The Sweet Shop’s Mark & Louis longlisted for an 2011 Academy Award for The Six Dollar Fifty Man

The Sweet Shop  directors Mark & Louis (directing duo Mark Albiston & Louis Sutherland) have made the longlist for the 2011 Academy Awards with their short film ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’, bringing them one-step closer to an Oscar.

Set in 1970s New Zealand, ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’ follows Andy (actor Oscar Vandy-Connor), a gutsy eight year-old boy who lives in a make-believe superhero world where his imagination allows him to perform extraordinary physical feats, to deal with playground bullies.

But when Andy gets in trouble with the headmaster, he realises that to save himself & his only friend Mary, he must face up to the real world. 

Premiering with Special Distinction in Cannes 2009 and scooping the Jury Prize for Filmmaking at Sundance 2010, ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’ has consistently been selected and screened internationally, winning at four of the ‘A List’ Academy accredited festivals. The Academy Awards short list is announced on January 25th.

Q&A with Mark &Louis.

How did you find outthat you’d been selected?

We were in Melbourneshooting a commercial and a journalist rang us up at 6am to tell us. And he’djust heard about it on twitter! 

How does it feel to belong-listed for the Academy Awards?

We’d forgotten about ituntil that guy woke us up. It’s good, but it’s been two years and we are nowdoing new things. We’re really stoked…but it’s hard to get excited, as there isstill quite a way to go yet. We’ll start to get excited if we make theshort-list.

What is it about thisfilm that has won the hearts of such a broad international audience?

People love to love theunderdog. In the Middle East last year, we even had a woman approach us afterthe screening with tears in her eyes and say that this was her story. Certainlyit’s a universal story that speaks to many, but it’s fair to say that our leadactor Oscar Vandy-Connor has been a big factor in winning over our audiences.His take on the role was quite unique and we were happy to let him contributemuch of his own character to the role.

The Six Dollar Fifty Manis visually quite unique – tell us about that?

We wanted the film tofeel very intimate and to capture what it really would be like in Andy’s world.And his world is pretty intense! So there are only two or three wide shots inthe entire film, which is quite unusual for something so cinematic.

So would you say thatthis film style has become your signature?

Not at all. We approacheach script individually and really question how the film style or cast can andshould inform underlying themes (or characters) within the story. We reallymindful in the early stages of a project not to pin it down to a style, orimpress too many ideas onto it. We both find that there is greater value inallowing the process to be a little organic so that project evolves in a waythat the film style becomes a seamless fit in capturing the tone.       

What are you working onat the moment?

Currently we aredeveloping two feature scripts. ‘Shopping’ is one that we are presently workingon and this is a story that was inspired by an event in Louis’s life when hewas estranged from his family as a teen and fell in with a crowd of shopliftersrun by a 50 year old Greek. In essence it’s an “Oliver Twist” story, but justlike ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’, it’s taking a hell of a long time to write!

How have you found thetransition to commercials?

Great. They really arejust like short films only shorter in every way…and they kind of fill that voidin our life between making features. Working so collaboratively with agency andclient is quite different and challenging, but we’ve certainly learnt a lot. Inthe end, we try to treat the scripts like short stories/films that have abeginning, middle and end… the disciplines are essentially the same.  

So what would it mean toyou both to win an Oscar?

Heaps! It would great,and probably it would be good for DVD sales. You know how they always write onthe cover “Brought to you by Oscar winning directors…” Yeah that would be cool.