Handle the Jandal is an annual ceremony in New Zealand that celebrates New Zealand film, music and the Do It Yourself culture. The competition is for music videos of New Zealand music, made by New Zealand filmmakers with no external funding assistance.

The official name is the Radio Active 89FM Handle the Jandal D.I.Y. New Zealand Music Video Awards.

Handle the Jandal provides the chance for filmmakers – both professionals and amateurs – to produce a short film music video. There are two rules: the music must be New Zealand artists; and entrants can’t use any funding grants to make the video.

History

Originally spelled 'Handle the Jandle'.

Handle the Jandal was started in 1997 by Radio Active 89FM station manager Dave Gibbons, from Wellington, New Zealand. It has grown from a local event to a nationally significant competition (of the fifteen finalists for 2006, nine were from metropolitan cities outside of Wellington).

Gibbon wanted to marry the film and music industries in Wellington which, at the time, was rising to prominence in the New Zealand entertainment industry.

The location of world-leading film studio Weta, with director Peter Jackson, and the emergence of music artists such as the Black Seeds, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Hollie Smith and Recloose underscore Wellington’s importance to New Zealand’s creative community. Mr Gibbons’ idea was to marry the world of film with that of music and leave the big money and big studio values out of the mix.

The first Handle the Jandal was held at The Paramount Theatre and now is held at the Embassy Theatre, which hosted the world premiere of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King movie directed by Peter Jackson.

Previous winners who have gone on to prominent careers both in New Zealand and on the international scene include James Barr, Chris Graham, Aaron Beck and Rollo Wendlock, who recently shot a music video for electronic band The Prodigy.

Ninety-three entries were received for the 2006 awards, exceeding the 2005 total of 83 entries.

There was no competition in 2007 but Handle the Jandal returned in 2008, attracting a record 122 entries to indicate considerable interest in New Zealand's arts and culture sector for the event despite a year's absence.

Competition details

The Radio Active 89FM Handle the Jandal D.I.Y New Zealand Music Video Awards is a yearly competition to judge music videos made by New Zealanders for New Zealand music artists.

A panel of preliminary judges whittles the entrants for the Handle the Jandal competition down to fifteen finalists for each category. Once the finalists have been decided upon, appointments are made for the final judging panel. Previous judges have been prominent New Zealand personalities and film makers, including Chris Graeme and Taika Waititi

Taika Waititi

Taika Waititi , also known as Taika Cohen, is a New Zealand-born film director, writer, painter, comedian and actor named as one of Varietys "ten new directors to watch" in 2007....

.

The judging panel decides all but one of the awards. The final category is voted upon by attendees at the Handle the Jandal award ceremony.

The Golden Jandal

The Golden Jandal is the award given out at the Handle the Jandal award ceremonies. There are six categories and a grand winner for the Golden Jandal Favourite Video, as judged by the audience and radio listeners.

The awards are:

1. Best use of exploitative tactics to promote band
2. Best Editing
3. Best Cinematography
4. Best Concept
5. Best Animation
6. Rising Star

And, the Favourite Handle the Jandal Video, with awards for second and third places.

Handle the Jandal and Digital Music

At the conclusion of the 2006 award ceremony, a compilation of winners and significant entries will be selected for release on iTunes Australia.

It was recently announced that all 93 music and video clips in this year’s Handle the Jandal will be picked up by the global iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 network. This is the first time that New Zealand music video clips will be available to iTunes, the world’s largest digital music market.

Handle the Jandal is part of the Jiggy music distribution initiative. The Jiggy initiative is an online network for music artists to sell their individual tracks digitally through mobile phones. It is aligned with The Orchard, a global distribution company that accesses iTunes, MSN, Napster, Yahoo! and EMusic among others, and is the world’s largest supplier of independent music in the digital format.

2006 Awards

The 2006 Handle the Jandal Awards were held on September 20, at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington.

The winners of the Golden Jandal categories were:

Best use of exploitative tactics: Dean Hewison for Mathew Saville’s F**K you Orlando (Wellington)

Best editing: Filthy Joe Smoker for The Sorecock’s Lucyfer(Auckland)

Best Cinematography: Mark Summerville for Battle Circus’ Send in the Clones (Auckland)

Best Concept: Sally Tran for Charlie Ash’s O’baby (Wellington)

Best Animation: Toby Donald for Boss Christ’s El Bandido (Wellington)

Rising Star: Ed Lust for Arkitype’s Shut Eye (Christchurch)

The overall Golden Jandal for Favourite Video was:

First place: Sally Tran for Charlie Ash's O'Baby

Second Place: Marc Smith for The Video Kid's DJ's Girlfriend

Third Place: Mark Williams for Agent Alvin's Who's Your Daddy?

2008 Awards

Despite a one year absence, a record total of 122 entries were received for the 2007 Handle the Jandal competition. Fifteen finalists were screened at an awards ceremony, held at Wellington's St James Theatre on November 27, 2007.

The winners of the Golden Jandal categories were:

Best use of exploitative tactics: The Downlow Concept: The Hot Grits, Headlights

Best editing: Curtis Baigent: The Bonnie Scarlets, It's Getting Me Down

Best Cinematography: Logan McMillan: Flip Grater

Flip Grater

Flip Grater is a singer-songwriter from Christchurch, New Zealand. She has released 3 CDs.She has recorded and toured with a backing band consisting of Kris Wilson , Simon Hall , Tim Chesney and Simon Brouwer...

, Ring Around The Rosie

Best Concept: Daniel Alexander Fowler: Denmark Street, Will You?

Best Animation: Marco Vidaurre: The Ruby Suns, Tane Mahuta

Rising Star: Daniel Alexander Fowler: Denmark Street, Will You?

The overall Golden Jandal for Favourite Video was:

First place: The Downlow Concept: The Hot Grits, Headlights

Second Place: Ben Forman/Judah Finnigan: Deep Sea Regret, So Far So Good

Third Place: Curtis Baigent: The Bonnie Scarlets, It's Getting Me Down

2009 Awards

The 2009 Handle the Jandal DIY Music Video Competition has been announced. Entries for the 2009 competition close at Monday 5pm September 21 (NZT), with the awards ceremony to be held October 29, 2009 at The Embassy Theatre in Wellington.

With a video that featured loads of colour, plenty of lips and lots of lollies, Parallel Dance Ensemble won the Golden Jandal for best video, as voted by the audience at Radio Active 89FM's Handle the Jandal DIY Music Video Awards.

The category winners for the 2009 Handle the Jandal DIY Music Video Awards are:

Best Use of Exploitative Tactics to Promote A Band: Judah Finnigan and Ben Forman: Highlife, Berserk

Best Editing: Joe Fish: James Duncan, A Obvious

Best Cinematography: Kimberley Brown: Electric Wire Hustle, Perception

Best Concept: Lisa Dunn: Parallel Dance Ensemble, Weight Watchers

Best Animation: Preston McNeil: Isaac Aesili, With You In My Bed

Rising Star 2009: Greg Pawsey: Cougar Cougar Cougar, Satans Blues

The overall Golden Jandal for Favourite Video was:

First: Lisa Dunn for Parallel Dance Ensemble's Weight Watchers

Second: Mike Gray for El Schlong's The Baddies Are Coming

Third: Judah Finnigan and Ben Forman for Highlife's Berserk

Many thanks must go to Kraft:Haus, Spyglass, Juice TV, Manky Chops, Hoverlion, Bettys & 26000 for their massive support, it wouldn't have been possible without their help!

External links

• Radio Active 89FM
• Jiggy.co.nz