Corrie Chen (centre) on the set of ‘Mustangs FC’ with producers Amanda Higgs and Rachel Davis.
Children’s TV drama might just be one sector of the industry where the tide is slowly changing for female directors, if this year’s Australian Directors’ Guild Award nominees are anything to go by – all five directors nominated for the Ebsen Storm Award for Best Direction of a Children’s TV or SVOD Drama are female.
Fiona Banks, Tori Garrett and Corrie Chen are all up for their work on the ABC’s Mustangs FC (Episode 13, Episode 1, Episode 6 respectively), while Beth Armstrong is up for Drop Dead Weird (Series 1, Episode 15) and Julie Kalceff for First Day (Series 1).
ADG CEO Kingston Anderson confirmed to IF that is the first time that female directors have made up all the nominees in a category at the awards, adding that there were submissions from male directors in that category.
Garrett’s feature debut, Don’t Tell, also sees her nominated for Best Direction of A Feature Film, where she will vie against Simon Baker for Breath, Jason Raftopoulos for West of Sunshine, Jeffrey Walker for Ali’s Wedding and Greg McLean for Jungle.
Banks is also up for two gongs, with her work on Wentworth (Series 5, Episode 5) seeing her nominated for Best Direction of TV or SVOD Drama Series. Fellow nominees in the category are Geoff Bennett for Wolf Creek (Series 2, Episode 5), Peter Andrikidis for Pulse (Series 1, Episode 7) and Shannon Murphy for Sisters (Series 1, Episode 5).
Kriv Stenders is another double nominee, up in the feature documentary category for his The Go-Betweens: Right Here, and TV/SVOD mini series direction for Ten’s Wake In Fright.
Vying against Stenders in the feature documentary category is Jen Peedom for Mountain, who won the category in 2016 for Sherpa; Larissa Behrendt for After the Apology and Sascha Ettinger Epstein for The Pink House.
The ADG Awards will take place on May 4 at the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins.
The full list of nominees is below:
BEST DIRECTION OF A FEATURE FILM
• Greg McLean for Jungle
• Jason Raftopoulos for West of Sunshine
• Jeffrey Walker for Ali’s Wedding
• Simon Baker for Breath
• Tori Garrett for Don’t Tell
BEST DIRECTION OF A SHORT FILM
• Andrew Lee for Melon Grab
• Danielle Baynes and Yolanda Ramke for Cold Hearts
• John Sheedy for Mrs McCutcheon
• Julietta Boscolo for Let’s See How Fast This Baby Will Go
• Vanessa Gazy for Highway
BEST DIRECTION OF A STUDENT FILM
• Charby Ibrahim for The Holiday Inn-Side
• Darcy Tuppen for The Land Will Eat You (Graon Bae Hemi Kakae Yu)
• Lucy Knox for An Act of Love
• Quentin Curzon for Rift
BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
• Jennifer Peedom for Mountain
• Kriv Stenders for The Go-Betweens: Right Here
• Larissa Behrendt for After the Apology
• Sascha Ettinger Epstein for The Pink House
BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY SERIES
• Alex Barry for The Surgery Ship
• Dan Goldberg for The Archibald
• Ivan O’Mahoney for The Queen & Zak Grieve
• Max Bourke for Man Up (Series 1, Episode 2)
• Sally Aitken for David Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema
BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY STANDALONE PROJECT
• Jack Yabsley for Kings of Baxter
• Jeff Daniels for Fair Game
• Jolyon Hoff for The Staging Post
• Sari Braithwaite for Paper Trails
ESBEN STORM AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION OF A CHILDREN’S TV OR SVOD DRAMA
• Beth Armstrong for Drop Dead Weird (Series 1, Episode 15)
• Corrie Chen for Mustangs FC (Series 1, Episode 6)
• Fiona Banks for Mustangs FC (Series 1, Episode 13)
• Julie Kalceff for First Day (Series 1)
• Tori Garrett for Mustangs FC (Series 1, Episode 1)
BEST DIRECTION OF A TV OR SVOD DRAMA SERIES
• Fiona Banks for Wentworth (Series 5, Episode 5)
• Geoff Bennett for Wolf Creek (Series 2, Episode 5)
• Peter Andrikidis for Pulse (Series 1, Episode 7)
• Shannon Murphy for Sisters (Series 1, Episode 5)
BEST DIRECTION OF A TV OR SVOD DRAMA SERIAL
• Chris Adshead for Neighbours Episode 7562
• Danny Raco for Home and Away Episode 6756
• Geoffrey Nottage for Home and Away Episode 6597
• Kath Hayden for Neighbours Episode 7726
BEST DIRECTION OF A TV OR SVOD MINI SERIES
• Daina Reid for Sunshine
• Glendyn Ivin for Seven Types of Ambiguity
• Kriv Stenders for Wake in Fright
• Matthew Saville for Friday on My Mind
• Michael Jenkins for Blue Murder: Killer Cop
BEST DIRECTION OF A TV OR SVOD COMEDY PROGRAM
• Ben Chessell for The Family Law (Series 2, Episode 2)
• Jonathan Brough for Rosehaven (Series 2, Episode 4)
• Sian Davies for True Story with Hamish & Andy (Episode “Phil”)
• Trent O’Donnell for The Letdown (Series 1, Episode 5)
BEST DIRECTION OF AN ONLINE DRAMA PROJECT
• Erin Good for Jade of Death
• Erin White for Other People’s Problems
• Scott Mannion for The Defector
BEST DIRECTION OF AN ONLINE COMEDY PROJECT
• Henry Inglis for Small Town Hackers
• Kelli Cross for Aussie Rangers
• Maria Theodorakis for Little Acorns – Bad Parents (Episode 6)
• Tawni Bryant and Jerome Velinsky for Method
BEST DIRECTION OF AN ANIMATED PROJECT
• Jo Boag for Guess How Much I Love You: The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare – Christmas to the
Moon and Back
• Luke Jurevicius for Sherazade: The Untold Stories (Episode 1)
• Marieka Walsh and Larissa Behrendt for Barbara
• Steve Baker for This is Desmondo Ray!
BEST DIRECTION OF COMMERCIAL CONTENT
• Alyssa McClelland for Mainland – New Tricks
• Husein Alicajic for Continental // Synchronicity
• Martin Wilson for Helping Minds – Real Stories
• Nick Waterman for I am George – The Fixer
• Paul Komadina for Nature Play – Free Benji
• Paul Middleditch for Celebrate Australia
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSIC VIDEO
• Nicholas Colla for Let You Down
Artist: Peking Duk ft. Icona Pop
• Nick Waterman for Edge of the Night
Artist: Sheppard
• Nick Waterman for Saint Lo
Artist: Washington
• Samuel Bright for Adelphi Hotel Nightmare
Artist: Curt Manor