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Seeking New Blood
With the premiere of last year's winner Dungoona, the Optus ONE80Project is now seeking your 180 second pilot!
Since virtually inventing the 1980s, MTV has been ceaselessly pioneering at the forefront of music and film culture, opening rich inlets of opportunity for those willing to ply their talents. And for four years MTV Australia and Optus have admirably continued the tradition with the ONE80Project - an open invitation for young Australian filmmakers to venture their seedling of an idea for an hour long drama via a simple one hundred and eighty second pilot. The best ten are featured on the ONE80Project website, with the winner given the unique opportunity to have their vision professionally flourish into something special and showcased around the world. "This initiative plays an increasingly important role in nurturing the development of young local television talent," says MTV Networks Australia's Rebecca Batties. "It is the only competition of its kind in Australia that invests in the development and creation of fresh television ideas." Indeed, since its beginnings in 2005 the project has been hungrily seized in the clutches of untapped local potential. Last year's unanimous winner was a stunningly emotive short named Wauchope, courtesy of Dean Bates and Reuben Field. The fleeting entry offered a glimpse of country school kids with no hope and the teacher who wanted to change their lives. It was a powerful pitch that left viewers wanting more. With guidance and help from MTV the scope of their vision was recently unveiled at an industry screening of their hour long drama, now tilted Dungoona. "It was an intense year," says director Reuben Field. "Two or three months writing, two or three months of production, three or four months of post. It was a massive process, but MTV and Optus were instrumental. Everyone got behind it and became progressively more excited as the project came together." Field is clearly happy with the outcome. "I wanted the audience to laugh and cry, and they did." An extraordinary ensemble of newbloods, including the amazing Natasha Bassett and Alex Rowe ("I never wanted a role as much in this life as much as I did when I saw the character in that trailer," says Rowe) alongside Kat Stewart (recently of Underbelly fame), have ensured this engaging, moving and wryly funny piece of drama yields the full benefits of the project. For the team behind the film the future is now an exciting prospect. "At the end of the day there is nowhere else in this country that would have helped us," says Dungoona's Producer Dean Bates. "We were lucky enough to win and they gave us $180,000 to make a film. They have given us all the support we needed, and they were there all the time. And putting on an event like this screening is great because you normally don't have the funds to do it yourself. They make a big event out of it so that people know about it. If we did it ourselves it would be a film for us that no one would know about. A lot of people already know about it in various parts of the world thanks to MTV." "We are now going to try and turn it into a film or a TV series," says Field. "Making a one hour drama was a delicate challenge because we wanted this to be a really strong standalone unit. We have now made effectively both a strong TV pilot and short feature film." The judging panel has also lent weight to the project. While past names include Noah Taylor, Alex Dimitriades and Nash and Joel Edgerton, one powerful addition to the canon this year is David Gale - Executive Vice President of MTV Films and nom-de-plume behind flicks as Election, Napoleon Dynamite and The Longest Yard. Another notable name in the aisle will be actor Xavier Samuel, a name on the rise and freshly returned from the set of the much anticipated Twilight 3. Samuel originally made his name known when he appeared in an earlier ONE80Project winner Dream Life. "The lesson from the screening tonight is that if you put your heart on the line and make something that is honest then it really speaks to the audience," says Xavier. "I really loved Dungoona. It is wonderful to see something honest and brave and it was a wonderful piece of filmmaking - and it may not have even existed without the ONE80Project. So it's great to be involved in something like this, because it offers all sorts of new and interesting possibilities. It's a wonderful process to be involved with and if I can support it in any way, well - I'm grateful to be invited." During the competition the public is also invited to vote for their favourite entries. Optus customers can view shortlisted pilots on 3G smartphones or on their mobile phone via the Optus Zoo Mobile TV site. They can also be streamed from the competition website. Finalists' entries will be screened at the Optus ONE80Project Festival, where the winners will be announced. For more on the ONE80Project, including a trailer to Dungoona, head to the website. Picture Caption: Xavier Samuel back from the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse shoot and at the Dungoona premiere.