After a number of nominations over the years, director Nick Kozakis has finally won an ARIA Award.
Kozakis recently won the 2024 ARIA Award for Best Music Video for Tones And I’s ‘Dance With Me’, which he directed alongside Sela Vai and singer Tones And I.
Kozakis first gained attention with ‘Dance Monkey’, which went viral with over two billion views on YouTube. Since then, he has continued to push the boundaries of music video direction, blending visuals and stories.
He described the moment he won the award as surreal.
“I didn’t expect to win it, to be honest,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“It was just a moment of, ‘look, we’re here, I’ve got a free meal, free ticket to the event’, so I was just there to have a good time.
“I didn’t really prepare much in the wake of potentially winning but getting up there, I think our name was called first and foremost, I had to double check to make sure I heard it correctly, so I looked over at Sela and then she was in full shock and then it’s like ‘alright cool, let’s go’.”
The award was presented to them by rock band Grinspoon which Kozakis said was another surreal moment on its own since he’s been a big fan of them.
“Looking out into a crowd of thousands and let alone how many are broadcasting it live, it was nerve wracking.”
“I lost my wording at some point, but surreal is probably the best word to describe it considering I just I was thrust into a totally different planet at that point.”
Last year Kozakis toured globally his directed feature length horror film ‘Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism’ which premiered and won awards at film festivals.
As for what’s next, he said he has some big projects coming up, including a film, that he cannot share at this stage.
On top of that he’ll always continue to do music videos because they are a passion and fun to experiment on.
One project he’s working on involves Greek mythology and he is also heavily involved with the Greek Australian Film Society (GAFS).
“I’ve wanted to connect with my Greek heritage. I’m so proud of being Greek and also trying to help the next generation of film makers come through,” he said.
“I’m kind of dipping my toes in all these projects and helping other creatives in the Greek community get a huge boost.
“I want to get us to that point where we are an exciting prospect of young Greek film makers and artists that are trying to get our work seen by many.
“So that’s like a big thing for me and some something that’s really special to me.”
He said he hopes his ARIA award win, the first by a Greek Australian (Cypriot British-Australian Peter Andre won three in the 90s) creates a surge for other Greeks that are young that want to get into the creative field.
