Optus One80 Project winner

NSW entrants Ben Mathews, Kent Pearson and Shelley McLaren have won the sixth annual OPTUS ONE80PROJECT with their entry Deadbeat Dads.

Their three minute pilot will be developed into a one hour TV drama with a production budget of $180,000, to be shown on MTV, They also won a $10,000 cash prize.

For the first time in the competition’s history one entry has taken out all three major awards; the Judges’ Choice, the Public Vote and the Best Student Entry.

Sydneysiders braved the rain to attend Centennial Park’s Moonlight Cinema in Sydney last night, hosted by Fitzy & Wippa, with a live performance by Darren Hayes. Judges were David Wenham, Lincoln Lewis and Maia Horniak.

Ben Mathews said, “I was at the Optus ONE80PROJECT this time last year and I wouldn’t have imagined we’d be here tonight. This is an absolute thrill, an honour, a shock. We want to make this the best possible pilot we can (for MTV). We want it to be high quality television, high quality drama and something that has the potential to go to series.”

This year’s competition also awarded a $5,000 cash prize for the best pilot filmed on a mobile phone to Jodie Lee Behrendorff for Just Looking.

The winners of the 2011 contest SICK! premieres on MTV Australia Sunday April 15 at 9:30pm.