‘Top End Wedding’ is among the eight films in contention for the feature film SPA Award.
Some 54 production companies are among the finalists for this year’s Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards, which span 12 categories across film, TV and interactive.
Eight titles will compete for the feature film gong. The nominees include the highest grossing Australian films of the year, Ambience’s Storm Boy and Goalpost Pictures/KOJO Entertainment’s Top End Wedding. Also in the running are Unicorn Films’ Celeste and Red Dune Films & Deeper Water Films’ Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, as well as four yet to be released films, Blue-Tongue Films’ Judy & Punch, Closer Productions’ Animals, Ticket To Ride’s Standing Up For Sunny and SixFourSixty’s Angel of Mine.
Hoodlum is up twice in the drama series category for Tidelands and Five Bedrooms, as is Matchbox for Glitch and The Heights (the latter together with For Pete’s Sake Productions). Other nominees include Fremantle’s Wentworth, Easy Tiger’s Doctor Doctor, Playmaker’s Bloom and Revlover Films’ Diary of An Uber Driver.
The telemovie/mini-series category looks competitive, with nominees Closer Productions’ The Hunting, December Media’s The Cry, Goalpost Pictures’ Fighting Season, and Lambs of God and On The Ropes, both from Lingo Pictures.
Vying for the comedy series award are CJZ’s Mr Black, Guesswork Television/Katering Productions’ Get Krack!n, Jungle Entertainment’s Squinters, Matchbox’s The Family Law, Princess Pictures’ How To Stay Married and What Horse?/Guesswork Television’s Rosehaven.
The two Adam Goodes docos, Shark Island Productions The Final Quarter and GoodThing Productions’ The Australian Dream, will square off in the feature documentary category, up against fellow GoodThing production 2040; Bunya Treehouse Productions’ Sanctuary; Wildbear Entertainment’s Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks; and Freshwater Pictures & iKandy Films’ The Eulogy.
“The quality of Australian screen content produced by the independent sector continues to grow each year and I’m exceptionally pleased to see that the work our members are creating is being exported to audiences across the globe,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
“I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all our members who took the time to enter the awards and I look forward to celebrating with you at Screen Forever 2019.”
The finalists in each category are voted on by SPA members. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre November 14, the last night of the Screen Forever conference.
The full list of finalists:
Animated Series Production of the Year
• Dumbotz, Blue Rocket Productions
• Bluey, Ludo Studio
Children’s Series Production of the Year
• Drop Dead Weird, Ambience Entertainment & Air Pig Productions
• Random and Whacky, Ambience Entertainment
• Project Planet, Emerald Films & Metamorflix
• Mustangs FC, Matchbox Pictures
• Nowhere Boys: The Battle for Negative Space, Matchbox Pictures
• Hardball, Northern Pictures
Comedy Program or Series Production of the Year
• Mr Black, CJZ
• Get Krack!n, Guesswork Television & Katering Productions
• Squinters, Jungle Entertainment
• The Family Law, Matchbox Pictures
• How To Stay Married, Princess Pictures
• Rosehaven, What Horse? & Guesswork Television
Drama Series Production of the Year
• Doctor Doctor, Easy Tiger Productions
• Wentworth, Fremantle
• Five Bedrooms, Hoodlum
• Tidelands, Hoodlum
• Glitch, Matchbox Pictures
• The Heights, Matchbox Pictures & For Pete’s Sake Productions
• Bloom, Playmaker Media
• Diary of an Uber Driver, Revlover Films
Light Entertainment Series Production of the Year
• Grand Designs Australia, Fremantle
• The Recording Studio, Fremantle
• Restoration Australia, Fremantle
• Australia’s Got Talent, Fremantle
• The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, Thinkative Television
• Hard Quiz, Thinkative Television
Telemovie or Mini Series Production of the Year
• The Hunting, Closer Productions
• The Cry, December Media
• Fighting Season, Goalpost Pictures
• Lambs of God, Lingo Pictures
• On the Ropes, Lingo Pictures
• Les Norton, Roadshow Rough Diamond
Online Series Production of the Year
• Patricia Moore, Cobbstar Productions
• Location Scouts, Goalpost Pictures
• Robbie Hood, Ludo Studio and Since 1788 Productions
• A Chance Affair, Noble Savage Pictures
• Superwog, Princess Pictures
• Lucy & DiC, We Made a Thing
Documentary Program or Series Production of the Year
• Blue Water Empire, Bunya Productions
• Body Hack, Essential Media Group
• Family Rules, Metamorflix
• Secret Life of Death, Mint Pictures
• Magical Land of Oz, Northern Pictures
• Employable Me, Northern Pictures
• Outback Truckers, Prospero Productions
• Australian Crime Stories, The Full Box
Feature Documentary of the Year
• Sanctuary, Bunya Treehouse Productions
• The Eulogy, Freshwater Pictures & iKandy Films
• 2040, GoodThing Productions
• The Australian Dream, GoodThing Productions
• The Final Quarter, Shark Island Productions
• Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks, WildBear Entertainment
Feature Film of the Year
• Storm Boy, Ambience Entertainment
• Judy & Punch, Blue-Tongue Films
• Animals, Closer Productions
• Top End Wedding, Goalpost Pictures & KOJO Entertainment
• Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Red Dune Films & Deeper Water Films
• Angel of Mine, SixtyFourSixty
• Standing Up For Sunny, Ticket To Ride
• Celeste, Unicorn Films
Short Film Production of the Year
• Chlorine, Dollhouse Pictures
• First Day, Epic Films
• Rebooted, LateNite Films
• Strangers, Mad Ones Films
• Judas Collar, No Thing Productions
• Scout, Noble Savage Pictures
• Elders, Typecast
Interactive or Game Production of the Year
• Awake: Episode One, Start VR
• RONE, StudioBento