Last year's winning film 'Dungoona' premieres Monday 7 December at Event Cinemas
Television premiere on MTV 13 December at 9pm [AEDT]
For more information go to: www.one80project.com.au
The OPTUS ONE80PROJECT is pleased to welcome acclaimed Australian actor Xavier Samuel, who has just finished filming Eclipse, the third instalment of the Twilight series phenomenon, to the judging panel for its fourth year of the competition. Samuel will join judges David Gale, US based MTV Films heavyweight and Executive Vice President of New Media and Chris McGlinn, Director of Marketing for Amalgamated Holdings Limited who brings with him over 25 years of cinema experience. The OPTUS ONE80PROJECT is a joint initiative between Optus and MTV Networks Australia, in association with BlackBerry and Event Cinemas.
Adelaide born Xavier Samuel has gone from strength to strength in the Australian film industry since his film debut in 2:37 which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a standing ovation. He has gone on to star in acclaimed films including September, Newcastle, The Loved Ones and also appeared in Dream Life, the winning film from The OPTUS ONE80PROJECT in 2008. Samuel is anticipated to experience world wide fame in the third instalment of the Twilight franchise, Eclipse.
"The OPTUS ONE80PROJECT is a wonderful initiative that encourages and nurtures emerging filmmakers. I was part of the Dream Life cast in 2008 so I'm thrilled and honoured to continue my association with the project this year on the judging panel, alongside some stellar industry figures," Samuel said.
To coincide with the launch of the project, the winning entry from last year, Dungoona, will premiere at Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction on Monday 7 December at 6:00pm. Directed by Grammy Nominated Reuben Field and produced by Dean Bates from Starchild Productions, Dungoona stars Logie winner and star of Underbelly, Kat Stewart, Darin Berlin, and their lucky discovery, amazing seventeen-year-old Natasha Bassett.
Dungoona High is a rough school in a country town and the lead, Gemma McNeill, is one of its 'At Risk' Year 10 students. The principal hires a "fixer", the enigmatic Mr Berlin, to take charge of the most troubled class and his unorthodox methods challenge the kids. His battle to win Gemma is threatened by her blossoming relationship with young hothead Jared, newly out of juvenile remand and full of dangerous adventure. Painfully honest and very funny, Dungoona captures the raging teens through the vibrant and feisty eyes of one very special young woman.
Field and Bates have had a dream run with a Grammy Nomination in 2008 for their DVD, Liberacion, a Logie nomination for their ABC comedy Review with Myles Barlow and four AFI nominations. Since shooting, Field has spent months working intensively on post-production, finessing the edit and securing great music for the soundtrack including Frenzal Rhomb, Kisschasy, Tame Impala and The Paper Scissors. Meanwhile, Bates has been producing and overseeing videos for Guy Sebastian, John Butler Trio and an ARIA-nominated Kate Miller-Heidke clip.
If you are unable to be at the premiere on Monday, tune into MTV Channel 124 on Sunday 13 December 2009 at 9PM [AEDT] to watch Dungoona or view it on Optus Mobile and Optus Broadband.
Optus mobile customers will be able to view 'Dungoona' on their 3G smartphone or mobile phone via the Optus ZOO Mobile TV site from mid-December.
Last year's winner 'Dungoona' premieres on MTV channel 124 Sunday 13 December at 9pm [AEDT]
To find out more about OPTUS ONE80PROJECT and how to enter, log onto www.one80project.com.au.
Entries Close 5pm (Sydney Local Time) Friday 12 February, 2010
For further information:
Laura Vozzo
Communications & Publicity Manager
MTV Networks Australia
Email: laura.vozzo@mtvna.com.au
Phone: (02) 9921-0299
Milly Gattegno
Publicist
MTV Networks Australia
Email: milly.gattegno@mtvna.com.au
Phone: (02) 9921-0261
Siobhan Quinn
Corporate Affairs Executive
Optus
Email: Siobhan.Quinn@optus.com.au
Phone: (02) 8082 8432
Note To Editors
The national television competition OPTUS ONE80PROJECT, is an opportunity for all local aspiring TV makers to turn their good idea into a big shot at the small screen. A 180 second pilot with an accompanying treatment can be uploaded onto the OPTUS ONE80PROJECT website, ONE80PROJECT.com.au until 5pm (Sydney Local Time), Friday February 12, 2010. All entries must be suitable for viewing on Optus smartphones and 3G mobile phones, internet and TV.
