After jolting the film industry awake with an online launch campaign that promised to revolutionise filmmaking models, renegade film production The Tunnel has received an Australian Directors\u2019 Guild award nomination in the interactive media category.<\/p>\n
This is the first time the ADG has recognised directorial skill in online media, as separate from directing categories such as film, television and animation. Ahmed Salama, of creative agency DLSHS, received the nomination in the Cross Platform Interactive category for his groundbreaking work on the film\u2019s interactive components, including an innovative website which acts as the chief financing model for the film.<\/p>\n
With this nomination, Salama joins ADG-acclaimed directors in other mediums, such as David Mich\u00f4d (Animal Kingdom), Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae), Robert Connolly (Balibo), Peter Andrikidis (East West 101) and Michael James Rowland (My Place).<\/p>\n
Since launching its production in June, The Tunnel has cut a broad swathe through established filmmaking models, first with its proposition to online communities that they help fund the movie by buying individual frames of film, and second with its promise that the movie was to be distributed online, for free, on the bit-torrent piracy networks.<\/p>\n
The Tunnel has gone on to win support from one of the most trailblazing forces in television, Andrew Denton \u2013 and his production company Zapruder\u2019s Other Films. Challenging the way things are traditionally done, the film has sparked heated debate across the Australian film industry and from worldwide online media about the legitimacy of piracy networks as a legitimate distribution medium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nature of this project has indeed rustled some feathers due to the way we have chosen to distribute the film. Being creative is about taking risks, and it\u2019s great to see that our peers are recognising us for that,\u201d Salama says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be seeing many more online cross-platform narratives take the main stage in the coming years. The future is all about richer, more accessible, forms of storytelling, enabling a feeling of ownership for the audience\u201d<\/p>\n
Written and produced by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey and directed by Carlo Ledesma, The Tunnel follows a group of journalists investigating a story about the underground tunnel networks that really snake under Sydney, Australia, and the horror that unfolds when they discover something is waiting for them down there in the darkness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Julian and I initially pitched the 135k frame-selling concept to Ahmed and his team at DLSHS we were more than confident they would be able to successfully execute the campaign. The results have exceeded our expectations and we\u2019re ecstatic the ADG has acknowledged Ahmed\u2019s work \u2013 it\u2019s reassuring to see an organisation like the ADG looking to the future and recognising the online community\u201d said Enzo Tedeschi.<\/p>\n
The ADG Award winners will be announced this Thursday, 23 September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After jolting the film industry awake with an online launch campaign that promised to revolutionise filmmaking models, renegade film production The Tunnel has received an Australian Directors\u2019 Guild award nomination in the interactive media category. This is the first time the ADG has recognised directorial skill in online media, as separate from directing categories such<\/p>\n