2010 DigiSPAA digital feature film competition

2010 is the sixth year the DigiSPAA digital feature film competition is rolling out for filmmakers in Australia and New Zealand.

Launching on Wednesday April 21, the competition offers one of the most lucrative film prizes in Australasia, as well as a recognised career boost with the support of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA), the MOVIE EXTRA Channel, Digital Pictures and CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The official launch of the competition will be held at the Beauchamp Hotel in Darlinghurst, Sydney on April 21. 

“Each year the caliber of entrants in DigiSPAA has continued to rise as producers become more adept with digital filmmaking. The cutting edge new talent we spotlight each year is exciting and exhilarating,” said Antony Ginnane, SPAA president and co curator of DigiSPAA.

Digital filmmaking has gained exceptional ground in recent years with high profile directors including James Cameron with Avatar, Steven Soderbergh with Che and Danny Boyle with Slumdog Millionaire, which won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, championing the format to great success.

The DigiSPAA digital feature film competition supports filmmaking that is affordable, creative and appealing to audiences.

The competition is recognised as a leading showcase for low-budget digital filmmaking in Australia and New Zealand and has a prize pool of $15,000 cash and $20,000 worth of post-production, a guaranteed screening of their film on the Movie Extra channel, plus a return airfare and free registration to the CineMart International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Since winning the grand prize of the ‘SPAARTAN Award’, 2009 winner Missing Water from writer/director/producer Khoa Do will have its national theatrical release in 2010 through Titan View.

Little Deaths, winner in 2008, has since screened at the Dungog Film Festival (2009) and is set to confirm a national theatrical release in 2010 as well.

The 2007 winner Men’s Group went on to win Best Feature at the 2008 Inside Film Awards, and had a national theatrical release in Nov 2008, to much acclaim.

Producer John L. Simpson won the 2nd AFI Fellowship award worth $25,000, and Men’s Group was subsequently released on DVD through Madman Entertainment.

Four DigiSPAA finalist films will screen at the annual SPAA Fringe Conference on October 22 and 23 at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.

The winner will be announced at the annual SPAA Conference to all attending delegates including some of the most successful film producers and distributors in the country.

Applications close at 5pm on Friday, September 17, 2010. Eligible films are feature length, with a running time of at least 70mins, digitally produced and completed to advanced post-production stage no earlier than 30 August 2009, and independently funded.

www.spaa.org.au