’s Scene 16; an abandoned mental asylum in Matt Cerwen’s Inside; the depths of Canadian winter in Tim Blackburn and Lyndal Moody’s Monobrow and even dangerous cartel territory in the Mexican desert in Michael Noonan’s Remote.

You’ll witness guest appearances from Mel and Kochie (playing Mel and Kochie) in a film shot on set at Channel 7’s studios (Daniel Reisinger’s CA$H COW – a 63% True Story). And although Tropfest serves up some of the best films made by talented Australians, this year’s film selection features three internationally shot pieces (Mexico, Canada and LA).

Tropfest introduced the Nikon DSLR Film category in 2013. Established to recognise the immense range of capabilities and versatility of video recording on DSLRs, the category offered filmmakers a new, accessible outlet through which to express their creativity.

Over a quarter of all entries were made on DSLR and Tropfest is excited to announce that five of the sixteen finalist films were submitted in the DSLR category!

Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris, said the NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, is proud to support Tropfest 2013, the world’s largest short film festival.

“Tropfest has a long history of success in Sydney, a city that is not only recognised as a UNESCO City of Film, but is also Australia’s creative hub,” Mr Souris says.

“Tropfest is an important feature on the NSW Events Calendar, and joins a number of Sydney’s fantastic free outdoor events including Sydney New Year’s Eve, Sydney Festival and Sydney Mardi Gras Parade. A launch pad for filmmakers of all ages, having a film screened at Tropfest can be the start of a very exciting career in film. I would like to wish all finalists the best of luck.”

This year APRA Tropscore, Tropfest’s competition for screen composers, will reward one of ten finalists for their vital contributions to film.

Matt Bird, a Tropfest Finalist for the third year in a row with his 2013 Finalist film Taser, provided the film for Tropscore 2013, a beautiful piece of cinema and a clean musical slate for which all entrants composed a score. Tropscore winners receive a neat $5000 cash prize along with the chance to perform their score live on stage at Tropfest.

On Sunday February 17, the Finalist films will screen live at the Domain, Sydney and at venues across Australia to a crowd of around 150,000 and to a judging panel of celebrities and industry heavyweights – past judges include Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor & Geoffrey Rush – who will together decide the champion of Tropfest 2013.

The talented winner will leave a richer, more mobile and better-equipped filmmaker in an all-new 2012 Toyota Corolla Levin ZR, holding $10,000 cash prize courtesy of Kennedy Miller Mitchell, and preparing for a trip to Los Angeles for a week of meetings with film executives organised by Motion Picture Association and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft. The victor will also take home the latest Nikon D800 and $2000 RRP worth of lenses and accessories.

And don’t forget: not only can you watch this show live on SBS that night, but Tropfest runs three days’ worth of parties, film nights and talks including Tropfest Roughcut leading up to the night.

For more info about past winners, themes or Tropfest’s global events, head to http://www.tropfest.com/au

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 12TH ANNUAL BONDI SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

From over 200 submissions, the 12^th annual Bondi Short Film Festival has selected 14 of Australia’s most talented up and coming filmmakers for its 2012 shortlist of finalists. The finalists will compete for a prize pool valued at over $10,000, judged by a panel of highly respected award winning members of the Australian film and television industry.

The award categories presented by this year’s Festival sponsors include: Hoyts Kiosks ‘People Choice Award’, Proof Sunglasses ‘Best Script Award’, Boca Lupo ‘Best Music Award’, Spectrum Films ‘Best Production Award’, WeWood Watches ‘Best Actor Award’, Santa Vittoria ‘Best Cinematography Award’ and Showtime Movie Channels ‘Best Film Award’.

The 12^th annual Bondi Short Film Festival finalists include:

Thin Air – Directed by Natalie Nalesnyik

A teenage gymnast watches a questionable relationship unfold between her teammate and her coach. Confronted by mixed feelings of jealousy and suspicion, she struggles in knowing the truth behind his actions. She must decide, despite her doubts and fears, whether to follow her instincts.

The Art of Boxing– Directed by Andrew Flakelar

We all know boxing to be a brutal pursuit, but few recognise and appreciate the artistry of its finesse, strategy and heart. Seen through the eyes of Newton “The Butcher” Kidd, a grassroots professional fighter from the Bronx, New York, The Art of Boxing takes a cinematic view of the complexity and poetry of boxing by shattering the commonly held view of a simplistic and barbaric contest, elevating the drama, determination and struggles of this passionate boxer.

