Australian Writers’ Guild Awards 2022: winners

ABC dramas The Newsreader, Fires, kid’s series The Strange Chores and documentary Ithaka were amongst winners last night at the 55th AWGIE Awards, held at the Seymour Centre, Sydney.

Philip Dalkin was posthumously honoured with the Dorothy Crawford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession and the Industry; Jungle Entertainment’s Phil Lloyd and Trent O’Donnell were awarded the Fred Parsons Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Comedy; Peter Gawler, was honoured with the Hector Crawford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Craft as a Script Producer, Editor or Dramaturg; longstanding Australian Writers’ Guild member Mac Gudgeon was made a Life Member.

WA filmmakers Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe’s trsansgender documentary Girl Like You won the 2022 Major Award. Blaze taking home the AWGIE in the Feature Film- Original category.

In a return to an in-person event, the Guild also celebrated its 60th year.

“I’d like to congratulate all the winners, and particularly the overall winners in Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe for their moving piece of storytelling. All our nominees have produced incredible work, and our judges this year have had a very hard job.

“We’ve seen Australian stories like The Stranger and Heartbreak High explode overseas. It shows that Australian stories are popular not just here but around the world,’ said Australian Writers’ Guild Group CEO Claire Pullen.

“We are already telling incredible Australian stories; the right framework from government and industry would accelerate us into a job-creating and exporting powerhouse.

“We know there is a real hunger for Australian stories and there’s so much opportunity before us to grow our industry. Our winners show the depth of talent to support that growth,” said Pullen.

TV and related categories (winners in bold):

Television – Series
Bump: Season 2, ‘AITA (Am I the A***hole)’ – Jessica Tuckwell
Firebite: Season 1, ‘I Wanna Go Home’ – Kodie Bedford
Heartbreak High: Season 1, Episode 1 – Hannah Carroll Chapman
The Newsreader: Season 1, ‘A Step Closer to the Madness’ – Niki Aken
The Newsreader: Season 1, ‘No More Lies’ – Kim Ho and Michael Lucas
Total Control: Season 2, Episode 2 – Pip Karmel

Television – Limited Series
Fires – Tony Ayres, Belinda Chayko, Anya Beyersdorf, Steven McGregor and Jacquelin Perske with Mirrah Foulkes
Lie With Me – Jason Herbison and Margaret Wilson with Anthony Ellis

Television – Serial
Home and Away: Episode 7742 – Louise Bowes
Neighbours: Episode 8654 – Jessica Paine
Neighbours: Episode 8801 – Emma J Steele

Comedy – Situation or Narrative
How to Stay Married: Season 3, ‘Keyboard Warriors’ – Nick Musgrove
Metro Sexual: Season 2, ‘Martha Bradbury’ – Henry Boffin with Nicholas Kraak
Spreadsheet: Season 1, ‘Chlamydia & Nits’ – Kala Ellis

Comedy – Sketch or Light Entertainment
Gruen: Season 13, ‘Punts’ – Sophie Braham and James Colley with Cameron James, Bec Melrose and Mark Sutton
The Feed: ‘Comedy Sketches, 2021’ – Ben Jenkins, Alex Lee, Jenna Owen, Vidya Rajan and Vic Zerbst

Children’s Television – ‘P’ Classification (Preschool – Under 5 Years), Original or Adapted, Animated or Performed
Beep and Mort: Season 1, ‘Beep’s Home’ – Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 3, ‘Levi Learns’ – Samuel Nuggin-Paynter
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 3, ‘Serpent’s Eye’ – Dot West
Little J & Big Cuz: Season 3, ‘Shelter’ – Adam Thompson

Children’s Television – ‘C’ Classification (Children’s – 5–14 Years), Original or Adapted, Animated or Performed
Rock Island Mysteries: Season 1, ‘A Young Mystery’ – Marisa Nathar
The PM’s Daughter: Season 1, Episode 4 – Angela McDonald
The PM’s Daughter: Season 1, Episode 8 – Lou Sanz
The Strange Chores: Season 2, ‘Walk Wolfman’ – Luke Tierney

Documentary – Public Broadcast (Including VOD) or Exhibition
Beyond The Reef – Georgia Harrison
Big Deal – Craig Reucassel and Christiaan Van Vuuren
Girl Like You – Frances Elliott with Samantha Marlowe
Ithaka – Ben Lawrence
Peace Pilgrims – John Hughes

Web Series and other Non-Broadcast/Non-‘Subscription Video On Demand’ TV Short Works
A Beginner’s Guide to Grief: Segment 1: Denial, ‘Stung By A Thousand Bees’ – Anna Lindner
All My Friends Are Racist: Season 1, ‘Cancelled’ – Kodie Bedford and Enoch Mailangi
Iggy & Ace: Season 1, Episode 3 and Episode 4 – AB Morrison
It’s Fine, I’m Fine: Season 1, ‘Poo Boy’ – Jeanette Cronin
The Power of the Dream: Season 1, ‘Swimming’ and ‘Weightlifting’ – Alexandra Keddie and Bobbie-Jean Henning