The Orchestra
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In a world filled with beautiful music, Vernon always seems to strike the wrong note.
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Imagine a world where a band of tiny musicians follow you and play a soundtrack for your life – communicating your emotions, fears and hopes. In this world lives elderly Vernon; a lonely man whose crippling shyness causes his orchestral musicians to perform terribly out of tune.

When Vernon and his little band fall for their new next door neighbour and her classical ensemble, they find themselves presented with perhaps their last chance at happiness - a chance to strike a chord and play in harmony. But first they must confront their stage fright.
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AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
2017

Winner Best Adult Made Film - Little Big Shots Children’s Film Festival (Australia)
Winner Best Animation - ClujShorts (Romania)
Winner Best Animation - Sonoma International Film Festival (USA)
Winner Audience Award Best Animation - Sonoma International Film Festival (USA)
Winner Best Short Film - Tromsø Children’s Film Festival - Verdens Beste (Norway)

2016
Winner Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animated Short Film - Santa Barbara International Film Festival (USA)
Winner Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Short Animation - FLiCKERFEST Short Film Festival (Australia)
Winner Best Animation - ​St Kilda Film Festival (Australia)
Winner Best Original Score - ​St Kilda Film Festival (Australia)
Winner Best International Short Award - Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (Canada)
Winner Colour Box Award - Flatpack Film Festival (UK)
Winner Golden Slipper - Zlín Film Festival (Czech Republic)
Winner Children's Award - GLAS Animation Festival (USA)
Winner Best Animation - DC Shorts Film Festival (USA)
Winner Best Animation Short - Nevada City Film Festival (USA)
Winner Special Prize "Proiko Proikov" - Golden Kuker - Sofia International Animation Film Festival (Bulgaria)
Winner Festival Award (International Offical Selection) - Animayo XI International Film Festival of Animation, Visual Effects and Video Games (Spain)
Winner Best Score in an Animated Short Film - Jerry Goldsmith Awards (Spain)
Winner Best Animated Short - International Film Awards Berlin (Germany)
Winner - 1st Place - Animation Category - La Costa Film Festival (USA) 
Winner Jury Award for Best Animation - Indigo Moon Film Festival (USA)
Winner Jury Award for Excellence in Narrative Short Storytelling - Destiny City Film Festival (USA)
Winner Best Animation Short - Best Short Fest (Canada)
Winner SEIKO Award - Tokyo Anime Awards Festival (Japan)
Winner Best Short Animation - Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival (USA)
Winner Audience Award (2nd)/Cine Club Vrilissia - Athens Animfest (Greece)
Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Use of Music - Nashville Film Festival (USA)
Jury Honourable Mention for the Best Animated Short - RiverRun Film Festival (USA)
Jury Honourable Mention for the Clover & Maggie Award: In Celebration of Life Short Film - Cleveland International Film Festival (USA)
Jury Distinction - Athens Animfest (Greece)
Jury Special Mention - Imaginaria Animation Film Festival (Italy)

​2015
Winner Best Animation - ATOM Awards (Australia)
Winner Best World Short - Savannah Film Festival (USA)
Winner Runner Up Best Animation - Palm Springs International ShortFest (USA)
Winner Audience Vote Best Australian Animation - Melbourne International Animation Festival (Australia)
Winner Best Sound Design - Anima Mundi International Animation Festival (Brazil)
Winner Best Sound for an Animated Short Film - Australian Screen Sound Guild (Australia)
Jury Special Mention for Best Short (Anima’t) - SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya (Spain)
Nominee Best Short Animation - Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (Australia)
Australian/NZ Finalist - Lexus Short Films Series (Worldwide)
Dendy Awards Finalist - Sydney Film Festival (Australia)

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
2017

Children’s Film Festival Seattle (USA)
Rhode Island PBS (USA)
Little Big Shots Children’s Film Festival (Australia)
ClujShorts (Romania)
Sonoma International Film Festival (USA)
Long Beach International Film Festival (USA)

Children’s Program at Monstronale Festival (Germany)
Show Me the Animation (UK)
Tromsø Children’s Film Festival - Verdens Beste (Norway)
CARAMBOLA - Animated Short Film Program for Kids (Spain)
International Children's Film Festival of India (India)

