The votes have been tallied and the critics have had their say… Congratulations to all of our winners, and thank you to everyone who watched and voted!

$2000 CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Rosie O’Rosey’s Big Speech, by Sheraden Robins


Our panel of industry experts gathered at the offices of Screen Australia to view all of the films and pick the winner of the $2000 major prize. They all agreed that Rosie O’Rosey’s Big Speech was clever, funny, beautifully animated, and a uniquely Australian story. Congratulations to Producer Sheraden Robins and her team!

The judging panel this year included:

• Jason Van Genderen – from Treehouse Creative. Winner of the Nokia Music Prize Sundance London 2013, Runner Up Tropfest 2012 and Winner Tropfest New York 2008.
• Dave Taylor – Managing Director, Ink Project. One of the country’s leading creative agencies, winners of over 100 industry awards in Australia and overseas.
• Graham Burrells – Creative Director, Foxtel Movies and Premium Drama.
• Phyllisse Stanton – CEO Aurora Community Channel.

The remaining winners were selected by the public. Thousands of votes were cast, and here are the films YOU selected:  

The “Best of the Rest”, a collection of finalists and outstanding entries from the entire festival, will be screened on Aurora Channel 183 FOXTEL on Sundays in June at 8pm.

Aurora to focus on in-house production with ‘My Community’

and brings back a revamped ‘Chatterbox’

Sydney, 19March, 2013: Premiering this month on Aurora, Australia’s leading not-for-profit STV community channel, is new program My Community focusing on local stories and produced entirely in-house. Also airing is the latest installation of community chat show Chatterbox, now in its second season.

CEO of Aurora, Phyllisse Stanton said: “We are putting more emphasis into producing our own local content at Aurora, to shine a spotlight on the great work happening in communities across the country.”

The fortnightly show My Community premieres Thursday 21 March at 7pm and focuses on the people and organisations that are doing great work in their small corners of the country. Some episodes will be fully created by Aurora’s in-house team and others will be sourced from people and organisations who want to contribute ready-made stories.

Ms Stanton commented: “We encourage all Australians to put forward their stories for broadcast on national television. We are looking forward to receiving content such as short-films, documentaries and interviews to feature in the new program.”

The first episode will feature vox pops around the theme ‘What does community mean to you?’ as well as a film produced by the University of Sydney about local artist John Mundine and his push to have a large scale artwork installed at the Sydney Opera House to recognise the country’s cultural history.

Also screening this month is the second season of Aurora’s popular chat show Chatterbox, which commenced on Tuesday 12 March and is running until early October. Continuing with its community focus, the show is taking a new approach this year with a greater focus on the arts.

Ms Stanton added: “After a successful first season of Chatterbox, we are pleased to bring the show back again this year with a fresh new look. We are again partnering with ICE, the tech and arts organisation in Parramatta, and focusing on a youth orientated audience. This year Chatterbox is looking edgier than ever.”

Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) is a community, cultural, information technology and arts organisation that works across the Greater Western Sydney region, and is particularly noted for its work with young people and newly arrived migrant and refugee communities.

-ENDS-

About Aurora: Aurora is committed to screening interesting, diverse and innovative content to encourage awareness and understanding of community issues and interests. All Australians have the unique opportunity to have their work broadcast on a national platform. Aurora Community Channel is a partner of Australian Made and is proudly supported by FOXTEL.

About Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE): ICE works resourcefully and creatively with digital technologies to harness the energies and artistic expressions of the most culturally diverse region of Australia. Tracking the rapid shifts and creative surges in our region, ICE give voice and provide professional opportunities to artists and communities who will transform the directions and definitions of sustainable arts activities in Western Sydney and, potentially, the nation.

Follow Aurora on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/AuroraTV

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AuroraTV

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/auroracommunity183

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/AuroraTV

Media Information: Laura Douglas at Launch Group: 02 9492 1002 / 0452 505 859

laura@launchgroup.com.au

Chair of the Finance Committee
Jane Rybarz
Jane has extensive experience in accounts and finance for the film and television industries. Jane is currently the Chief Financial Officer at  Evolution Media Group and Evo TV, where she is the strategic financial adviser to the CEO and plays an active role in shaping the financial strategy of the organisation. She is also currently a Consulting/Acting Finance Manager at Link-Up; an Aboriginal corporation funded by State and Federal Government Health Departments to assist the health and well-being of members of the Stolen Generation. Prior to that, Jane worked as Director of Finance and Audit at NITV, Financial Controller at Bazmark Inq (Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin), Management Accountant at Southern Star Endemol, and worked at KPMG Chartered Accountants, as well as roles at a variety of other media organisations. Jane is a Chartered Accountant, CPA, a member of the Taxation Institute of Australia, and holds a BA (Accountancy) from the University of South Australia.

CEO/Managing Director
Phyllisse Stanton
Phyllisse has been CEO/MD of Aurora Community Channel for the past four and half years. Prior to this she was part of the launch team as Group Creative Director for UKTV; a joint venture between the BBC, Fremantle Media and FOXTEL broadcasting in Australia and New Zealand. Phyllisse has previously held numerous roles across marketing, branding, advertising, promotions and production in the television industry, including Nine Network, Prime Television, SBS and Optus Vision.

Company Secretary
Daniel Prypchan
Daniel specialises in financial and business management for media and arts organisations, particularly in the areas of film production and non-profit enterprises. He has  been the Company Secretary at Aurora since August 2010 , assisting the channel through a period of growth and change. Previous roles include Group Financial Controller at Ovation Channel, Production Accountant at Firelight Productions and Producer at Human Productions.

