OSCAR winner Adam Elliot proudly told GAIA Skin Naturals founder Michelle Vogrinec on Tuesday night that he used her products to shave his head.
The Berwick-born animator was the guest speaker at the 22nd Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce Premier Regional Business Awards at Sandown Greyhounds on 19 March.
He told the large audience he used to catch a Grenda bus down Springvale Road to Haileybury Keysborough – and enjoyed catching up with former classmate and Hilton Manufacturing managing director Todd Hartley.
“And Dandenong Hospital saved my brother’s life,” he said, searching for other connections to the area. He received 150 stitches at the hospital after falling through a plate glass window.
It was while Mr Elliot was living in Elwood, however, that he created Harvie Krumpet – the 22-minute clay animation film that won the 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.
When he received the trophy he checked the back for his name – to make sure the surreal experience was in fact reality – and instead found Elwood’s postcode, 3184.
His was the 3184th gold man the Academy had awarded.
“I’m not religious but at that point I thought I was Jesus,” Mr Elliot said.
He never thought he’d finish the film and was astounded when it was shortlisted for an Oscar, let alone when he got the news it was a nominee.
His $320,000 film was up against $7 million creations from Disney, Pixar and Fox.
“Even my mum said we were no chance of winning,” he said.
“We worked out that our budget they probably spent on catering.
“It really was this David and Goliath situation.”
All the characters were hand-made and filmed in a storage unit in Moorabbin, with Mr Elliot battling melting plasticine in the metal building to record about five seconds of completed vision each day.
“Catering was the service station next door,” Mr Elliot said.
“After 5pm we didn’t have a toilet. We had a red bucket.”
He and producer Melanie Coombs decided not to go to the ceremony – it was a long and expensive trip to make for disappointment – but friends and family eventually convinced them to make the journey.
Film Victoria chipped in and Mr Elliot took up an offer from Channel 9 to film a special on Chapel Street that landed him free beauty treatments and clothing to have him red carpet ready.
“The weirdest thing was I got my eyelashes tinted – I’ve only got about 11 eyelashes,” he said.
After receiving an upgrade to “the pointy end” on his Qantas flight to the US Mr Elliot had a moment of panic – he’d forgotten to drop off his dole form.
“I’d be cut off when I got back,” he said.
But he put his fears aside and strode the red carpet in style.
“My mum said I looked like a cross between Andre Agassi and a pimp,” he said.
Geoffrey Rush, who voiced Harvie Krumpet, told him it was “like being at Madame Tussauds – but everybody moves”.
Mr Elliot recalled looking at his Oscars program and thinking about how much he could get for it on eBay.
“That was my dole mentality,” he said.
But that was soon shattered – Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, dressed as their characters in Starsky and Hutch, announced that they’d won.
“We were as surprised as Disney was when they read out our names,” he said.
He was soon staring out from the stage, wishing he’d planned an acceptance speech and watching a timer count down the seconds he had left to get out his thank yous.
“I suddenly had this moment of clarity when all the nerves disappeared,” he said.
He looked to the crowd for one person to deliver his speech to.
“I gave my speech to Oprah,” he said.
He and Ms Coombs celebrated their win but soon longed to return to Australia and normalcy from the “la-la land” that was LA.
On the plane ride home he realised they were heading back to a whole new kind of crazy.
The pilot announced they were on board and a flight attendant handed them a copy of the Herald Sun with Mr Elliot’s picture on the front page.
Congratulations letters poured in, from the Prime Minister and Governor General – and a letter from Centrelink telling him his dole cheque had been cut off.
He was invited to speak at events across the country, including the Centrelink office where he’d sat in the audience’s place just six months earlier.
“It is amazing how your life can suddenly change,” he said.
Mr Elliot said the greatest thing to come from the experience was being able to make his first feature film. The budget for Mary and Max was $8.2 million.
“I employed a lot of friends,” he said.
He also got Hollywood heavyweights Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette and Eric Banner on board with Renee Gayer, Molly Meldrum and Barry Humphries.
It screened on the opening night at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US – a first for an Australian production and the first time in 20 years an animated film had received the honour.
But what’s touched him the most about the Oscar experience was a mother telling him her dying 8-year-old son had watched Harvie Krumpet over and over during his final weeks.
“That’s why I make films,” he said.
“As storytellers we have the power to nourish people.”
