News| Apr 1, 2016

Australia was the talk of the night at the Oscars held in February, with eleven award nominations. Mad Max: Fury Road won six of the ten categories for which it was nominated, making it the most successful Australian film at the Academy Awards.

The fourth instalment of the iconic Australian film was recognised for its excellence in Costume Design, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, and Film Editing.

Screen NSW helped Fury Road’s production company, Sydney-based Kennedy Miller Mitchell, to utilise NSW’s locations and access industry practitioners during all stages of production. This included helping to organise Sydney-based locations Penrith Lakes and Potts Hill for the shooting of the climactic final action scenes.

Mad Max has a long history with NSW. Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome both filmed in locations in NSW.

Below we focus on Australia’s Academy Award talent:

Film Editing
Margaret Sixel who also won at the AACTA and BAFTA awards for her achievements on Mad Max: Fury Road was also recognised for her achievements at the Oscar for Best Film Editing. Sixel, who is based in Sydney, has editing credits for well-known movies such as Happy Feet and Babe: Pig in the City.

Sound Editing
David White and Mark Mangini received the Oscar for sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road. White is based in Sydney and has contributed to over 27 films, including Knowing. Mangini, from Los Angeles, has worked in the sound department for over 135 films. The pair also won an AACTA for their work.

Makeup and Hairstyling
Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin were recognised at the Academy Awards for their thrilling apocalyptic designs in Makeup and Hairstyling for Mad Max: Fury Road. The team also won at the BAFTAs.

Martin, whose special effects company is based in Sydney, NSW, has provided special effects work for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and recently released film Gods of Egypt. Sydney-based Vanderwalt has over forty-six credits to her name in the Makeup Department. Her work includes well-known films such as The Great Gatsby,Sleeping Beauty, Australia, Moulin Rouge!, and Mad Max 2. Wardega, who specialises in prosthetic makeup also has a long and illustrious career in the profession, having provided her services in the makeup department for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Moulin Rouge! and The Matrix.

Production Design
Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson were recognised for their exemplary creative work in Mad Max: Fury Road with the Oscar for Best Production Design. Thompson, who is based in Melbourne, is credited for set decoration in over thirty films, including The Dressmaker, San Andreas, Unbroken, and Where the Wild Things Are.

Gibson, currently based in Sydney, has provided production designs for a number of films, including Careless Love, Nim’s Island and Babe: Pig in the City. Gibson and Thompson also received a BAFTA for their designs on Mad Max:Fury Road.

Sound Mixing
Australians Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo were awarded the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing with American Chris Jenkins. This was Rudloff’s third Oscar after Glory in 1989 and The Matrix a decade later. Osmo’s experience over 40-years spans across some of Australia’s best films including Dead Calm, Babe, Strictly Ballroom and Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Contact:
Lisa Scope
A/Senior Production Attraction & Incentives Executive
+61 2 9995 0938
lisa.scope@screen.nsw.gov.au