​2016
Aspen Shortsfest (USA)
Tribeca Film Festival (USA)
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (USA)
BFI London Film Festival (UK)
Athens International Film + Video Festival (USA)
Cinequest Film Festival (USA)
San Francisco International Film Festival (USA)
RiverRun Film Festival (USA)
Nashville Film Festival (USA)
Cleveland International Film Festival (USA)
Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico)
FLiCKERFEST Short Film Festival (Australia)
St Kilda Film Festival (Australia)
Edmonton International Film Festival (Canada)
Warsaw Film Festival (Poland)
Traverse City Film Festival (USA)
Berlin International Short Film Festival (Germany)
Hamptons International Film Festival (USA)
Gold Coast International Film Festival (USA)
​Reggio Film Festival (Italy)
Animatricks (Finland)
SUPERTOON International Animation Festival (Croatia)
Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (Canada)
Flatpack Film Festival (UK)
Zlín Film Festival (Czech Republic)
GLAS Animation Festival (U
SA)
Short Film Festival Bogotá (Bogoshorts) - (Colombia)
​
DC Shorts Film Festival (USA)
Nevada City Film Festival (USA)
International Shorts Film Festival (USA)
ANNY: Animation Nights New York (USA)
Imaginaria Animation Film Festival (Italy)
Destiny City Film Festival (USA)
Best Short Fest (Canada)
Scone FilmFest (Australia)
Portsmouth International Film Festival (UK)
Golden Kuker - Sofia International Animation Film Festival (Bulgaria)
Indigo Moon Film Festival (USA)
Asbury Shorts (USA)
Animayo XI International Film Festival of Animation, Visual Effects and Video Games (Spain)
Festival de Cortometrajes Hayah (Panama)
Tokyo Anime Awards Festival (Japan)
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival (USA)
Athens Animfest (Greece)
​Newport Beach Film Festival (USA)
Manhattan Film Festival (USA)
Filmfest DC (USA)
FILMETS Badalona Film Festival​ (Spain)
Omaha Film Festival (USA)
Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival (Taiwan)
KloosterKino (The Netherlands)
Detroit International Festival of Animation (USA)
Fest Anca International Animation Festival (Slovakia)
A Petite école du film court/The Little School of Short Film (France)
SweeTS4Kids at ShorTS International Film Festival (Italy)
Elche International Independent Film Festival (Spain)
La Costa Film Festival (USA)
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia - CG Animation Competition (Japan)
Chicago Independent Film Festival (USA)
Festival International du Film Nancy-Lorraine (France)
AstoVideo Festival (Greece)
SeeYouSound Music Film Festival (Italy)
Fantasporto: Oporto International Film Festival (Portugal)
ANIMANIMA Festival (Serbia)
Festival Internacional de Curtametraxes de Bueu FICBUEU (Spain)
Flimmer Norrkoping Film Festival (Sweden)
Northwest Animation Festival & 2016 "Best of the Fest" (USA)
International Film Awards Berlin (Germany)
Festival Cinema d'Arte (Italy)
International Children's Film Festival Filem'On (Belgium)
Santa Fe Independent Film Festival (USA)
Ojai Film Festival (USA)
Kaohsiung Film Festival (Taiwan)
9th Forum of Animated Films (Egypt)
SAE ATOM Awards National Screenings Tour - 1 March 2016 until 31 December 2016 (Australia)
Chester International Film Festival (UK)

​2015
Palm Springs International ShortFest (USA)
Austin Film Festival (USA)
SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya (Spain)
Adelaide Film Festival (Australia)
Sydney Film Festival (Australia)
​Melbourne International Animation Festival (Australia)
Rhode Island International Film Festival (USA)
St Louis International Film Festival (USA)
Anima Mundi International Animation Festival (Brazil)
Savannah Film Festival (USA)
ANIMA2015 - VIII Córdoba International Animation Festival (Argentina)
Ani'mest International Animation Film Festival (Romania)
Show Me Shorts Film Festival (New Zealand)
KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival (Netherlands)
Manchester Animation Festival (UK)
3D Wire International Animation Festival & Market (Spain)
Tri-Cities International Film Festival (USA)
MidAmeriCon II International Film Festival (USA)
Animae Caribe Animation Festival (Caribbean)​
ANIMA2015 - VIII Córdoba International Animatio
Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival (Australia)
California Independent Film Festival (USA)
CinéfestOZ (Australia)
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Born sometime in the latter half of the 20th century, Mikey Hill emerged from suburban anonymity to triumphantly pen the cover for his primary school annual publication. 

