The Australian Writers’ Guild is pleased to announce the nominees for the 41st annual AWGIE Awards to be presented at the Plaza Ballroom, Melbourne on Friday, August 15.
“For more than forty years, the AWGIE Awards have been a showcase for the very best in Australian performance writing. To win an AWGIE award, a writer must have achieved an outstanding standard of merit in their work, as judged by their peers. They are a celebration of excellence, unique to the Australian performance industries,” said AWG President Tim Pye.
Multiple AWGIE winners Kym Goldsworthy, Greg Haddrick, Katherine Thomson and Noëlle Janaczewska have again received nominations this year for their writing excellence, with Noëlle nominated in both the Community and Youth Theatre and Radio Adaptation categories.
The scripts of four uniquely Australian films have been nominated in the Original Feature Film category: The Black Balloon by Elissa Down with Jimmy the Exploder; The Tender Hook by Jonathan Ogilvie; Cactus by Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan; and Acolytes by Shayne Armstrong with Jon Hewitt and Shane Krause.
It’s a great year for television with soap favourites Home and Away and Neighbours vying for an AWGIE in the Serial category; episodes of All Saints and Love My Way up against new kid on the block City Homicide in the Series category; Stupid, Stupid Man, Wilfred and three episodes of Chandon Pictures all nominated for the Situation or Narrative Comedy Award; and The King: The Graham Kennedy Story by Kris Mrska with Jaime Brown and The Informant by Greg Haddrick named as nominees in the Telemovie Original category.
The Seed by Kate Mulvany and 2,000 Feet Away by Anthony Weigh, have been nominated in the Stage category alongside The Call by Patricia Cornelius and Tom Holloway’s Beyond the Neck. Nominees in all the stage categories (except musical theatre) are also eligible for the inaugural $40,000 Richard Wherrett Prize, Australia’s richest playwriting prize, presented in association with Copyright Agency Limited.
Copyright Agency Limited is also the proud sponsor of the $10,000 Peer Recognition Prize to be awarded to the most outstanding script of 2008.
Other prizes to be announced on the night include the $25,000 FOXTEL Fellowship excellence in television writing, the $25,000 Kit Denton Fellowship and for the first time the $15,000 John Hinde Award for Science Fiction.
The AWGIE Awards are open to AWG members and are the only Australian writing awards judges solely by writers. Bookings for the 41st AWGIE Awards open in July.
2008 AWGIE AWARD NOMINATIONS
Monte Miller Award Long Form (for un-produced script over 30 minutes by Associate member)
The Insect King by Priscilla Cameron
The Witness Tree by Jacqueline Cook
Taj by Winston Furlong
The Klara Project by Graeme Simsion
The Bosnian Horse, Part One by Robert Tomic
Monte Miller Award Short Form (for un-produced script under 30 minutes by Associate member)
Celestial Avenue by Colin Cairnes with Cameron Cairnes
Running by Rebecca Glenn
Rabbit by Grant Scicluna
Children’s Television – C Classification
Tails End, Dogstar by Philip Dalkin
Red Boy, Master Raindrop by Kym Goldsworthy
Man Bites Dog, Dogstar by Doug MacLeod
Gumnutz by Phil Sanders
Theatre for Young Audiences
Penalty Shot by Daynan Brazil
Stories in the Dark by Debra Oswald
Community and Youth Theatre
Royal Affair by Michael Costello
This Territory by Noëlle Janaczewska
Music Theatre
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Stage
The Call by Patricia Cornelius
Beyond the Neck by Tom Holloway
The Seed by Kate Mulvany
2,000 Feet Away by Anthony Weigh
Interactive Media
Forget the Rules, Series Two by Leisl Egan and Jim Shomos with Tim Ferguson and May Yeung
Iceman the Story of Ötzi – Who Iced Ötzi? by Caleb Lewis
Radio Adaptation
Madagascar Lily by Noëlle Janaczewska
Fragments of Hong Kong by Katherine Thomson
Documentary – Public Broadcast
The Boot Cake by Kathryn Millard
The Fibros and the Silvertails by Paul Oliver
Short Film
Hugo by Rachel Bowen
Suzi by Peter Copeman and Elizabeth More
Nice Shootin’ Cowboy by Ben Phelps
Confusion by Megan Shields
Comedy – Sketch or Light Entertainment
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Comedy – Situation or Narrative
Cousins, Chandon Pictures by Rob Carlton
Return of the Titan, Chandon Pictures by Rob Carlton
Death Wish, Chandon Pictures by Rob Carlton
Dog Eat Dog, Wilfred by Jason Gann and Adam Zwar
The Black Dog, Stupid, Stupid Man by Tim Pye
Television Serial
Home and Away, Episode 4521 by Sam Meikle
Neighbours, Episode 5431 by Anthony Morris
Neighbours, Episode 5430 by Scott Taylor
Home and Away, Episode 4498 by Margaret Wilson
Television Series
Baby Love, City Homicide by John Banas and John Hugginson
The Cemetery Gates, Love My Way by Brendan Cowell
Seconds, All Saints by Fiona Kelly
Against The Wall (Part 2), All Saints by Sean Nash
Telemovie Original
The King: The Graham Kennedy Story by Kris Mrska with Jaime Brown
The Informant by Greg Haddrick
Television Mini Series Original
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Television Mini Series Adaptation
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Feature Film Adaptation
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Feature Film Original
Acolytes by Shayne Armstrong with Jon Hewitt and Shane Krause
The Black Balloon by Elissa Down and Jimmy the Exploder
The Tender Hook by Jonathan Ogilvie
Cactus by Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan
[Release by AWG]