From the ICC to multiple UTS venues, the Palace, and beyond, the energy of Australia’s film industry was unmistakable at SXSW Sydney 2024’s Screen Festival. Here are some of our highlights from panels, interviews, and sessions featuring indie pioneers and industry giants alike.
Creative folks talking candid shop
What better way to open a festival of visuals than with three acclaimed creatives discussing their artistic visions? Multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Tim Minchin, screenwriter and playwright Suzie Miller, and renowned marine chef Josh Niland joined a dynamic talk hosted by Jonathan Kneebone of Glue Society.
You’ve never heard a chat so sublimely interwoven between cooking fish bones, chasing voices on paper, and whatever vision-to-screen fanatic neurosis delight Tim Minchin’s got going in his crazy awesome mind.
The discussion concluded with a viewing of Minchin’s film for the Sydney Opera House’s 50th Anniversary, Play it Safe, a fitting tribute to the creative process across disciplines no matter what background you’re from.
Storytelling packing a punch in animation and VFX
For animation enthusiasts, the stage was set with industry veterans Frazer Churchill (Wonder Woman, Children of Men, Fast & Furious), David Peers (Happy Feet, Mad Max: Fury Road), Ingrid Johnston (Peter Rabbit, The LEGO Movie 2), and Fiona Chilton (Rings of Power, Alien Romulus, Harry Potter). Facilitated by Anna Cho, Screen NSW’s Post, Digital and Visual Effects Manager, this talk was an in-depth walkthrough of VFX challenges, successes, and the journeys of these distinguished artists
Their passion was contagious as they presented iconic sequences from their projects, highlighting the role of technology in telling stories that simply wouldn’t have been possible years ago. The discussion was an ode to the technical and emotional artistry of VFX.
A creative career means a different sort of entrepreneur
Screen and theatre professionals bridged their wisdom and skillsets into discussing financially sustainable careers in an industry that is constantly being questioned for its sustainability for anyone’s financial (or mental) sanity.
Panelists included producer Amanda Browne, ATYP CEO Fraser Corfield, industry mentor Denise Eriksen, and writer-director Hannah Reilly, who candidly discussed their personal journeys through the highs and lows of their careers. Their raw and honest accounts provided valuable do’s and don’ts for navigating early to mid-level positions. They emphasized the importance of pursuing below-the-line roles, offering an inspiring roadmap for how to pivot into opportunities that can unlock your creative dreams.
Furiosa was a furious VFX saga too!
Two VFX masterminds from one of the world’s largest vendors, DNEG Sydney, shared the ambitious journey of bringing George Miller’s vision for Furiosa to life. Linda Luong (Senior Producer, Happy Feet, Thor: Love & Thunder, WandaVision) and Dan Bethell (VFX Supervisor, Thor: Ragnarok, Mortal Kombat, Spider-Man: Homecoming) presented an intensely detailed showcase of their VFX work, reminding the audience to keep their cameras off during this exclusive look. Their presentation illustrated how, with the right tools and collaboration, a VFX team can build layers of story beyond what’s captured on set.
With enough meticulous design and intent from all parties involved, countless layers of VFX additions make these endeavours look like herculean efforts for the mind to process.
Screen Industry breakfasts discussing horror and animation
On Thursday morning after a complimentary breakfast (and networking) courtesy of Screen NSW, we had Joe Yanick (Co-founder, Yellow Veil Pictures), Sam Jennings (Co-founder, Causeway Films) and Nick Hayes (Head of Sales and Acquisitions, Umbrella Entertainment) talked about the resurgence of the horror genre. There is no doubt there is an insatiable demand for the genre both domestically and abroad and yet there was a remarkable sentiment shared across all panellists that years ago, horror would’ve been the last thing anyone with money would feel comfortable to greenlight. Patterns and industry trends seem to always be able to find an exception to the rule in this alchemy of industry as you constantly hear differing viewpoints on distribution and audience from our esteemed panellists. Who knows what could happen in the next ten years?
Friday morning brought in Barbara Stephens, CEO of prestigious Aussie animation powerhouse Flying Bark (MARVEL’s What If?, the upcoming Stranger Things animated series, and 200% Wolf), alongside American animator and filmmaker Mark Andrews of Netflix, Pixar and Disney fame. Mark was a dynamite personality, sharing good laughs and no-BS insight into the current state of risk-averseness found in Hollywood’s biggest animation studio right now. After working on blockbuster animation titles like The Incredibles, John Carter, and Brave, Mark remained steadfast in his love of animation, with innovative solutions for various politics and workflow challenges and shenanigans that fall on his productions of immense animation scale.
Mortal Kombat 1 & 2 director talks shop about the continued success of cinematic video game adaptations
SXSW Sydney Screen program manager Felix Hubble sat down with the director of Mortal Kombat and its upcoming sequel (in post-production) Simon McQuoid, on how he came from the land of Apple, HBO, Xbox, Playstation, Call of Duty, and Halo 3 commercials into the feature-length storytelling. There is that old saying that the outsider looking in has a quality of its own and that is definitely something refreshing and inspiring to be shared with Simon’s candid tale of how he managed to pivot his career.
Hearing his work on commercials and what did and didn’t translate into directing for a big-budget feature demonstrated how different the two mediums were but with of course, universal screen storytelling values like character and tone that is revered by all.
SXSW 2024 Screen Award Winners
Sharing the spotlight with our gaming comrades, the SXSW Sydney 2024 Games & Screen Awards night celebrated international and domestic filmmaking triumphs for many exciting talents. Here are your award recipients for the year.
BEST FEATURE FILM
A Grand Mockery – Directors: Sam Dixon, Adam C. Briggs (2024, Australia. World Premiere)
BEST SHORT FILM (TWO AWARDS)
Fishtank – Director: Wendi Tang (2024, China/USA. World Premiere)
AND
Try to Remember, Please – Director: Maria Dudko (2024, Australia. World Premiere)
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
‘Pillhouse’ by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – Director: Ollie Jones (2024, United Kingdom)
BEST EPISODIC
Thou Shalt Not Steal – Director: Dylan River (2024, Australia. From: Ludo Studios & Stan Australia)
BEST STUDENT
Ruby and Tom Take a Cake to a Wedding – Director: Jack McTaggart (2024, Australia. Australian Premiere)
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