Ten entries will then be short-listed by an industry panel of judges including David Gale who will also go on to select a judges' choice winner. Previously head of MTV Films, Gale oversaw the release of 26 movies including Hustle and Flow, Election, Napoleon Dynamite, The Longest Yard, Murderball, Beavis and Butthead Do America, Jackass: the Movie and Jackass number two. Previous OPTUS ONE80PROJECT judges have included Noah Taylor, Abbie Cornish, Emily Barclay, Neil Armfield, Teresa Palmer, Alex Dimitriades and Nash & Joel Edgerton.
The public will also be able to choose a winner. The ten short-listed pilots can be viewed by Optus mobile customers on their 3G smartphone or mobile phone via the Optus ZOO Mobile TV site, or they can be streamed from the competition website (www.ONE80PROJECT.com.au). Viewers will vote for their favourite pilot via a short code sent to their mobile phone or at the competition website. Votes can be cast over five weeks, from Monday March 1, 2010 to Monday April 5, 2010.
The pilots from the ten finalists will be screened at the OPTUS ONE80PROJECT Awards held on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at which the two winning entries, the Judges' Choice Award and the People's Choice Award, will be announced.
Both winners will receive an amazing prize package including a share in $20,000 cash and a BlackBerry® Smartphone. In addition, the Judges Choice will get the opportunity to work with MTV production experts and an Executive Producer at MTV Australia's production facilities valued at $250,000 to develop and shape their original pilot into a full-length multi-platform drama. The completed final episodes will be shown first on the Optus ZOO web and mobile portals and later shown on MTV Australia.
The winning submission will be produced and aired on MTV in Australia and will be available to Optus 3G customers on the Optus ZOO portals.
About David Gale - Executive Vice President of New Media at MTV
David Gale is Executive Vice President of New Media at MTV, overseeing the development and production of interactive projects for the web and other new media platforms. Gale's division has launched a variety of unique properties including a social network and video uploading site for skaters called The CLUSTR, a motion comic series based on the hit comic book Invincible and the blockbuster online release of Jackass 2.5, the first major studio film premiered on the internet. In May 2009 MTV New Media released $5 Cover Memphis, created by Hustle and Flow filmmaker Craig Brewer, which recently won a 2009 OMMA award. $5 Cover is a reality-based story set in the current Memphis music scene. The experience encompasses music performances and user discovery using the most current technology to provide access to the content on all platforms. MTV New Media recently announced $5 Cover Seattle directed by Lynn Shelton (writer/director of the critically-acclaimed Humpday) and Savage County, an original horror film for new media platforms. Gale was previously head of MTV Films, where he oversaw the release of 26 movies including Hustle and Flow, Election, Napoleon Dynamite, The Longest Yard, Murderball, Beavis and Butthead Do America, Jackass: the Movie and Jackass number two.
About Optus
Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications. The company specialises in a broad range of communications services including mobile, local, national and long distance telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television. For more information please visit www.optus.com.au
About Optus Mobile TV
Mobile TV gives Optus 3G customers the chance to access the biggest TV brands on their mobiles, both live and on demand. Channels include: MTV, Sky News, South Park, The Hills and more. Access is through Optus ZOO, for more information please visit www.optus.com.au/mobiletv
About MTV
MTV Networks International includes the premier multimedia entertainment brands MTV: Music Television, VH1, Nickelodeon, TMF (The Music Factory), VIVA, Paramount Comedy and Game One seen in 442.9 million households in 170 countries and 28 languages via 121 locally programmed and operated TV channels and 95 Web sites. The company's diverse holdings also include interests in television syndication, digital media, publishing, home video, radio, recorded music, licensing & merchandising and two feature film divisions, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA)