‘Sweet Country.’
Steven McGregor and David Tranter’s Sweet Country was named best feature film original screenplay while Yolanda Ramke’s Cargo was deemed best feature film adaptation at the Australian Writers’ Guild’s annual AWGIE Awards on Thursday night.
Michaeley O’Brien’s episode of Mystery Road entitled Gone was declared best TV or miniseries and Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie’s Sunshine took the prize for best telemovie or miniseries of four hours or less.
Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan took home the AWGIE for situation or narrative comedy for episode seven of Get Krack!n.
Michelle Law and Chloë Reeson won the web series category for the Homecoming Queens episode Beach.
Peter Mattessi collected the TV serial prize for an episode of Neighbours and Joel Perlgut won the short film award with I Fucked a Mermaid and No One Believes Me.
The children’s TV C Classification trophy went to Magda Wozniak for Mustangs FC: Flawless while the P classification prize was won by Erica Glynn for her episode Where’s Aaron? of Little J and Big Cuz.
Bradley Slabe’s Japanese-inspired, dialogue-free stop-motion short Lost & Found was a dual winner: best animation and the 2018 Major Award which is selected from the winners of all 18 categories.
The judging panel hailed the tale of a knitted toy dinosaur as compact and elegant in its simplicity with a “beautifully crafted script which is exquisite in its originality and construction. It is a genuinely outstanding piece of work.”
‘Lost & Found.’
Co-directed by Slabe and Andrew Goldsmith, the short is among four finalists for best animated short at the 2018 AACTA Awards.
AWG CEO Jacqueline Elaine said: “Writers often maintain a quiet anonymity and lack recognition, particularly when it comes to their role as the architects behind Australia’s most iconic screen and stage moments. In Lost & Found we have a winner which showcases that a script is so much more than just dialogue.”
P. J. Hogan took the AWGIE for music theatre and the 2018 David Williamson prize for Muriel’s Wedding the Musical, which was a hit for the Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures in 2017 and is set for a return season in 2019.
Veteran screenwriter and playright Sue Smith won the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award and Tony Ayres got the Hector Crawford Award: see separate story.
FEATURE FILM – ORIGINAL
Sweet Country – Steven McGregor with David Tranter
FEATURE FILM – ADAPTATION
Cargo – Yolanda Ramke
SHORT FILM
I Fucked a Mermaid and No One Believes Me – Joel Perlgut
DOCUMENTARY – COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING (OR OTHERWISE COMMISSIONED TO A SPECIFIC BRIEF)
Minibeast Heroes – Tim Bain
TELEVISION – SERIAL
Neighbours: Episode 7776 – Peter Mattessi
TELEVISION – SERIES OR MINISERIES OF MORE THAN 4 HOURS DURATION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
Mystery Road: ‘Gone’ – Michaeley O’Brien
TELEVISION – TELEMOVIE OR MINISERIES OF 4 HOURS OR LESS DURATION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL AND ADAPTED WORKS
Sunshine – Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘P’ CLASSIFICATION (PRESCHOOL – UNDER 5 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Little J and Big Cuz: ‘Where’s Aaron?’ – Erica Glynn
CHILDREN’S TELEVISION – ‘C’ CLASSIFICATION (CHILDREN’S – 5–14 YEARS), ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED, ANIMATED OR PERFORMED
Mustangs FC: ‘Flawless’ – Magda Wozniak
COMEDY – SITUATION OR NARRATIVE
Get Krack!n: Episode 7 – Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan
RADIO
Seoul City Sue – Noëlle Janaczewska
STAGE
Rice – Michele Lee
COMMUNITY AND YOUTH THEATRE
The Hum – Angela Betzien
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
My Robot – Finegan Kruckemeyer
MUSIC THEATRE
Muriel’s Wedding the Musical – PJ Hogan with Kate Miller-Heidke & Keir Nuttall (lyrics) and Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson (lyrics)
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Rumu – A Tale of Love, Loss and Effective Home Management – Daniel McMahon with Robot House
ANIMATION
Lost & Found – Bradley Slabe
WEB SERIES
Homecoming Queens: ‘Beach’ – Michelle Law and Chloë Reeson
MAJOR AWARD
Lost & Found – Bradley Slabe
DAVID WILLIAMSON PRIZE For Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre
Muriel’s Wedding the Musical – PJ Hogan with Kate Miller-Heidke & Keir Nuttall (lyrics) and Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson (lyrics)
RICHARD LANE AWARD For Outstanding Service and Dedication to the Australian Writers’ Guild
Michelle Offen
HECTOR CRAWFORD AWARD For Outstanding Contribution to the craft as a script producer, editor or dramaturg
Tony Ayres
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS’ GUILD LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Sue Smith