G’Day USA announces new partnership with AACTA awards and continues Qantas deal

G’DAY USA has been given more gravitas as it announces new partnership with the AACTA awards and continues relationship with Qantas.

Team G-day meets the AACTAs: hanging in the Qantas hangar.

G’DAY USA is having a total makeover.

The annual program, that aims at fostering deeper economic ties in the US, has just added a glamorous and much needed ‘star’ element to its schedule.

This morning, at a Qantas hanger in Sydney’s Mascot airport, G’Day and actor Geoffrey Rush announced a new partnership with the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (the AACTAs) — the awards will now be presented as the centrepiece of G’Day USA’s ‘LA Gala’ on 31 January, next year.

The G’Day USA Gala will be presented by Qantas and will take place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Team G-day meets the AACTAs: hanging in the Qantas hangar.

“Our national AACTA Awards are heading into their 4th year next January with a tremendous momentum. They shall continue to reflect our homegrown creative output,’’ says Geoffrey Rush, AACTA President.

“The AACTA International Awards are Australia’s international stamp of screen success. They recognise our international screen peers, add an Australian voice to the International Awards season alongside the BAFTAs and the Oscars, and celebrate our fellow Australians working in screen internationally.

The AACTA International Awards are usually held annually in Los Angeles — this is it fourth year — and recognise film excellence regardless of geography. The awards are determined by AACTA’s International Chapter, which comprises more than 140 of Australia’s most recognised filmmakers and executives and will be screened on Foxtel. .

Geoffrey Rush promoting the AACTA (The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards at The Backlot Studios.

The AACTA Awards are actually a continuum of the AFI Awards, which started in Australia in 1958 with former AFI Award recipients including Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Eric Bana, Toni Collette, Dr. George Miller, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush.

The ‘new’ awards are hoping to add a new dimension to the G’Day Gala dinner — which had become a fairly tired, roundtable, black-tie dinner formula. With the inclusion of the AACTA awards, the whole event is hoping to be refreshed, re-energised and re-imagined for 2015.

The awards will honour the world’s leading screen performers and practitioners, in seven categories: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress with past recipients including Meryl Streep, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Fassbender, David O. Russell, Alfonso Cuaron, Cate Blanchett and Jacki Weaver.

Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe - 2013 AACTA Awards at The Star in Sydney.

Winners of the 2014 International AACTA awards included Cate Blanchett, Gravity, American Hustle, Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave and its stars, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender.

The Hon. Kim Beazley AC, Australian Ambassador to the United States said, “G’Day USA remains Australia’s foremost program of public diplomacy promoting Australian capabilities in the United States.”

“We are thrilled this year to join forces with AACTA to celebrate innovation and the business of film in Los Angeles.”

January 11th 2014 G'Day USA Black Tie Gala, at the JW Marriott, downtown Los Angeles. Picture shows Anthony La Paglia & Wife Gia Carides

“The new G’Day USA/AACTA partnership provides the perfect platform for celebrating the strength of and synergies between the Australian and global screen industries in the epicentre of film, Los Angeles,’’ adds Rush.

“By partnering with G’Day USA, we will raise the profile of the Australian screen industry, which determines the AACTA International Awards, and will celebrate the role that Australian screen plays in relation to G’Day USA’s core promotional pillars, particularly Australian culture.”

Presented by Qantas, the G’Day USA Gala will feature Australian food by Australian chef Neil Perry and US chef Tom Colicchio with the entire event designed to realise new business opportunities and demonstrate Australian strengths in business, innovation, tourism, culture, food/wine and public policy.

As the AACTA said to the A380 ... Pic: Supplied

While the core 2014/15 G’Day program kicked off in July 2014, New York will host two G’Day USA 2015 events on January 23: The Australian Economic Outlook Luncheon and the American Australian Association Gala Dinner while Chicago will host its G’Day USA Australia Day Gala Ball on January 24. San Francisco will be the location on January 27 of Digital Security in Australia and the US.

Originally published as G’Day USA announces new partnership with AACTA awards and continues Qantas deal