Big names, big stars - ATOM Award winners!

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Big names, big stars - ATOM Award winners!

Which big names will be featured on the silver screen at this year’s EnhanceTV ATOM Awards?

This year the EnhanceTV ATOM Awards celebrate the 25th anniversary of Australia and New Zealand's most prestigious award program for recognising achievements in Film, Television, Animation and Multimedia. Such a landmark is time for reflection on the past and when it comes to the ATOM Award story, it is one punctuated by the starry presence of some of the biggest names in the industry today.

Amber Nelson, Event Manager, ATOM Awards, commented of the forthcoming awards, “This is an industry where wide recognition of one’s work can open important doors to success. However, many budding actors, actresses, journalists and animators who need this critical exposure can often find that it is just beyond their reach.”

“The ATOM Awards is proud to have a track record of showcasing the work of a number of budding actors, actresses, journalists and animators - early in their careers - when the impact it has on their future can be so great,” she added.

In fact, the list of past ATOM Award nominees and winners include many of today’s loved and admired ‘household names’.

Veteran Australian actress Rachel Ward gained international recognition in 1993 for her portrayal of Meggie on the television mini-series ‘The Thorn Birds’. More recently, Ward has been involved in directing some very successful short films and in 2003, her first feature production, ‘Martha's New Coat’ won the ATOM Award for Best General Short Fiction.

Adam Elliot, is today recognised as one of the world’s most celebrated animators and director of short films. His claymations – ‘Uncle’, ‘Cousin’, ‘Brother’ and ‘Harvie Krumpet’, have been enjoyed by millions of people around the world. In 1998, early on in his career, Adam Elliot received the ATOM Award for ‘Best Animation’ for his incredible creative genius in writing, animating and designing ‘Uncle’.

The principals of Working Dog include some of Australia's best known performers and writers: Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, Michael Hirsh and Glenn Robbins. The Working Dog team is perhaps best recognised for their popular feature film, ‘The Castle’ which made over AUD 10 million at the domestic box office and their successful new program, ‘Thank God You’re Here’. In 1998 the Working Dog team won the ATOM Award for the ‘Best Television Series/Serial’ as the producers of the highly praised ABC comedy, ‘Front Line’ (series 3).

Rachel Griffiths was nominated in1999 for an ATOM Award for her short fiction film, ‘Tulip’. Today, Rachel is well recognised as a Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated Australian film and television actress. She is known best for her role in ‘Muriel’s Wedding’, for her portrayal of Brenda Chenowith in Six Feet Under and as Sally Field's TV daughter and Calista Flockhart's sister, Sarah Walker Whedon in ABC's drama, ‘Brothers & Sisters’.

Ms Nelson added, “A number of our entries also come from professionals who are well established in their fields. For example, Jonathan M. Schiff, a respected Children’s Television producer and Philippa Campey, the innovative producer of ‘Clara’ - which was awarded a Special Mention by the Palm d'Or Jury at Cannes 2005 - are nominated almost every year for their amazing new work.”

The 2007 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards will be presented at a gala presentation event, held in the Plaza Ballroom, Regent Theatre, Melbourne on Friday 19 October, 2007.

The 2007 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards program is sponsored by EnhanceTV, Adobe Asia Pacific, Victorian Government – Department for Victorian Communities, Avid Australia, Monash University, Encore Magazine, Metro Magazine, Metroscreen, Open Channel and Qpix.

For more information about the 2007 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards please visit www.atomawards.org

ENDS

About the ATOM Awards

The ATOM Awards was established in 1982 by the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) - an independent, non-profit association promoting media education and screen literacy in primary, secondary and tertiary education and the broader community.

The 2007 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, which is a strong testimony to the program’s longstanding history and tradition of awarding excellence in screen and media culture.

Each year, the ATOM Awards recognise excellence in over thirty categories of Film, Television, Animation and Multimedia and celebrate the very best of Australian and New Zealand production.

The 2007 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards are open to the education and industry sectors, students, production companies, independent filmmakers, educational bodies and educational producers in both countries.

Using the ATOM Awards, ATOM publications and ATOM Professional Development Victoria, ATOM is actively engaged in the promotion of Australian product into the education and industry market. As such, the ATOM Awards are unique in their incorporation of the educational market with the broader industry.

The combination of student and professional awards not only allows the ATOM Awards to provide all-important early career exposure and experience for emerging professionals, but also provides promotional opportunities for winners and finalists.

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