Flickerfest & Specsavers Announcement
FLiCKERFEST & SPECSAVERS TVC COMP WINNER
Flickerfest & Specsavers Australia ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ TVC competition winner announced!
Flickerfest Australia’s leading and only Oscar® Qualifying and BAFTA recognised short film festival and leading optical retailer Specsavers joined forces earlier this year to launch a national ad competition to uncover and support an up-and-coming filmmaker. As part of the competition, the winner will be nurtured and supported to write and direct their very own ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ ad.
The brief was simple: entrants had to come up with a script for a 1-minute commercial that delivered an entertaining, light-hearted eyesight gag, with the line ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ as the punchline.
After much deliberation over the strong field of 135 entries received, a winner has been chosen. Talented comedy director and writer Jesse Vogelaar, a Melbourne based creative and award-winning comedy short filmmaker has taken out the top prize. Jesse will be given the opportunity to bring his production and script to life under the guidance of the Specsavers brand team. The wining package also includes a $5k cash prize to acknowledge Jesse’s talent.
Festival Director Bronwyn Kidd said that ‘Its been incredibly rewarding to work with team at Specsavers to be able to support and nurture an Australian creative to develop their skills through this wonderful career initiative. At Flickerfest we are committed to finding pathways to support Australian filmmakers beyond our festival and it’s fantastic to partner with brands such as Specsavers who support us in our vision to discover, reward & further career opportunities for Australian talent in such a meaningful way.
Shaun Briggs, director of marketing planning, Specsavers ANZ, said: “For over 15 years, “Should’ve Gone to Specsavers” has been one of Australia’s most loved ad campaigns. We are excited to offer Jesse the opportunity to put his creative spin on our beloved brand platform which aims to delight audiences and inspire them to be as excited about eye health as we are”.
Jesse’s winning ad will premiere on the big screen at the 33rd Flickerfest 2024 in Bondi, 19 to 28th January, launching at the festival’s prestigious opening night, before appearing in 45 other venues around the country as part of the Flickerfest national tour from Feb-Oct 2024. Please see Jesse Vogelaars bio here and headshot attached: Jesse is a queer writer & director based in Melbourne. He debuted as a baby on a small farm in Cambridge, Aotearoa/New Zealand to two newly arrived Dutch immigrants. He spent much of his childhood charting small islands and playing competitive marbles in the North Island. In 2023 he will direct the Screen Australia and ABC funded comedy, “Ruby Rai, P.I.”, created by Vidya Rajan as part of the Fresh Blood program. His most recent shorts, “Room for One More”, was nominated for best comedy at Palm Springs Shortfest and ‘Decorum’ premiered at Flickerfest 2023. These films follow up a handful of shorts like “Mark Targets”, which premiered at Sydney Film Festival and was acquired by SBS. His online short, “You Lose” – went viral and Junkee called it, “Australia’s Greatest Work of Art”. It was featured by NOWNESS, Vimeo Staff Picks and made it to France, featured on L’Oeil de Links on CANAL+.
Categories: News Tags: Flickerfest 2024, Specsavers