SPADA AWARD WINNERS Announced

DRAFT MEDIA RELEASE Thursday 22 November 2012

EMBARGOED until 5.30pm Thursday 22 November 2012

SPADA AWARD WINNERS Announced

Onfilm/SPADA Industry Champion

Crombie Lockwood/MTJ Independent Producer of the Year

New Filmmaker Of the Year Award

Winners of three prestigious SPADA (Screen Production & Development Association) Awards were announced at the SPADA Conference in Wellington on Thursday 22 November.

Onfilm/SPADA Industry Champion 2012 was awarded to Vincent Burke.

This year’s Industry Champion Vincent Burke is a true champion of the industry. As well as the producer of numerous documentaries and television series, over the years his industry roles have included President of SPADA, the NZ Film & Video Training Board, CEO of Top Shelf Productions, Co-owner of the new “Choice” channel, mentor and mediator. He has always found the time to support others and industry initiatives.

Vincent’s documentaries include Cinema of Unease, Velvet Dreams, Frontier of Dreams and I want to Die at Home. His television series include xxxxxxx and the long running consumer series of Target.

Crombie Lockwood/MTJ Independent Producer of the Year was awarded to Peter Young.

Peter Young has produced many successful and high rating television series including Hunger for the Wild, Coasters and Get Fresh with Al Brown.

This year Peter completed his first feature film, the documentary The Last Ocean, which he produced and directed. He also raised all the finance, travelled the world to shoot the film, and led the New Zealand distribution and publicity. The Last Ocean raises ethical and environmental issues and focuses on the importance of protecting the Ross Sea in Antarctica – the world’s last in tact marine ecosystem. He has also formed the Last Ocean Trust which campaigns internationally on environmental issues and the protection of the Ross Sea.

New Filmmaker of the Year was awarded to Mike Wallis.

(Principal Sponsor: Park Road Post Production, Sponsors: Panavision and Event Cinemas)

Mike made his impressive feature film debut directing, producing and writing Good for Nothing. He also handled the film’s domestic and international distribution. It was in 2005 that Mike and Inge Rademeyer, the film’s leading actress, decided to self-fund and produce this film.

Mike Wallis began his career in a video store in Queenstown. At 21 he moved to Wellington and made his first short film starring Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords). He was a runner on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and went on to work in animation and motion capture for Weta Digital.

The longevity of the SPADA Conference is only possible with the generous long-standing support of its Sponsors and Supporters: Official Principal Sponsor New Zealand Film Commission, Premium Sponsor Wellington City Council: Key Sponsors New Zealand On Air, TVNZ, Māori Television, Screenrights, TV3, South Pacific Pictures: Sponsors and Supporters Apex General Ltd, Budget Rent a Car, Crombie Lockwood/MTJ, Event Cinemas, Film Finances, FIUA, Goethe-Institut, Havana, Images & Sound, Johnson & Laird Managements, Onfilm, Panavision, Quitline, The Film Archive, Voyage Affaires: and SPADA’s Premiere Partner Telecom.

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