Departures: The 2012 Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards

Update: As per Krissie's comment below, the revised closing dates are now updated.

The Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA) is Australia’s leading grants program for emerging, young creative talent. Talented Australians aged 30 and under across eleven creative fields – fashion, interactive content and gaming, written word, visual design and communications, film and video, photography, visual arts, craft and object design, music, architecture and interior design and animation – are invited to submit their work for a chance to receive financial support in the form of $5,000 in cash, as well as a rare 12-month mentorship opportunity with leading luminaries from the international creative community.

Celebrating its eighth year, SOYA has been instrumental in unearthing and nurturing young artists, designer, and creatives, helping them expand their horizons, build up their business and learn the ropes from some of the greatest creative minds in the world. This year, winners will also be sent on the trip-of-a-lifetime to premiere industry only events at the forefront of their fields.

All submissions can be made here.

Creative categories
Closing dates for the Fashion, Interactive Content and Gaming, Written Word and Visual Design and Communications categories have already passed, but the remaining categories have the following closing dates:
Film and Video Friday, 30 March
Photography Friday, 4 May
Visual Arts Friday, 1 June
Craft and Object Design Friday, 6 July
Music Friday, 3 August
Architecture and Interior Design Friday, 7 September
Animation Friday, 5 October

Creative destinations
Winners will travel far and wide with Qantas taking them around the world to global creative hotspots. The destinations are as follows:
Film and Video Edinburgh Film Festival
Visual Design and Communications Cannes Lions
Photography Les Rencontres D'Arles
Animation Animal Logic internship
Craft and Object Design London Design Festival
Music CMJ
Architecture and Interior Design World Architecture Festival
Visual Arts Edinburgh Art Festival

Mentorships
Film and Video Mentor: Robert Luketic
Robert Luketic made his feature film directorial debut in 2001, with the smash hit Legally Blonde. Starring Reese Witherspoon as blonde sorority queen turned lawyer Elle Woods, Legally Blonde was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy). Currently, Luketic is set to direct the heist caper Brilliant featuring Eric Bana, which revolves around a small-time criminal who joins accomplished thieves in a diamond robbery. Most recently, Luketic directed the popular 2010 romantic thriller Killers, starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher. Previously, Luketic directed the action/adventure drama 21 starring Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne and Monster-in-Law, starring Jennifer Lopez and Oscar-winner Jane Fonda. Born in Sydney, Australia, Luketic studied at the Victorian College of Arts – School of Film and Television (VCA), where he wrote and directed the award-winning short film Titsiana Booberini.

Photography Mentor: Polly Borland
A successful portrait photographer before moving to the UK from Australia in 1989, Polly Borland’s practice was first established by major portrait commissions and extraordinary reportage. Since 2000, the photographer's art projects and exhibitions have principally recorded documentary and collaborative subjects. Before this shift to art based projects, Borland shot regularly for numerous publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Independent and Dazed and Confused. In 1994 she won the prestigious John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award. The National Portrait Gallery in London, and in Canberra, have acquired a number of Borland's photographs for their collections. In 2001, Borland was one of eight photographers selected to photograph Queen Elizabeth II for the Golden Jubilee.

Visual Arts Mentor: Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE
Scottish-born Elizabeth Ann Macgregor has had a career as colourful as her famous wardrobe, beginning as Curator/Driver of the Scottish Arts Council's Travelling Gallery, taking exhibitions on board a converted bus all over Scotland. Since taking over the Directorship of the MCA in 1999, Liz Ann has transformed the institution – since she introduced free access, attendances have more than trebled – resulting in the MCA being named Sydney’s favourite museum in a Chamber of Commerce survey. She is passionate about making art accessible to everyone and is an advocate for the arts on all levels.

Craft and Object Design Mentor: Marc Newson
One of the world’s foremost designers, Marc Newson’s distinctive style can be found on an enormous range of designs, from watches and furniture to restaurants, recording studios and even Qantas Club Lounges. “Coming from Australia and studying jewellery and sculpture, my design was self-taught and instinctive,” he says. He describes his 1988 Embryo Chair as “one of the first pieces where I ever hit upon a discernible style.” In 2005, he was selected as one of Time's 100 most influential people of the year.

Music Mentor: Lee Groves
Lee Groves is a British producer/writer, composer and mixer who relocated to Sydney's Level 7 Studios (the original 301 Studios) from London in 2007. After a remarkable and varied career spanning many years (with artists such as Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson, Craig David, Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Gwen Stefani, Dave Matthews Band and Marilyn Manson amongst many others) his first Australian project was production on Bertie Blackman's Secrets and Lies, which won an ARIA in 2009.

Architecture & Interior Design Mentor: Brian Zulaikha
Brian Zulaikha graduated in Architecture in 1967 and formed Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects in 1987. TZG has expertise in many building types and a leading reputation for design and constructional excellence, reflected in the many major design awards and competitions won by the practice. TZG’s recently completed projects include the Carriageworks Performing Arts Centre in Redfern and a major installation of sound walls and a new gateway on a 23km extension of the Hume Freeway in Melbourne.

Animation Mentor: Marco Marenghi
Marco Marenghi is currently Animation Director at Animal Logic, Sydney. Marenghi’s most recent animation supervisory credits include work on the productions of Roland Emmerich’s 2012, Zach Snyder’s Watchmen, Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and The Green Lantern for Sony Pictures Imageworks in Los Angeles.