If Magazine was awarded the the Byron Kennedy Award at the 2000 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards.
The prestigious Byron Kennedy is awarded for outstanding creative enterprise. First presented in 1983, this Award is given to an individual, usually early in their career, whose work embodies the qualities of Byron Kennedy: innovation, vision and the relentless pursuit of excellence. This Award is presented by Kennedy Miller in association with the AFI and includes a cash prize of $10,000. Other winners include filmmaking duo Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge), writer Ian David (Blue Murder, Joh’s Jury) and John Polson (founder of the Tropfest film festival).
In the year 2000 The Byron Kennedy Award was awarded jointly to if Magazine, founded by Stephen Jenner and David Barda, and to Popcorn Taxi, a weekly independent screening event started up by Gary Doust and Matt Wheeldon (www.popcorntaxi.com.au).
The panel awarding the prize consists of former winners and is headed by Dr George Miller, who with Byron Kennedy originally formed Kennedy-Miller, the company that created the Mad Max series. In 2000 the panel unanimously voted for if Magazine and Popcorn Taxi. In doing so they described if Magazine as “a spirited, ‘grassroots’ enterprise fueled by nothing but reckless enthusiasm and love of cinema. if Magazine is the antidote to the beancounters who forgot to ask where the ideas and innovation come from if you strangle film culture.”