Push & Pull – Directed by Dorothy Pranolo

Lisa, a young Asian-Australian girl, feels forever pressured by her mother to be the perfect violinist. When tensions between the two collide at Lisa’s much anticipated violin audition, which path will she follow? The life she wants, or the one her mother has paved for her?

Embellish – Directed by Chris Radburn

Chris doesn’t talk about his acting career because he hasn’t got one. But he soon realises sometimes the only thing you can do is embellish.

Mug’s Game – Directed by Lav Bodnaruk and Michael Mier

Shad Newbolt has been a boxer for as long as he can remember, but something has changed. For the first time in his career he is gripped by fear, but Shad’s manager is unconcerned by his fears and presses the point that he doesn’t just box for himself and it would be even more dangerous for him to quit. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, in his tormented mind, Shad only sees one way out!

Grandma – Directed by Michelle Lia

Sean is walking home to his grandmothers after seeing his friend at the park. In the meantime, Sean’s grandmother receives a letter that will potentially change her grandson’s life. She positively can’t wait until he gets home to tell him the good news. Now…when is he coming home?

Reason For Living – Directed by Graeme Simsion

He’s a computer expert in his early 40s, fit and financially independent. He travels widely, has a range of interests and enjoys socialising. What he wants more than anything else is someone to share his life with. But his relationships seldom progress past the first date. He doesn’t seem to be wired for romance. Then he meets someone.  Fate has dealt her a bad hand, but she is destined to become his reason for living. From the author of The Rosie Project, a true story about finding love.

 Young Blood – Directed by Billy Otto

The lives of three extremely vulnerable young men from New Zealand, Australia and Vietnam are traced as they reflect on their desire for acceptance. All coming from broken families, they retell their experience in their local gangs.

The Grand Design – Directed by Samuel Bartlett

A metaphysics student that believes he can scientifically decipher fate, must choose between saving his own life or that of a stranger after living the same day twice.

A Place Like This – Directed by David May

A RAAF pilot’s extraordinary survivor tale of a night he will never forget told in a garden paradise that he has created.

The Maker – Directed by Christopher Kezelos

A strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life.

Julia – Directed by Brodie Rocca

A coming of age film that explores themes of manhood, the fight for beauty and classic romance in a modern concrete world. George, the wounded hero who has yet to accept the end of a relationship meets a mystery girl. Young, intelligent and dangerous, she’s about to give him the push he needs.

Resistance – Directed by Blake Borcich
A Nazi officer is blown into a cellar during the bombardment of a French town. Two women are seeking shelter in the same cellar and they become suddenly trapped. But where is the danger – outside or within?

The Gnome Garden – Directed by Elena Hattersley

A documentary that follows the story of Kerry, a collector of all things gnome, who gives the audience a peek into her world and how she ended up with over 300 gnomes.

WHAT: 12^th annual Bondi Short Film Festival

WHEN: Saturday, November 24^th 2012

WHERE: Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach

TICKETS: Moshtix – http://www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 438 849

COST: $33 + booking fee

TIMES:

• Matinee Session – 3pm (Main Theatre) Doors open at 2pm

• Evening Session 1 – 7:30pm (Main Theatre) Doors open at 6pm
• Evening Session 2 – 8:15pm (Seagull Theatre) Doors open at 6pm

Website: www.bondishortfilmfestival.com

NEW YEAR – See the 2013 countdown in star style

Sydney puts on a New Year’s show like no other and World Square wants you and your entourage to party like a star with their Ultimate Penthouse and Party Package prize which will ensure you will cruise into 2013 in style! In the lead up to the midnight countdown, World Square will be drawing weekly prizes guaranteed to make this coming festive season one to remember!

Weekly prizes include:

Week 1:  A $100 Grill’d voucher to help kick start your healthy New Year’s resolution

Week 2:  Shout your friends to a pre-party feast with a $100 Grill’d voucher

Week 3: How about the chance to spend your NYE on the harbour with 2x tickets to Cruise Bar’s ‘Destination’ party plus a $100 Silver Service Dry cleaning voucher to make sure you look your best?

