Artist Rebecca Boyd Defina, singer-songwriter Leone Rogers and Milton band,The Escalators, were chosen by Fast Forward judges who were “very impressed” by the range and high standard of applications.

Festival coordinator Julie Sydenham said each application was rated and ranked, with “very little margin between the top five applications".

“They were all worthy recipients, however, as with all events of this nature, not everyone can be successful,” she added.

Rebecca will use her funding to attend street art and stenciling workshops in Melbourne in order to extend her painting skills.

She said she was looking forward to where the experience will take her artistically.

“Every year when fast forward comes around I always think, I should do that, maybe next year,” she said.

“But this year I went for it and was overjoyed to be selected.

“It will give me an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and experience something that I've wanted to do for a long time.”

Leone will be mentored by professional comedian Tim Ferguson and filmmaker Rosie Spooner to create a film clip for a promotional song that she co-wrote with award-winning songwriter Matt Scullion.

“I’m very excited to have been chosen and this will be a real community project and a chance for lots of people to get involved and create something special for our town,” she said.

Keep It Simple - the Milton / Ulladulla Song, will be used for tourist promotion and the clip will include local groups and attractions.

Popular band, The Escalators, will use their share of the funds to attend professional development workshops with music producer Syd Green.

Guitarist Lachlan Mackenzie said band members were looking forward to working with Syd to record three new original songs.

“Syd produced our Felix EP and was fantastic at tapping into the band's creativity.,” he said.

“At the end we will have a new set of skills and three new recordings to use on radio and YouTube as a way of expanding our audience.”

Julie said the successful applicants were encouraged to become involved with the festival, and to in some way share their new-found skills or endeavours with the community.

“This could be through exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations or talks, such as the PechaKucha night, a festival favourite,” she said.

The 2014 winners were Natalia Kujbida, Penny Lovelock, Jodhi Doyle and Nicole Dixon.