On Monday night, the Australian Directors Guild Awards were held in Sydney’s City Recital Hall where a mix of well-known industry talent such as Rachel Griffiths, Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Leah Purcell, Rachel Perkins, Gillian Armstrong and Jeffrey Walker mixed it up with emerging filmmakers such as Shelly Lauman, Nicholas Verso, Adrian Chiarella, Tom Noakes, Billy Pleffer and Kate Halpin – amongst many others.
The night began with the usual red carpet and cameras flashing as guests lined up, waiting their turn before joining the buzzing crowd with drinks and canapes. This year, I was present in my capacity as an AFTRS staff member, along with director Rowan Woods (Head of Directing, AFTRS), and a team of enthusiastic AFTRS Bachelor of Arts in Screen Media students who were filming the event. We had two teams of students stationed at the end of the red carpet, ready to catch guests for a quick interview. Everyone was very generous with their time and the students were beyond thrilled to meet and interview so many of their idols as well younger nominated filmmakers and AFTRS graduates. It warmed the cockles of my slightly jaded producer’s heart to see the students so excited and pumped up at their first big awards event.
