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AWGIES: 2010 winners

Hawke, Good News Week, Spirited, Lowdown and Underbelly were winners at the Australian Writers' Guild Awards last night.

Is this an omen? Hawke was a winner at the Australian Writers’ Guild Awards last night.

The script by Glen Dolman won the Telemovie Original award (it was the sole nominee).

TV Winners included:

COMEDY: SITUATION OR NARRATIVE
Lowdown – Who’s Your Baddy? by Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar

COMEDY: SKETCH OR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Good News Week – The 2009 Sauce Bottle Awards by Dave Bloustien, Simon Dodd,

TELEVISION: MINI SERIES ADAPTATION
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities by Peter Gawler, Greg Haddrick, Kris Mrksa, Felicity Packard

TELEVISION: SERIES
Spirited – The Man Who Fell To Earth by Jacquelin Perske

TELEVISION: SERIAL
Home and Away Ep 5068 by Sam Meikle

TELEMOVIE ORIGINAL
Hawke by Glen Dolman.

DOCUMENTARY: PUBLIC BROADCAST
Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia by John Hughes

CHILDREN’S TELEVISION: P CLASSIFICATION
Bananas in Pyjamas (animated series) ‘The Little Fish’ by Kevin Nemeth

CHILDREN’S TELEVISION: C CLASSIFICATION
Lockie Leonard – Crimes of the Heartless by Shelley Birse

2010 FOXTEL FELLOWSHIP
Sue Smith

2010 FRED PARSONS AWARD
For Special Contribution to Australian Comedy
Gina Riley and Jane Turner

16 Responses

  1. David, thanks for the additional info.

    @Craig(Buzz) – I don’t agree that writers having their names mentioned “at times” during Logies acceptance speeches is necessarily sufficient recognition for their work. Writing is an integral component of the success or otherwise of a show, and I think that good work deserves to be awarded.

  2. Interesting comments, if there were no writers there would be an hour of drama with actors looking at each other shrugging and nodding. Comedy would be a real hoot! Yes let’s ignore writers even more, and watch the industry really sink!
    AsGeorge Costanza once said – Writers – what writers? It’s a sitcom!!!!!

  3. Lol David,If a show is successful at the logies the writing has a lot do with it,and at times writers names will be mentioned etc as it is a team effort after all.So as i say this other thing is a waste of time

  4. Sorry it’s like $935 to join, if you’re in the top 2 tiers of income earning, my mistake…but I still stand by my claim that the AWG uses these awards to suck in financial members who otherwise wouldn’t have joined. Ask professional writers this, I’m sure a lot of them would agree.

    p.s. Loved most of the shows nominated though, so no diss to them.

    1. Membership is $295 – $750 per year for professional writers. The AWGIES are for produced work meaning you would be a pro writer to be eligible, with the exception of the Monte Miller Award for an unproduced script by an Associate ($190 per year). The latter is a good way to get yourself known if you are an emerging writer serious about your craft. There’s a one-off joining fee of $185 / $120. I’ve certainly spoken to some writers who are not in AWG plus others who are.

  5. One of the reasons that some of the likely contenders do not show up on AWGIE’s nomination list, is because of their writers not being financial members. This does give a particular lean towards writers who either are well resourced, committed and passionate union members or who have benefactors: such as production companies or networks behind them. But as our host eloquently expressed it – it is still the pre-eminent award for writers in this country; the AFI and IF awards with film focus.

  6. Thanks for that, girlygal (wasn’t aware that was the case). Kinda puts a different complexion on things – a bit like ***** You’re the 1,000,000th visitor to this website! Click here for your prize *****

  7. @girlygal: Absolute rubbish. I’m looking at the AWG website right now where it says that a full membership begins at $295 and I paid $190 for an associate membership.

    I didn’t win an AWGIE last night either – that’s life!

    1. And as a previous member of AWG I don’t believe people join just to be AWGIE eligible. You join like any other union / association, because you believe in the cause, strength in numbers for negotiation of rights, representation, access to legal advice, conditions, networking, etc. Don’t forget writing can be a particularly isolated occupation so AWG offers fraternity opportunity. Yes there are some writers who prefer to go it alone and that is their right like any non-union rep.

      That said, the AWGIE Awards still have the history to uphold a mantle as the top screenwriting awards in Australia. What was the last writing award the Logies had?

  8. Before you consider who won these awards…please know that you have to pay over $1000 to join the AWG in order to be eligible for these awards…and people from AWG will even call you up and say, “You could be nominated for an award if you pay the $1000 memebership first.” A lot of television/film writers refuse to pay such a high fee, especially after being led on by the AWG in previous years without a nomination – so the talent pool that these awards are selected from is only a small selection of those eager to seek awards for a price.

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