The evening also recognised champions in the sector who have excelled in their fields through the Greg Tepper and Tim Richards awards.
Katie Gall and Lauren Clinnick of Lumi Consulting received the 2018 Tim Richards awards while filmmaker Corrie Chen was awarded the 2018 Greg Tepper award.
Since 2013, Katie and Lauren of Melbourne-based company Lumi Consulting have been providing PR, marketing and consulting expertise to businesses and individuals wanting to define or grow their brand and identify the qualities or elements that make their offering unique to a global market. In a relatively short time, the pair have found their way into the core of the Victorian games community, providing advice and services to a broad cross-section of the local developers. Meghan Betteridge, Account Executive at Lumi Consulting, joined Katie on the stage the accept the award on Lauren's behalf.
Corrie was first supported by Film Victoria in 2016 via its new writer’s initiative, Catapult. Her strong vision and passion for screen storytelling saw Corrie move from shadowing directors on titles including Emmy-award winning Nowhere Boys, AACTA-award winning Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, and on the groundbreaking final season of HBO’s The Leftovers. Her experience led her to direct episodes on ABC's teen comedy Mustangs FC, Channel 10’s Sisters and original SBS comedy short-form series Homecoming Queens. Corrie's diverse body of work has screened extensively at academy-accredited film festivals around the world – earning her an Australian Academy Award nomination, and three ADG awards.
Reaction to winning
I went into shock! It was early in the morning when Caroline rang me with the news, so after we hung up I had a moment of "wait - what? Did I just dream that? Am I still sleeping?" I feel so lucky to have been so warmly embraced by Film Victoria with opportunities at this early stage of my career, as well as the generosity of a few champions in this industry. Past recipients of this award are filmmakers who I adore and respect, so I'm humbled and thrilled to have my name alongside theirs. It's a pretty exciting time where anything feels possible.
Sources of inspiration
My greatest source of inspiration (and frustration) will always be my parents. Their love of movies and stories became my love of movies and stories. Their belief in Australia became my belief. My skin, my gender, my sexuality - they've made me who I am. For better or worse everything about the way I experience and see the world is most definitely their fault.
What’s next for you?
Homecoming Queens is launching 12 April on SBS on Demand. I currently have my writer's hat on for a few things I'm co-writing/creating - a feature screenplay with Screen Australia, a show with Create NSW/ABC, and my directing cap goes back on from June, with another ABC project so watch this space!
Reaction to winning
We're very touched to receive this award! We deeply respect the previous winners, and it means so much to have the achievements of our brilliant team honoured in this way. We appreciate the work of Film Victoria so much, and thank everyone for supporting us.
Sources of inspiration
It fills us with determination every time we see teams breathe life into game projects. We're proud to be colleagues among diverse creators that are bold in their choices, creating experiences that share personal truths. If the status quo makes you feel weird, you probably inspire us too.
What’s next for Lumi?
2018 is the year that we study Asia. The region has a huge influence on our sector, and we want to help the connection grow between Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region. We’re picking up new skills, training our team, and building exciting new projects along the way. We'll be making some major announcements soon about the direction of Lumi and what's on the horizon for us. It's going to be a very interesting year.
