See-Saw Films took out Production Business of the Year at this evening’s Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards, held on the final night of Screen Forever on the Gold Coast.
The UK-Australian company, headed by Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, also took home Feature Film Production of the Year Award for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. It adds to the bevy of recognition for the NZ-Australian co-production, including an Oscar for Best Direction for Campion and the BAFTA for Best Film and Best Director.
Other recent See-Saw projects in Australia include Thomas M Wright’s The Stranger, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year and was acquired globally by Netflix, and AMC+’s Firebite, created by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher. It is also behind Florian Zeller’s The Son, Slow Horses and The Essex Serpent, both for AppleTV+, and Netflix’s Heartstopper.
Upcoming See-Saw projects include Garth Davis’ Foe, David Michod’s Wizards!, Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, James Hawe’s One Life, and more seasons of both Heartstopper and Slow Horses. Accepting the major prize, Liz Watts, See-Saw’s head of television and film in Australia, also announced it will be making a series with Netflix via its joint venture with Samantha Strauss, Picking Scabs.
Watts said the team was very thankful for the award, observing the industry is dynamic and keeps producers on their toes.
“We know that this is quite a pivotal moment in the industry as things move and shape and redefine themselves across the types of series and films we make and who we make them for. We have the wonderful commitment from government here to back the industry and to formalise meaningful 20 per cent quotas. Along with the Producer Offset and terms of trade with streamers we will surely have a very flourishing industry for many years to come – if we get the levers right. If government gets the levers right, the repercussions will be very far-reaching for our storytelling and our culture, our industry and our jobs,” Watts said.
See-Saw was one of 25 businesses recognised at the SPA Awards, with other double winners including Ambience Entertainment, Fremantle Australia, Mad Ones Films, and Ludo Studio.
Comedian Nath Valvo hosted the ceremony, with Brenton Thwaites, Chika Ikogwe, Erik Thomson, Mark Coles Smith and Marta Dusseldorp each presenting awards.
Arts Minister Tony Burke also addressed the room, reaffirming the government’s commitment to putting Australian content quotas on streamers from July 1 next year – “they will not start a day later.” While acknowledging there were still “moving parts” in terms of determining what the regulation will look, Burke also dismissed “ridiculous scare campaigns” that quotas would inadvertently hurt the industry.
“If we can provide you with a better platform, if we can provide you with a brighter spotlight, if we can help crank up the volume, if we can help make sure that we enable you to tell stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told, reach audiences that would otherwise not have been reached, you will affect how Australians see themselves. Not simply whether they recognise, but how they feel and know themselves, how we feel and know each other, and how the world knows us.
“I’ve dedicated most of my parliamentary career to this moment, to trying to get back into this job and deliver it for you. We will provide the platform and you will provide the stories that will change people’s lives,” Burke said to standing ovation.
Breakthrough Business of the Year went to Bus Stop Films, who made 14 films in 2022 that gave opportunities to 160 practitioners with disability. The Screen Business Export Award was snared by Ludo Studio for Bluey, which screens internationally on Disney+ and which has among its overseas accolades an International Emmy and a BAFTA. The most popular series to ever screen on ABC iview, Bluey also won Animated Production of the Year.
As was previously announced, SixtyFourSixty’s Brian Rosen and Su Armstrong were jointly presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and SBS’s head of scripted Julie Eckersley was honoured as Commissioner of the Year.
Drama Series Production of the Year was won by Fremantle Australia for Heartbreak High, while Telemovie or Mini Series Production of the Year went to Aquarius Films for Savage River and taking home Comedy Program or Series Production of the Year was Easy Tiger Productions for Colin From Accounts.
Ambience Entertainment and Tamarind Tree Pictures snapped up Children’s Production of the Year for Barrumbi Kids, while Ambience also took home Documentary Series Production of the Year for Muster Dogs.
Winning Feature Documentary Production of the Year were Bacon Factory Films and Bent3Land Productions for Incarceration Nation.
The ceremony also saw Emma Roberts named as the recipient of the $20,000 Ones To Watch Screen Internship grant, supported by Screen Australia, and Lazy Susan Films and Mad Ones Films were awarded the annual SDIN Award for Latecomers, which also won Online Series Production of the Year.
“A lot has come to pass since the last SPA Awards, including the release of the government’s new National Cultural Policy, and it is here tonight that the enthusiasm and passion for authentic storytelling within the Australian screen sector shone through in front of Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
“I want to congratulate all nominees and Awards winners and encourage them to keep up the outstanding work, dazzling audiences across the globe and showcasing unique Australian heritage, culture, and stories.”
All winners:
- Animated Production of the Year – Bluey, Ludo Studio
- Children’s Production of the Year – Barrumbi Kids, Ambience Entertainment &
Tamarind Tree Pictures - Comedy Program or Series Production of the Year – Colin from Accounts, Easy
Tiger Productions - Documentary Series Production of the Year – Muster Dogs, Ambience
Entertainment - Drama Series Production of the Year – Heartbreak High, Fremantle Australia
- Entertainment Production of the Year – JOINT WINNERS
o Gogglebox Australia, Endemol Shine Australia
o Grand Designs Australia, Fremantle Australia - Feature Documentary Production of the Year – Incarceration Nation, Bacon
Factory Films & Bent3Land Productions - Feature Film Production of the Year – The Power of the Dog, See-Saw Films
- Games, XR and Immersive Media Production of the Year – Lustration, New
Canvas - Online Series Production of the Year – Latecomers, Mad Ones Films & Lazy
Susan Films - Reality Series Production of the Year – The Great Australian Bake Off, BBC
Studios Australia - Short Film Production of the Year – Voice Activated, Mad Ones Films & Spaceboy
Productions - Telemovie or Miniseries Production of the Year – Savage River, Aquarius Films
- Media Super Production Business of the Year – See-Saw Films
- Screen Business Export Award – Bluey, Ludo Studio
- Breakthrough Business of the Year – Bus Stop Films
- Services & Facilities Business of the Year – JOINT WINNERS
o Silver Trak Digital for Firebite
o Cato Location Services for Limitless - Commissioner of the Year – Julie Eckersley
- Lifetime Achievement Award – JOINT WINNERS
o Su Armstrong, SixtyFourSixty
o Brian Rosen, SixtyFourSixty