Aucklander a hit in Hamburg

The animated short film, ‘Time to Fly’ by a group of Auckland students has been awarded third place at the Hamburg Animation Award in Hamburg, Germany.

In partnership with Film Auckland, Auckland City Council arranged for Cameron Smith, a member of the winning team from Media Design School, to attend the award ceremony and collect the 2000 Euro prize money on behalf of his group.

“The strong turnout of Auckland city entries, and the success of ‘Time to Fly’ showcases the skilled workforce and high calibre of tertiary education currently working and being developed within Auckland. Congratulations to Cameron and his team. We’ve all known the film sector in New Zealand is thriving, especially in Auckland, but an award like this goes some way to verifying the talent we have around us,” says Councillor Aaron Bhatnagar, chairperson City Development committee.

The creative industries sector, and sub-sector of film and screen production, continues to be a driving economic force for Auckland with 3500 people employed in the industry, more than 600 businesses and almost $500m contribution to GDP per annum. Auckland City Council recognises the importance of supporting this high growth industry and continues to lend support.

Auckland City Council formed a strategic alliance with Hamburg in 2007, encouraging best practice learning and supporting opportunities for key sectors, particularly in the areas of creative industries, biotechnology and education.

As part of the alliance, Auckland City Council actively promotes the annual Hamburg Animation Award, and subsequently received 15 local entries to the competition. All Auckland entries will feature on C4’s website in the near future, with ‘Time to Fly’ screening during C4’s Select Live programme. Prize packages from Flux Animation Studio and Toon Boom were also awarded to the best Auckland animations at a local award ceremony in July.