Week 4: You and your entourage can drop your bags at Meriton World Tower’s luxurious penthouse before starting the night with dinner and drinks at Fuku Sake & Wine Bar. Afterwards, you and your friends will be escorted like VIPs the Cruise Bar’s Destination’ event to dance and party into the New Year! Valued at over $6000, you and your entourage are guaranteed to cruise into 2013 like stars.

Ready for the countdown?

To make this a New Year’s to remember, simply spend $50 at any participating store* before 16 December 2012, and enter online at www.worldsquare.com.au or facebook.com/worldsquare to win.

Visit www.worldsquare.com.au for details, terms & conditions apply – LTPS/12/09959

Cockatoo Island – Sydney Harbour – Sherwood leads the way in Red Bull X-Fighters Qualifying

Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour equal points leader Levi Sherwood has gained the upper hand on his competition claiming first place in qualifying on Cockatoo Island early this afternoon.

The New Zealand-based rider heads into the final event deadlocked on points with Frenchman Thomas Pages, who qualified only seventh.

Sherwood’s first run was the one that impressed judges most, awarded 87.40 points for his efforts against closest competitor Japan’s Eigo Sato on 84.50.

The best-placed Australian rider was 2011 event winner Josh Sheehan, who put together a run good enough for 5th place with 83.60 points.

The course has proved challenging for riders who have needed to use every available second to ensure their delivery of tricks is both smooth and stylish.

The impressive course and competition precinct has taken over 60,000 man hours to complete, with barges bringing over 6500 tonnes of dirt which has been shaped by 24.5 tonnes of lift and shift equipment.

Over 400 return barge trips have been required to deliver trucks and equipment.

Tomorrow, thousands are set to turn out to see the final climactic leg of the World Tour take place where there will be plenty of home support for the four Aussie riders in action.

Red Bull X-Fighters Qualifying

1. Levi Sherwood, 87.40
2. Eigo Sato, 84.50
3. Taka Higashino, 84.40
4. Dany Torres, 84.10
5. Josh Sheehan, 83.60
6. Jackson Strong, 80.70
7. Thomas Pages, 78.00
8. Cameron Sinclair, 77.60
9. Blake Williams, 76.30
10. Javier Villegas, 74.70
11. Todd Potter, 72.90
12. Maikel Melero, 0.00

SOCIAL SPY** STOLICHNAYA® PREMIUM VODKA LAUNCHES ORGNL.TV COMPETITION

Stolichnaya Premium vodka last night invited Sydney Social 101 to the launch of ORGNL.TV (www.ORGNL.TV), a new, cutting-edge creative online project which showcases unique talent from the fields of art, music and fashion. Incorporating the global advertising campaign “The Most Original Moments, Deserve The Most Original Vodka,” ORGNL.TV serves as a blank canvas for both established and up-and-coming Australian artists to share, engage and explore their creativity through video.

Avril Turner, Narrth Jega

The launch event took place at CBD haunt, Assembly. The event marked the launch of the global activity, which will drive consumers to each local country Facebook page encouraging familiarity and interaction with the brand among the key target audience of young adults.

Hannah Kuzke, Lachlan Parka

Until October 29, 2012 individuals from selected markets will have the opportunity to submit their videos through http://facebook.com/stolivodkaaustralia exhibiting their art, music or fashion skills. Fans will then have a chance to vote on their favourite videos and the ORNGL.TV judges will choose 2 winners from the most-voted-for entries to join the live music, art and fashion show in New York City.

Lara Gardner, Britt Page, Gina Lednyak

To launch ORGNL.TV globally, Stoli selected five international talented stars within the art, music and fashion communities, to create unique content for ORGNL.TV. These talents will lead the program creating original pieces of artwork, fashion and music, each showcasing their point of view on what it means to be original.

Morgan Joanel, Sonya Mefaddi, Dara Hayes

Musical artists RJD2, a renowned musician who scored A Beautiful Mine, the hit theme song to Mad Men and Billboard top 20 artist Nina Sky, will create their own Stoli ORGNL tracks that will be available for fans to download from the website.  Fashion designer Nary Manivong will take fans through the process of creating an original fashion collection and Jeremyville, whose art work has received global acclaim, will create a one-of-a-kind Stoli-inspired painting, while internationally renowned sculptor and installation artist Charlie Becker will sculpt a piece created entirely from Stoli bottles.