Despite occasionally looking sideways, he's never looked back.

Several indelible incidents later, Hill passed an animation course and threw himself into the world of independent animation filmmaking.

The Orchestra is Mikey’s third hand animated short film - each more elaborately time-consuming than the last. His two previous films, Norbert (2007) and The Not-So-Great Eugene Green (2009), have screened at festivals near and far, and have garnered several shiny awards.

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Melanie is a multi-award winning producer with an Honours degree in Screen Studies from Flinders University inAdelaide, and a Graduate Diploma in Narrative Filmmaking from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. 
 
Her short live action, documentary and animation films, including Dugong, Lessons From The Night, The Not-So-Great Eugene Green, Fatso and Polo’s Robot have won numerous awards and have screened at highly regarded international festivals like Sundance, Aspen Shortsfest, Karlovy Vary, Silverdocs, Los Angeles, Stuttgart and Edinburgh International Film Festivals.

None of this pays the bills, so she has a day job as a line producer and post production supervisor on Australian television programs.

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Jamie is a multi-instrumentalist and award winning composer. He has composed music for Australia’s leading orchestras, collaborated with many of the country’s most successful artists as well as written soundtracks to a number of award winning short film and TV projects.
 
Jamie achieved First Class Honours in Composition at Adelaide University. His flair for orchestral composition and his unique skills as an arranger soon saw him working with leading Australian orchestras and collaborating with artists such as the Hilltop Hoods and The Whitlams.
 
The Orchestra is Messenger’s second Screen Australia funded animation working with director Mikey Hill and producer Melanie Brunt.

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Hailing from Melbourne, Jennifer is a New York-based screenwriter and copywriter. She graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Creative Writing from La Trobe University.

Jennifer worked as a script adviser on The Not-So-Great Eugene Green, co-wrote The Orchestra with Mikey Hill, and can lay claim to thinking up all the bits that make you feel emotions.

She is currently writing a short dark comedic script named Wagyu, and is also developing a futuristic thriller feature script.

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Directed by
Mikey Hill

Written by
Mikey Hill
Jennifer Smith
Edited by
Mikey Hill

Produced by
Melanie Brunt
Lead Animators
Andrew Bowler
Mikey Hill
Peter Lowey

Lead Background Artist
Jason Pamment
Original Music Composed by
Jamie Messenger

Sound Design by
Markus Kellow

Animators
Jayden Dowler
Maik Hempel
Mark Ingram
Darcy Woodbridge

Animation Assistants
Jin Chong
Laura Eldar
Matthew Koh
Vanessa Law
Brigette Liberto
Brendan Lyall
Sophie McPike
James Neilson
Aggelos Papantoniou
Namira Primandari
Andy Saw

Effects Animators
Laura Eldar
Rachel Tan

Background Character Animators
Yen Ang
Andrew Brown
Yan Cao
Jin Chong
Ned Curwood-Hyde
Christina Driver
Seb Fowler
Mike Greaney
Jessica Harris
Dan Kerr
Matthew Koh
Nick Kuan
Alice Lai
Vanessa Law
Brigette Liberto
Hung Lin
Lindy Lou
Kate Luckhurst
Christopher Marks
Alexandra McCloud
Johnny McPherson
Sophie McPike
James Neilson
Jackie Nguyen
Anna Nicholson
Ben Ommundson
Aggelos Papantoniou
Nishanth Sanjay
Nick Simpson
Sarah Talbot
Shannon Talbot
Rachel Toh
Leon Truong
Juven Ven

