Hot Knees Media camera operator, producer and longtime skateboarder James Holman said his first reaction was to run out into the garden and shout "Yes!" when he checked the nominations on the International Skateboard Film Festival website on October 20.
Holman and fellow co-producer and skateboarder Alex Pasquini entered their skateboarding film, Altered Focus: Burma (2009), in the Best Documentary category, only for it to be selected for the Best Independent and Emerging Film-maker prize.
The 19-minute film, which also featured semiprofessional skateboarder Ali Drummond, records their experiences in the troubled country and their interactions with Burmese people, many of whom had never seen skateboarding before.
Holman told the Queenstown Times from Los Angeles this week he contacted Pasquini and the next 12 hours was a whirlwind of Skype calls and arrangements for flights from the United Kingdom and New Zealand to meet at Los Angeles Airport.
"When we got into LA we met up with the festival organisers and went to watch our category at a cinema in Long Beach," Holman said.
"We both felt pretty confident but could see any one of the four films taking the award - they were all very good.
"We spent the next few days taking in sights and getting ready for the awards on Tuesday night. The awards themselves were held in Hollywood at the LA Music Box, which was the perfect venue.
"Alex and I were pretty surprised to bump into a couple of people we knew, a filmer we had met in Prague and all the contests we used to film in Europe and a British pro that lives out here now.
"We took our places in the theatre and sat round a table and the awards got rolling. When our category came up I remember how immensely nervous we were and watching all the nominated clips.
"When [professional skateboarder] Geoff Rowley announced our names I just remember getting up in shock and us each looking at each other. The rest is a series of flashbacks of walking up to the stage and delivering a speech.
"I remember we got some laughs and a huge round of applause for our story and the fact that we had made this epic journey, which was rad to receive. Afterwards, the party continued long into the night and yet was over in a flash." Holman said many people approached the duo after the awards and wanted to know more and said how much they enjoyed the film.
The film-makers hoped the recognition would boost their next documentary, focusing on Burmese youth culture.
• Altered Focus: Burma can be viewed free at www.hotknees.com