Nathan Forde, Marketing manager at Island2Island, distributors of Stoli in Australia, says “ORGNL.TV is an initiative intended to provide aspiring talent the opportunity to showcase their creative process in their chosen field be it art, music or fashion. We have great talents collaborating with us in Australia and with the help of our local artists, we truly hope that ORGNL.TV will become a vehicle for Stoli to help discover and showcase a new generation of originality – inspiring artists who deserve to be seen and heard.”

There will be three global winners who will collaborate with three of the Stoli lead artists, fashion designer Nary Manivong, music composer Nina Sky and the popular street graffiti artist Jeremyville to unveil their creations at the live event in New York, hosted by Stolichnaya Premium vodka. Additionally, from Australia, 2 winners with a friend each will have the chance to be part of this live event in New York the first week in December.

The local influencers involved in this campaign to encourage young Australians artists to be part of ORGNL.TV are: Eugene Tan from Aquabumps; DJ Tigerlily and Sonya Mefaddi from Fashion Palette. Australian music and fashion artist Morgan Joanel will also contribute to the ORGNL.TV campaign by attending a variety of Stoli hosted events, advocating originality.

“To further reinforce the brand’s new advertising campaign and commitment to engaging and fostering a more active form of originality, we have developed ORGNL.TV—a video-based online platform offering artists, designers, musicians and creative personalities a stage to share their originality with the world,” said Marco Ferrari, CMO, SPI Group, global owners of the Stoli brand. “This multi-faceted project offers individuals the opportunity to not only gain insight into the creative process of these notable artists but also gives our fans a space in which they can share and explore their own originality.” For additional information on ORGNL.TV, visit www.ORGNL.TV

Calling all emerging fashion designers with dreams of strutting the global catwalk

Every so often a great opportunity comes via my inbox that I can’t let pass me by, this is no exception! After covering Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia as an official domestic delegate, I was privileged to see both established and emerging designers showcase their new lines/ trends and masterpieces. I am all too aware that there are so many people trying to break into the world of fashion and am happy to do whatever I can in terms of tips, advice etc to help budding fashionistas/ designers get one step closer to their dream.

A way that these determined, talented and driven designers can get themselves noticed is via the 2012 DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship, where the lucky winner receives $10,000 worth of international freight from DHL Express.

DHL, is inviting all emerging fashion designers with export plans to enter the 2012 DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship. Having helped catapult numerous Aussie designers onto the international stage, the Scholarship is an incredible opportunity for any designer dreaming to take their brand global.

In its third year, the DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship identifies Australia’s emerging fashion talent and assists them in achieving global business growth. The Scholarship is open to all Australian fashion designers and labels who have been exporting for less than four years.

As mentioned previously, the winner will receive a tailored export mentoring program and international freight package to the value of $10,000 from DHL Express. Past winners include success stories We Are Handsome and Bec & Bridge (great company much?!?!).

Gary Edstein, senior vice president of DHL Express Oceania said DHL Express was proud to partner many brands and businesses in the fashion industry and to also to support and help provide new opportunities for up-an-coming Australian designers.

“DHL understands the challenges for emerging brands and businesses to begin exporting and this is why we began the DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship, to help these designers to realise their international exporting potential,” said Edstein.

Winning last year’s DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship, Australian swimwear label We Are Handsome has skyrocketed onto the international stage. Designers Indhra Chagoury and Jeremy J Somers’ bold and beautiful collections are stocked in 26 cities around the world, and can be found in the wardrobes of many Hollywood celebrities. Their collections have also graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, Tyra Magazine, Vogue.com, The New York Times, France’s Elle Magazine, UK’s InStyle and also featured on high rating TV show America’s Next Top Model.

Jeremy J Somers of We Are Handsome said, “Winning the DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship has enabled us to ensure that taking the brand beyond Australia is done safely and with ease. Exporting is a detailed and crucial part of any international business and the support and mentoring from the DHL Express team has been absolutely invaluable and has taught us more than what we could have done going it alone.

“I would strongly urge any designers with international dreams to enter. It has been one of the best decisions we have made,” added Somers.

I’m not quite sure why you’re still here reading this post (fabulous as it is!) I’d get your skates on and enter the 2012 DHL Express Fashion Scholarship immediately if not sooner… visit www.dhl.com.au/runway2theworld to download an application form. Hurry entries close 5pm, 8 June 2012.