by Ché Baker
Any event that starts with someone calling you ‘Sir’ and taking you for a drive in a golf buggy, usually has a pretty good chance of being awesome. The 7th Annual Australians in Film Awards, held at Paramount Studios was no exception.
The Awards celebrate Australians who are making waves on the international stage in film and television – and the impressive list of honorees from this year’s event gave evidence to how many Australians are doing just that.
After a ‘Blue Carpet’ entrance which saw the likes of Stuart Beattie (I, Frankenstein, Danger Close), Liv Hewson (Santa Clara Diet), Sam Worthington and Activist and author Monica Lewinsky, and a host of other Australian talent (check out the video below), the awards got underway in the Paramount theatre.
The whole production was slick, and after a musical opening by rapper Briggs, the event was helmed with wit and efficiency by Josh Lawson… who threatened to make the whole night the ‘roast of Damon Herriman’… but decided against it. Just.
The breakthrough awards went to 19-year-old Eliza Scanlen for her fantastic performance opposite Amy Adams in Sharp Objects. Keiynan Lonsdale also received a breakthrough award for his compelling performance in Love, Simon.
To add to his Academy Award, Lee Smith, who is ‘one of the world’s best editors, and certainly the world’s tallest’ according to Deadpool 2 writer/director Simon Kinsberg, picked up the Fox Studio Australia International Award. Lee began his career as a sound editor and has moved on to working internationally on some of the world’s biggest films. If you’re a Christopher Nolan fan, you’re also a Lee Smith fan, you just don’t know it. Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar, Dunkirk and the Prestige are all part of Lee’s handiwork. With a career spanning 40 years it was great to see Lee honoured.
When watching a reel of his work and asked how it made him feel, Lee’s answer was simple, ‘Tired’.
Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette special on Netflix has thrust the Tasmanian into the world’s consciousness in the last 6 months, and by her own admission it’s all moving very fast. The comedian was honoured with the Create NSW Annette Kellerman Award, which shines a spotlight on trailblazing women in Hollywood. By any definition, Gadsby’s brutally honest Netflix special certainly achieves that.
Producer Mark Johnson reckons he’s flown first class on Qantas for many years off the back of the scene in Rain Man where Dustin Hoffman says to Tom Cruise ‘I want to fly Qantas, Qantas never crashed.’ Rain Man was just one of the blockbuster achievements in the producer’s career, with everything from Better Call Saul, Good Morning Vietnam, and Donnie Brasco through to The Notebook on his resume. For a lifetime of amazing behind the scenes achievement, Mark was honoured with the Ausfilm International Award.
Much of the night really belonged to Damon Herriman though, who has spent a lifetime becoming an overnight success. A clip was played to the audience of Damon as a ten-year-old speaking to Don Lane, the iconic chat show host of the ‘70s and ‘80s. As was mentioned several times throughout the night, who’d have thought that young boy would grow up to play Charles Manson….twice.
https://www.facebook.com/southaustraliancasting/videos/1364216917042874/
Herriman was lovingly roasted for his acting range by good friend and fellow actor Josh Lawson after it was announced that he would play Charles Manson in Quentin Tarantino’s Once upon a Time in Hollywood. This comes after his foray into the same character in Netflix’s Mindhunter. All this is on top of an impressive career including Breaking Bad, Justified, Secret City, Down Under and Rake to name but a few.
On the Blue Carpet, good friend Sam Worthington turned up to show his support for Herriman by saying he’s ‘been in the industry thirty odd years…he’s been doing it… one of the longest I’ve known, it’s about time he gets some recognition.’
The evening was rounded off with a meal outside on the lawn and freely flowing drinks, and it was a true celebration of the continuing success of Australians in the film and TV industry. The lack of any pretentious attitude saw industry newcomers and veterans mixing with a generous and welcoming attitude and it was a credit to Australians in Film to see the calibre of attendees.
The event represents the growing trend of Australians gaining success in Hollywood both on screen and behind the scenes, and as the evening’s emcee put it, that’s due to the fact that ‘…we have a good work ethic, you can transplant us into any other country – we have a travelling nature.’
If there was a takeaway from the evening, it was this – that the Australian reputation is hard earned. Those who’ve come before have done their homework and paved the way for the current influx of success. As actor and presenter Tim Olyphant said in his speech, if they’re Australian he knows they’ll ‘Turn up on time, come prepared, work hard and they’ll be a gem.’
For more on Australians in Film, head to the website.
Main Picture Credit: Damon Herriman, Lee Smith, Hannah Gadsby, Keiynan Lonsdale and Mark Johnson pose onstage during the 7th Annual Australians in Film Awards Gala at Paramount Studios on October 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Australians in Film)
