We’d like to thank the Academy

Youtube VideoYou might know them as the directors of the uber-summery, very New Zealandy commercials for Tip Top and the Interislander. But before Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston sold their souls to the Sweet Shop and got into directing ads, they made a couple of short films. And their last effort, the Six Dollar Fifty Man, has made the Academy Awards long-list.

The film is based on their experiences together at primary school on the Kapiti Coast (their first film Run was based on Sutherland’s childhood experiences, while Six Dollar Fifty Man was based primarily on Albiston’s) and it’s already won awards at A-list festivals like Cannes and Sundance.

Check out this excellent profile of the pair on 20/20. And an interview with them in the Herald