THE JOY AWARDS 2013
WINNERS OF SEPTEMBER JOY AWARDS SESSION
(Forthcoming at Silver Wave Film Festival in November: the New Brunswick Joy Award, Helen Hill Animated Joy Award, Technicolor Post Joy Award)
The Linda Joy Media Arts Society is pleased to announce the winners of the 2013 September session of the Joy Awards. Every year the jury must consider a number of excellent submissions before making a final selection. This year, the 28th year of the Joy Awards, we are pleased to be able to recognize and support these filmmakers and their projects.
The Board and staff of the Linda Joy Media Arts Society extend their heartfelt congratulations.
(note: Award partner benefits may be cash or services)
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The Joy Award:
Winner: Brittany Amos
For: Gun Shy
Award partners: PS Atlantic ($10,000), The Atlantic Filmmakers’ Coop ($6,000), 45 North ($1,200), Kodak Canada ($1,000), Prime Insurance ($500).
Gun Shy is a short dark thriller about a thirteen year-old boy named James who is faced with the task of becoming a man on a hunting trip with his father. Horrified by the idea of killing any living creature and haunted by the prospect of his first hunting trip with his father, teenaged James finds himself competing with Rocket, their hunting dog, for his father’s affection.
Brittany Amos is a Nova Scotia-based filmmaker with a passion for powerful storytelling. She completed her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia with a focus on writing for film and television. She wrote Sandwich Crazy, a 2011 Film 5 production that has gone on to play and win awards at multiple genre festivals across North America. She competed in the 2012 Atlantic Film Festival’s Script Development program with her feature-length script, Fish Girl, and recently produced a short film through the film 5 program, Green, which was written and directed by Heather Young and premiered at the 2013 Atlantic Film Festival.
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The 902 Post Joy Award:
Winner: Chris Spencer Lowe
For: Transfer
Award partner: 902 Post Inc. ($10,000).
TRANSFER uses found home movies and ‘scripted’ film to present the story of a solitary technician and his nostalgiacholic obsession with a magical super‐8 film. Ben, a telecine ‘transfer artist,’ discovers an old home movie recording a family’s summer vacation decades before. Drawn into the dreamlike images, Ben begins to blur the lines between his own memories and the world within the film.
“I began to think about the process of transferring home movies to video and the psychological implications of a person being exposed to other people’s memories 40 hours a week,” says Lowe. “What if that person had an emptiness inside them that they could fill with these memories? Could someone indeed, transfer the memories contained within a home movie into their own lives, or their very psyche into the world of the film? If so, would that person be a kind of a magician ?”
Chris Spencer Lowe is best known for his years as the “tech guy” at the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, during which time he helped innumerable new and experienced filmmakers with their projects and taught workshops. Chris has also worked in many capacities on film projects and is active in iRiSs LAB mixed media/performance group. He is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University film program. Chris and his family live in Halifax.
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The Newfoundland Joy Award:
Winner: Roger Maunder
For: Between Two Walls
Award partners: Atlantic Studio Cooperative ($7,500), Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Coop ($2,500), John Doyle ($1,200), Kodak Canada ($1,000).
Between Two Walls is a dramatic short which follows politician Jeremy Barron at the most crucial era of his life. Teetering near the pinnacle of absolute success, propped up by Larry, his endlessly supportive right hand man, Jeremy’s road to power stretches away behind him. Jeremy’s past is coming up that road, catching up at the very last mile, but the efficient and ambitious Larry is determined to keep it behind them.
Between Two Walls explores the myth of untouchability, the inevitability of corruption in the face of power, and the addictive delusions of great ambition.
Roger Maunder is well known in the Newfoundland film industry having worked with many film and broadcast projects as a Director, Writer or Producer. His own short films have screened at regional and international festivals. He has been a mentor, workshop teacher and was a founder of the Nickel Independent Film Festival.
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(Note: the New Brunswick Joy Award, Technicolor Post Joy Award, and the Helen Hill Animated Joy Award will be announced at the Silver Wave Film Festival, November 7-10, 2013.)
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About the Joy Awards and the Linda Joy Media Arts Society
The Joy Awards are announced annually and recognize outstanding talent in Atlantic media arts. This year, 2013, is the 28th year as a cornerstone organization in the Atlantic media arts scene. Joy Awards alumni include many filmmakers and artists who now represent some of the best known talent of the region, and many established, successful professionals in media arts fields. These Awards are the largest and most prestigious independent program of their kind in Eastern Canada.
The winning films and filmmakers are announced in two rounds, one at the Joy Awards Brunch during the Atlantic Film Festival and the second at the Silver Wave Film Festival.
The Joy Awards are presented with generous support from our partners:
The Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage; SIM Digital, PS Atlantic, 902 Post Inc, The Atlantic Studios Cooperative; The Postman Post-production Studio; The Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative; The New Brunswick Filmmakers Cooperative; Kodak Canada Inc.; Technicolor; The Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Cooperative; 45 North; The Centre For Art Tapes; The Newfoundland Film Development Corporation; John Doyle; Prime Insurance Agency Inc.; The Atlantic Film Festival; The Silver Wave Film Festival.
The Joy Awards Brunch is presented with generous support from our partners:
Propeller Breweries, Tideview Cider, J. Willy Krauch & Sons, the Atlantic Film Festival, and the Silver Wave Film Festival.
Special thanks to Jim MacSwain.
