Directing duo in the running for an Oscar

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The Sweet Shop's directors Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland have made the 2011 Academy Awards long-list with their short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man.

Set in 1970s New Zealand, the film follows Andy (Oscar Vandy-Connor), an eight-year-old boy who lives in a make-believe superhero world to deal with playground bullies. 

But when Andy gets in trouble with the headmaster, he realises that to save himself and his only friend Mary, he must face up to the real world.

Having premiered with Special Distinction in Cannes 2009 the short film also scooped the Jury Prize for Filmmaking at Sundance 2010.

The Six Dollar Fifty Man has won at four of the ‘A List’ Academy accredited festivals.

The Academy Awards short list is announced on January 25th.

Mark and Louis answer questions about making the long-list:

How did you find out that you’d been selected?

We were in Melbourne shooting a commercial and a journalist rang us up at 6am to tell us. And he’d just heard about it on twitter!  

How does it feel to be long-listed for the Academy Awards?

We’d forgotten about it until that guy woke us up. It’s good, but its been two years and we are now doing new things. We’re really stoked… but it’s hard to get excited, as there is still quite a way to go yet. We’ll start to get excited if we make the short-list.

What is it about this film that has won the hearts of such a broad international audience?

People love to love the underdog. In the Middle East last year, we even had a woman approach us after the screening with tears in her eyes and [saying] that this was her story.

Certainly it’s a universal story that speaks to many, but it’s fair to say that our lead actor Oscar Vandy-Connor has been a big factor in winning over our audiences. His take on the role was quite unique and we were happy to let him contribute much of his own character to the role.

In what way?

He is a great little anti-hero. He doesn’t look like the typical kid and in real life, he’d actually lived through many of the moments that his character had. As such he had a natural affinity to the role.

When we first met him, we couldn’t help but notice that he caught on very quickly to our ideas and would then twist them round to come up with even better ones.

He kept us on our toes for sure, yet being one of the most impressive actors we’d ever worked with, we were happy to let Oscar shape many of the scenes himself and improvise. In the end, he really did own the role.   

The Six Dollar Fifty Man is visually quite unique – tell us about that?

We wanted the film to feel very intimate and to capture what it really would be like in Andy’s world. And his world is pretty intense! So there are only two or three wide shots in the entire film, which is quite unusual for something so cinematic.

So would you say that this film style has become your signature?

Not at all. We approach each script individually and really question how the film style or cast can and should inform underlying themes (or characters) within the story. We [are] really mindful in the early stages of a project not to pin it down to a style, or impress too many ideas onto it.

We both find that there is greater value in allowing the process to be a little organic so that project evolves in a way that the film style becomes a seamless fit in capturing the tone.        

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently we are developing two feature scripts. ‘Shopping’ is one that we are presently working on and this is a story that was inspired by an event in Louis’s life when he was estranged from his family as a teen and fell in with a crowd of shoplifters run by a 50 year old Greek.

In essence it’s an “Oliver Twist” story, but just like ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’, it’s taking a hell of a long time to write!
 
How have you found the transition to commercials?

Great. They really are just like short films only shorter in every way… and they kind of fill that void in our life between making features. Working so collaboratively with agency and client is quite different and challenging, but we’ve certainly learnt a lot.

In the end, we try to treat the scripts like short stories/films that have a beginning, middle and end… the disciplines are essentially the same.   

So what would it mean to you both to win an Oscar?

Heaps! It would [be] great, and probably it would be good for DVD sales. You know how they always write on the cover “Brought to you by Oscar winning directors…” Yeah that would be cool.