04 Press: australianyc |
Anna M. Mann kicks off friends of NIDA in America
[From: http://friendsofnida.org/media.htm ]
NEW YORK, May 4, 2004 "Why do all the main actors in Australian movies come from NIDA " the president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in New York once asked. Australians know the answer: NIDA graduates form the backbone of the Australian entertainment industry. But it puzzles Americans, even though NIDA actors Cate Blanchett, Judy Davis and Mel Gibson are among US household names. Essie Davis, Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Richard Roxburgh, and Miranda Otto are quickly making their marks in the US as well. Ben Gannon and Baz Luhrmann are well-known. Yet NIDA, surprisingly, remains a bit of a mystery.
This mystery will soon be solved, thanks to Friends of NIDA in America, chaired by Ann Murdoch-Mann. Founded in 1999 with a US $1 million grant from Patron Mel Gibson, the Foundation lay largely dormant through the tragedies of 9/11 and Bali. This year, Chair Mann decided it was time to bring it to life again, with an expanded board, plans for a series of fall events, a focused mission and a determined fund raising campaign.
"Our goals are threefold," said Mrs. Mann. "We want to provide support for young talent on either side of the Pacific, by sharing NIDA expertise and talent; to brand NIDA globally; and to raise funds to support NIDA, its graduates and their community in the US.
"It's my hope that our work will help to strengthen ties between Australia and America in the performing arts."
On the fund raising front, Chair Mann is working closely with the New York and Los Angeles Consuls-General. "Ken Allen and John Olsen are both tremendously supportive of our efforts," she said. "People are surprised at what a strong start we've made this year. Their hard work on our behalf has made all the difference."
The foundation's Board now comprises a close-knit group of Australian entertainment notables. With Mel Gibson as its Patron and Mrs. Mann as its Chair, it also includes NIDA's director, John Clark AM and its general manager, Elizabeth Butcher AM; as well as noted film producer Greg Coote AM and Gibson partner Bruce Davey. Newly added are and Peter Mason, a great supporter of the arts and counsel to UNICEF; celebrated film director Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games); and BMG Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Timothy Prescott, who oversees marketing and artist development for Dido, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears, among many.
For its debut event on April 27 last month, over 100 guests joined Friends of NIDA in America at the Princeton Club of New York for a very moving evening about Australia's stolen generations, featuring readings from the theater work, Stolen, by its Aboriginal writer Jane Harrison (Muruwari) and Aboriginal actor Kylie Belling (Yorta Yorta), with its director, Karen Oughtred, also from Australia. NIDA graduate and noted classics actor Susan Lyons moderated the event, which also featured an art display by the Australian Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery of New York.
Why choose Stolen as the Foundation's kick-off event "I want talented artists from many cultures to be able to tell their stories," said Gibson. "Bringing Aboriginal artists to a New York City audience is just such a great way to start doing that."
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