Editor

Following on from a Sydney audition earlier this month that was attended by hundreds of budding actors, ten finalists from the Dungog Film Festival’s Screenwise Speed Auditioning initiative have now been selected.
The ten NSW finalists who will be heading to the Dungog Film Festival next
weekend include: Stephanie Bursill, Emilie Cocquerel, Avril Chestnut, Richard
Carwin, Celia Kelly, Madeline Kelly, Camelia Mowbray, Matthew Steele, Debbie Neilson and Andrew Anderson.
“Hundreds of applicants participated in this first of its kind competition and ten of those will get seen by some of Australia's most prominent industry heavyweights. I swell with pride when I think of the opportunity the Screenwise Speed Auditions will give to one very talented and very lucky actor” said Denise Roberts, Screenwise CEO.
The Screenwise Speed Auditioning finalists, who range in age from 18-30, will be provided a two-minute script to be performed and recorded, then played to a panel of prestigious industry practitioners for judging during the Dungog Film Festival.
The esteemed judging panel will include: actors Cameron Daddo, Jeremy Sims
and Denise Roberts, Paramount Pictures CEO Mike Selwyn and award-winning
director Nadia Tass.
“We are delighted by the quality of the finalists. The new program is a real
highlight for the festival and we believe that we have a real star in the making amongst these ten” said Stavros Kazantzidis, Managing Director Dungog Film Festival.
The inaugural winner of this competition will win a $5000 cash prize, exclusive
representation for an 18-month period and an ‘Acting for the Screen’ workshop
with Screenwise.
Dungog Film Festival introduced Screenwise Speed Auditioning to the program in
2010 as an initiative that provided a platform for promising acting talent to
showcase their theatrical skills.
In addition to the Speed Auditioning initiative, there will also be a student program
held on Friday 28 May, featuring an ADG workshop on digital filmmaking and the
importance of good story telling, an AFTRS program on production and costume
design for film, In The Raw interactive live script reads and an NFSA presentation on great Aussie classic films.
The Dungog Film Festival running from 27-30 May, will feature a stunning program of Australian feature films, shorts, documentaries, TV presentations, live script reads and more. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster at
www.ticketmaster.com.au and further details on the Festival can be found at
www.dungogfilmfestival.org.