Equity Ensemble Awards 2020: winners

Public broadcasters have led the 10th annual Equity Ensemble Awards.

The Family Law, The Heights, The Hunting have were recently voted the most outstanding Australian small screen ensembles in their respective categories by the MEAA Equity National Performers’ Committee.

Equity president Chloe Dallimore said, “I can’t think of a better way to spend lock down than re-watching the incredible small screen performances of the last 12 months. What phenomenal talent we have in this country, both in front and behind the camera. It emphasised what’s at stake if we don’t continue to vigorously defend our local content quotas, and why we must continue to remind our government how the arts contribute to our Australian cultural identity.”

Here are judge quotes for the three winners:

The Family Law S3,
“The Family Law is a show for everyone. It represents our diverse culture, exploring with tenderness and hilarity the experience of growing up and how to navigate the hurdles of family and sexuality. Every cast member serves the story like a true ensemble. There are no ‘stars’, which reflects the idea of family on screen, off-screen and in our living rooms.”

The Heights S1,
“The Heights hits all the marks of Australian-made, ensemble excellence. Such exciting depiction of the diverse cultural, socio-economic and physical ability cannot be overlooked. This ensemble brilliantly gives audiences a real take on our lives at the moment in Australia.”

The Hunting,
“The Hunting was always going to rise or fall on the strength of its ensemble cast. It rises. It gets lifted up by the universally deep commitment of every one of its – predominantly young – cast to the serving of story. All the performances draw attention to story and intent, not to themselves. They tackle every moment with such truth and care, with delicacy and great vulnerability; remarkable when so many are relatively new to the game. We’ve not cared so much for the fate of so many characters over four plus hours of complex story for a long time.”

An awards ceremony will be held when it is safe to do so.

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Mini-Series/Telemovie
The Hunting (Closer Productions)
Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw, Kavitha Anandasivam, Luca Asta Sardelis, Alex Cusack, Yazeed Daher, Leah Vandenberg, Pamela Rabe, Richard Roxburgh, Asher Keddie, Sachin Joab, Rodney Afif, Nathan Page, Elena Carapetis, Anna Lindner and Isabel Burmester.
Finalists:
Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries (Every Cloud Productions Pty Ltd)
The Hunting (Closer Productions)
Lambs of God (Lingo Pictures/Endemol Shine)

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series
The Family Law S3 (Matchbox Pictures)
Trystan Go, Fiona Choi, Anthony Brandon Wong, Shuang Hu, George Zhao, Karina Lee, Vivian Lee, Bethany Whitmore, Sam Cotton, Kimie Tsukakoshi, Takaya Honda, Hugh Parker, Jing-Xuan Chan and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor.
Finalists:
Get Krack!n S2 (Katering Productions & Guesswork Television)
The Family Law S3 (Matchbox Pictures)
The Letdown S2 (Giant Dwarf)

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble Series In A Drama Series
The Heights S1 (ABC TV)
Marcus Graham, Shari Sebbens, Calen Tassone, Roz Hammond, Bridie McKim , Fiona Press, Mitchell Bourke, Dan Paris, Saskia Hampele, Phoenix Raei, Yazeed Daher, Carina Hoang, Koa Nuen, Cara McCarthy and Briallen Clarke.
Finalists:
The Heights S1 (ABC TV)
Diary of an Uber Driver S1 (Revlover)
Five Bedrooms S1 (Hoodlum Entertainment)
Bloom S1 (Playmaker).