ABC Arts feature documentary Comic Book Heroes by Nicholas Dunlop, has won four gongs at the 2014 WA Screen Awards.
The feature documentary gave a rare glimpse into the lives of Australian comic book creators, Wolfgang Byslma and Skye Walker Ogden, and their battle to penetrate the US market by travelling to the heart of the comic book industry, San Diego Comic-Con International.
Comic Book Heroes was awarded Best Editing – Long Form, Best Original Music – Long Form, Best Television Production – Factual and Best Direction – Long Form.
Dunlop commented shortly after receiving his awards that just being nominated for the WASAs was an honour because the calibre of documentaries being produced in WA were of global quality.
“To actually win on top of that is rather fantastic and also a really nice way to honour the hard work of all the people who worked on it and helped make it happen,” he said.
“The other thing is this is a documentary about passionate creators – the Gestalt men and women who are willing to go to the wall for their craft. So their passion and utter dedication to creating beautiful work was a constant inspiration.”
Dunlop said the most challenging part of making the documentary was anticipating when something was going to happen.
“When you’ve got a story about a company like Gestalt that operates globally, and the story happens in Perth, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney and San Diego it’s a huge challenge to work out when to spend the limited resources to go and get the shot, and when to hold back,” he said.
“You have to rely on your instincts, and also from time to time people who nudged me and said, ‘You better go film that.'”
Dunlop added that despite its challenges, the most rewarding part of the project was interacting with the Gestalt creators and capturing their creative passion.
“I hope getting these awards helps me to make more documentaries about inspired passionate creators.”
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