Inbetween & Cleanup Artists
Zac Dyson
Laura Eldar
Anthony Ferraro
Sam Huf
Emsen Jhone
Dan Kerr
Georgia Kriss
Alice Lai
Vanessa Law
Brigette Liberto
Kate Luckhurst
Brendan Lyall
Nikhil Markale
James Neilson
Vivienne Ng
Jackie Nguyen
Anna Nicholson
Krys Pham
Andy Saw
Kelly Thornton
Leon Truong
Juven Ven
Vito Vivodka

Colourists
Yan Cao
Sean Carter
Bonita Colles
Ned Curwood-Hyde
Christina Driver
Laura Eldar
Nadia Elhelou
Anthony Ferraro
Patricia Garcia
Sophie Hayes
Max Hiscock
Sam Huf
Emsen Jhone
Devon Kong
Hung Lin
Christopher Marks
Johnny McPherson
Anna Nicholson
Sarah Talbot
Shannon Talbot
Kelly Thornton
Ian Travis
Vivien Tsang
Michael Welst
Joyce Wong
Mofei Yang

Assistant Background Artist
Jarrod Prince

3D Background Modelling
Andrew Bowler
Joe Toole


3D Prop Modelling
Andrew Bowler
Edison Lau
Tommy Lee
Andy Saw
Sumanjit Singh
Vito Vivodka

Lead 3D Animator
Brendan Lyall

3D Animation Assistants

Ned Curwood-Hyde
Emsen Johne
Tommy Lee
Angela Pinilla
Alastair Richardson

Lead Compositors
Jamie Clennett
Juan Chacon Olier
Mikey Hill
Sumanjit Singh

Compositing Assistants
Hung Lin
James Neilson
Sam Huf
Anna Nicholson
Chloe Pierce
Aggelos Papantoniou
Andrew Czausov


Vernon’s Musicians
Trumpet Kelly O’Donohue
French Horn Toby Frost
Trombone Jayden Scarlett
Tuba Adam V Richards
Percussion Ben Burt & Jamie Messenger

Doreen’s Musicians
Clarinet Peter Taylor
Flute Sam Hennesy
Harp Carolyn Burgess
Violin Belinda Gehlert
Cello Brihony Tailor

Outside World Musicians
Tenor Saxophone Damon Stone
Percussion Ben Burt
Bagpipes John Houghton
All Other Instruments Jamie Messenger
Male Vocals Jamie Messenger & Damon Stone
Soprano Kirilie Blythman

Sound Re-Recording Mix by
Doron Kipen

Audio Post Facility
Music and Effects

Facility Liaison
Julianne Deeb

Pre-mix & Foley
Markus Kellow

Additional Foley
William Gardner

Vocal Acting
Kate Cawley
Mikey Hill
John Power
Markus Kellow
Tim Kellow

Title Design  

Chris Edser
Jonathan Reyes

Mastering 
DDP Studios

Accountants 
Anthony Nagle & Co

Insurance
Midland Insurance Brokers

Legals
Shaun Miller

Special Thanks
RMIT AIM Studio
Jeremy Parker, John Power, Kate Cawley
Screen Australia
Mike Cowap, Christopher Sharp, Nerida Moore, Nicole Dade
The Hill Family
Lindsay Cox, Scott Dixon, Maya Toone, Toby Welch, Robin Welch
Ben Grogan, Ripley Grogan, Fletcher Grogan
Natasha Bates, Madeline Lambert, Shelimar Karajan

Developed and Financed with the Assistance of
Screen Australia

© 2015 Screen Australia & Feather Films Pty Ltd

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Running time | 15 minutes
Type | 2D hand drawn animation
Software | TVPaint Animation Pro, Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop
Language | English (no dialogue)
Country of origin | Australia
Colour | Colour
Screening format | DCP
Aspect Ratio: | 1:1.78
Sound | Stereo 2.0 & Surround 5.1
Copyright | © Screen Australia & Feather Films 2015
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Melanie Brunt | Feather Films Pty Ltd
Email | melanie@featherfilms.com.au
Telephone | +61438680068
Website | featherfilms.com.au
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Annabel Sebag | Autour De Minuit Distribution
Email | annabel@autourdeminuit.com
Telephone | +33142811728
Website | autourdeminuit.com
Mail | 21, rue Henry Monnier 75009, Paris, France
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© Copyright Feather Films Pty Ltd and Screen Australia 2015
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