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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Flying high, the locals behind a hit movie

WHEN two University of Canberra students entered the World Paper Plane Championship in 2009, they never expected their story to fly on to the big screen.

 

James Norton and Dylan Parker’s journey to the championship became the inspiration for the new film “Paper Planes” starring Aussie actor Sam Worthington.

“It’s a miracle you get a film made, it’s a simple story, well told. All kids make paper planes when growing up so it’s really relatable and a great way to engage kids who are lost in technology,” says James.

Ever since he was taught how to make a paper plane by a family friend growing up in Byron Bay, James Norton, now 29, has had a passion for the childhood pastime.

While studying landscape architecture, he entered the Regional Paper Planes Competition held at the University of Canberra in 2008. It was there he met Dylan, an advertising student and the pair instantly bonded over their mutual passion.

“We were like two peas in a pod, we both had similar interests. I had never been to a proper contest before, but there was Dylan with a suitcase which was moulded to the shape of his planes,” says James.

“We were in teams of three and tested on distance, time aloft and acrobatics. I specialised in time aloft and Dylan was distance.”

The boys were only just getting to know each other when Dylan became ill and a “golf ball-sized” tumour was detected in his brain.

Dylan, now 27 and working in advertising in Sydney said: “I was really sick. It was after the regionals when I had to have emergency surgery, it went perfectly and when I gained consciousness I found out we had made it to the Nationals Competition in Sydney. It was a great thing to focus on and a few weeks later we were there”.

From the Nationals, the boys graduated to the World Paper Plane Championship held in an aircraft hanger in Austria where 85 countries were involved and 3 people were chosen from each country.

James says: “It was serious, we started training hard, doing weights and upper-body training in order to throw better. The World Championship was phenomenal, there were lots of people with incredible planes. There was a real sense of camaraderie.”

Dylan won third place in his specialised area, distance, with a throw of 42.8 metres.

Their journey to the World Championship became the basis for ABC “Australian Story: Fly With Me” and soon sparked an interest in director Robert Connolly who approached them with the idea to make it into a film.

“When we were contacted by Robert, he felt that it was a real shame there weren’t many Australian stories in film. He has a strong social conscience, wrote the script and pursued it until it got funding” says James.

Credited as ‘paper plane consultants’ for the film on IMDB.com, James and Dylan designed more than 20 unique paper planes, as well as assisting with the script in order to make the story feel natural.

“The film includes different interwoven stories about the importance of making something beautiful and interesting, as well as looking at the natural world for inspiration,” says James.

“Kids are leading the story, that’s the big point of difference to other films. It’s accessible for all ages, you can hear both adults and kids laughing in the cinema, it’s a real holistic experience.”

After its release date on January 15, “Paper Planes” has received a strong response. Making $3.4 million in its first week, the film has won a CinefestOZ film prize and has been selected to screen at the International Berlin Film Festival this month.

The pair continue to create paper planes and in their spare time visit schools to teach pupils about design elements and problem solving as part of their business “Paper Pilots”.

In the future they hope to publish a book of paper plane designs and break a world record.

“It doesn’t seem real. We’re so proud,” says Dylan.

“It was an incredible experience to be involved, hardly anyone gets this opportunity and we are really grateful.

“Making paper planes is an excuse to play around and have fun. As adults we sometimes forget that.”

 

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