Matchbox Pictures has won the Production Business of the Year award at the 15th annual Screen Producers Australia Awards.
The awards, were hosted by television and radio presenter James Mathison at Melbourne’s Palladium at Crown during the 30th SCREEN FOREVER Conference.
For a full list of awards, see below.
Matchbox Pictures was founded by Australian producers Tony Ayres, Penny Chapman, Helen Bowden, Michael McMahon and Helen Panckhurst in 2008.
It was acquired by NBC Universal in 2014.
Matchbox specialises in television drama, children’s programming, factual and entertainment content, animation and feature films for the domestic and international marketplace.
Most recently, Matchbox has produced the popular reality television series Real Housewives of Melbourne, feature film Ali’s Wedding, Lally Katz’s comedy mini-series Stories I Want To Tell You In Person for the ABC, and the youth television drama series Nowhere Boys for ABC Television, which was honoured with the Screen Australia Children’s Television Production of the Year for the second consecutive year.
A highlight of the 2015 Screen Producers Australia Awards was the inclusion of the Short Film Production of the Year category, which provides a platform for Australia’s emerging and mid-career producers.
The inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, was received by Natalie Miller, a pioneer of Australian art house cinema for over half a century.
Miller is best known for being the first independent woman distributor in Australia as the Executive Director of Sharmill Films, which she established in 1967, as well as the successful co-founder of the iconic Cinema Nova in Melbourne, of which she is currently Co-Managing Partner. Previously, Miller was Executive Director of the Longford cinema for 17 years.
Screen Producers Australia’s CEO Matthew Deaner said the awards were born from a desire to recognise and honour Australian screen businesses who create and support high quality and outstanding screen content.
"Matchbox Pictures have established themselves as one of Australia’s most successful production companies, consistently producing original and entertaining stories for television audiences both locally and internationally,” he said.
The full list of Award recipients of the 2015 Screen Producers Australia Awards are:
Media Super Production Business of the Year: Matchbox Pictures
Lifetime Achievement Award: Natalie Miller AO
Drama Television Production of the Year: The Code (Playmaker Media)
Comedy Television Production of the Year: Please Like Me S2, (Guesswork Television)
Documentary Television Production of the Year: Go Back To Where You Came From (Cordell Jigsaw Productions)
Children’s Television Production of the Year Nowhere Boys S2 (Matchbox Pictures)
Light Entertainment Television Production of the Year Agony (High Wire Films)
Reality Television Production of the Year The X Factor S5 (Fremantle Media Australia)
Telemovie or Mini Series Production of the Year The Secret River (Ruby Entertainment)
Feature Film Production of the Year Holding The Man (Goalpost Pictures)
Feature Documentary Production of the Year That Sugar Film (Madman Production Company)
Short Film Production of the Year Emo (The Musical) (Matthewswood Productions)
Interactive and Online Production of the Year How To Talk Australians (Jason Byrne Productions)
Interactive and Online Production of the Year Sherlock: The Network (The Project Factory)
Breakthrough Business of the Year Brindle Films
Services and Facilities Business of the Year Fox Studios Australia