Hosted by MTV VJ Erin McNaught, the night was all about announcing the Viewers’ and Judges' Choice winners for the OPTUS ONE80PROJECT, a nation wide competition open to anyone with an idea for an hour long TV drama, but there were plenty of other draw cards for the thousands who flooded Hyde Park, including top-notch tunes, drinks served from our friends from Kit & Kaboodle and great grub from Doughboy Pizza.
As the sun set over Hyde Park and glowing yellow Chinese lanterns sparkled in the fading light, The Modernist warmed up the crowd with a DJ set, which was followed by an epic 40 minute performance by internationally-acclaimed rockers Stereophonics, who took a break from their world tour to play to an ecstatic crowd.
The band were there to show their support for budding new film makers. Singer Kelly Jones said:
“I went to film school and did script writing, so when we were asked to be involved in something that involved young film makers and writers it was something that interested us directly. We’ve always been part of writing treatments for our videos and picking directors, so it was something that goes hand in hand”.
Now in it’s fourth year, The OPTUS ONE80PROJECT attracted a record number of entries from across the country with the finalists using a wide variety of unique and conceptual themes that could all be made into a distinctive and refreshing multiplatform program.
After complimentary popcorn was distributed to fans viewing the Top Ten finalist entries on a giant screen, the moment the nervous finalists were waiting for had arrived. Hollywood stars Sam Neill, Sophie Lowe, Xavier Samuel, David Gale (Executive Vice President of New Media, MTV Networks ) and Chris McGlinn (Director of Marketing for Amalgamated Holdings Limited ) had their work cut out choosing the winner thanks to the high standard of work, but after weeks of deliberation, it was decided that Maia Horniak, Will Howarth and Andrew Ryan who wrote and directed the standout pilot ‘The Sellers’ , were the overall winners of the OPTUS ONE80PROJECT .
Talking to the winners after the event, they said:
“We’re very excited to make the film, it’s been a lot of work, and the idea of getting out there and making the full length film is exciting.
“We feel incredibly honoured, and the opportunity is massive for us and we’re really committed to doing it, so I feel that as a team we’re going to do pretty well.”
The Sydney filmmakers will now have the opportunity to work with MTV’s production team and Executive Producer to develop and shape their original pilot into a full-length multi-platform drama, as well as a share in $20,000 cash and a BlackBerry® Smartphone . In addition, the Judges' Choice will have $250,000 worth of support using MTV’s production facilities.
The public were also given the chance to vote for their favourite entry in a national campaign entitled ‘You be the Judge’ which attracted over a record number of votes this year. When voting closed, ‘Southern Cross ’ from Perth residents, Aaron Moss and David Vincent Smith were the clear winner.
After the winners were announced, New Zealand’s P-MONEY continued to play some great beats that kept the party going into the night. Congratulations to all our OPTUS ONE80PROJECT entrants and finalists for another great year!
To learn more about the winners and watch their pilot transformed into an hour long film aired on MTV later in the year, stay locked to MTV or get to www.one80project.com.au for another look at the great work submitted this year.
Copyright : MTV Australia