Programming & Production Manager
Corrie McDougall
With Aurora since 2007, Corrie has been integral in the growth of quality programming on the channel. Passionate about the countless independent producers who deliver premiere shows week in week out, as well as the community partnerships formed with some of the country’s leading arts and community organisations. Corrie has also been a part of the development of Aurora’s growing in-house productions including Aurora Short Film Festival and My Community. Prior to Aurora Corrie was co-artistic director and producer at Lamb n Co, a Arts and video based organisation, developing regenerational art projects, installations and video productions for schools, charities and art organisations in Australia and the UK.

Marketing & Social Media Manager
Louise Lenihan
Louise has worked at Aurora since 2008, starting in scheduling and working her way across to marketing. It was during a brief stint in the advertising world that Louise discovered her passion for social media, and she now manages all of  Aurora’s social profiles, as well as producing content for the website. With a background in screen production, Louise is also heavily involved with  in-house production My Community, and coordinates the Aurora Short Film Festival.

Promo Producer
Dirk Jonker
As Aurora’s longest serving employee, Dirk has worked across a variety of roles at the channel – from programming, to operations, to on-air, he knows the channel inside out. Dirk is currently the resident Promo Producer, and also works across web content and  editing for all in-house productions. With a background in audio and music recording, Dirk has found his second home in the editing suite.

On Air Scheduler
Sarah Jane Cook
Sarah Jane Cook is Aurora’s On Air Scheduler and one of the most recent members of the channel. Having over ten years of experience in television, she has worked for FOXTEL, XYZ Networks, ABC and Innovations Park Studios. Sarah Jane brings to Aurora a diverse range of skills including on-air presentation and broadcast operations, broadcast material coordination, acquisitions, post-production editing and production assistant.

Programming Coordinator
Malina Mackiewicz
Having recently graduated from the AFTRS Foundation Diploma course, Malina undertook a three month internship at Aurora as part of the ASTRA Graduate Program. Proving herself to be an invaluable addition to the team, Malina was invited to stay on as a member of staff, and is now focusing her efforts on the production of Aurora’s new program My Community.

Join Roothy for a wild adventure, going off road and seeing the sights with 4WD Action. Starts March 13 on Aurora!

New queer-themed TV shows on Aurora

Online channel ‘Inside Out TV’ heads to Aurora, along with the premiere of the Queer Fruits Film Festival, this February

7^th February, 2013: Aurora, Australia’s leading not-for-profit STV community channel, is supporting GLBTIQ* audiences with the launch of two new shows this month. The Queer Fruits Film Festival (QFFF) features the best films from the last four years of the festival, compiled into four episodes for Aurora. Also the online gay and lesbian channel, Inside Out TV, is going to broadcast on Aurora as a new TV series.

Aurora CEO Phyllisse Stanton said: “Aurora is passionate about showcasing diverse and inspiring content and we are so proud to broadcast the Queer Fruits Film Festival and Inside Out TV which both focus attention on the real life gay and lesbian community.”

The opening episode of QFFF will premiere on Sunday 10^th February 8.30pm. It features the award-winning documentary ‘Undressing Vanessa’ which won the Best Short Documentary at the 2008 IF Awards and stars the celebrated drag artist Vanessa Wagner (from Celebrity Big Brother, 2002).

The chosen films from QFFF are a mixture of short and experimental films, documentaries, animations, music videos and special features. They are based around the uplifting and inspiring stories which explore the serious realities and issues that can confront GLBTIQ people.

Aurora will also air Inside Out TV one of Australia’s leading online, gay and lesbian video entertainment channels, which began on YouTube in 2011. Aurora approached the channel and offered to broadcast them as a new TV show.

Ms Stanton explained: “Seeing the value of the diverse content Inside Out TV had to offer online, Aurora approached the channel to broadcast them on a national platform, with the goal to help increase visibility of Australia’s queer community on national television.”

The new weekly gay and lesbian, lifestyle TV series will premiere on Thursday 14^th February 8 pm. The show includes a look-back at the best of the summer parties, snippets from Mardi Gras 2012, and a Mardi Gras Parade Special with the team broadcasting from the Mardi Gras Kiki studio on the 2^nd March, 2013 Sydney parade route.

Other highlights from the series also include episodes on the rich history of the Sydney Show Girls, scenes from some of the hottest clubs from Oxford St, honouring community leaders at the 2012 ACON LGBTQI Honour Awards plus all the highlights from the mass Marriage Equality rally held at Martin Place.

Guest hosts include Ji Wallace (silver Olympic medallist).

Stanton noted: “We aim to celebrate the lives of gay and lesbian people at Aurora, and these two new TV shows reflect that with their entertaining and innovative content.”

-ENDS-

*Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (GLBTIQ)

About Aurora: Aurora is committed to screening interesting, diverse and innovative content to encourage awareness and understanding of community issues and interests. All Australians have the unique opportunity to have their work broadcast on a national platform. Aurora Community Channel is a partner of Australian Made and is proudly supported by FOXTEL.

Follow Aurora on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/AuroraTV

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AuroraTV

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/auroracommunity183

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/AuroraTV

Media Information: Laura Douglas at Launch Group: 02 9492 1002 / 0452 505 859

laura@launchgroup.com.au