Australian Directors Guild Awards 2024: nominees

Nominees have been announced in the Australian Directors Guild Awards 2024.

Amongst those nominated are directors from such shows as Fake, Boy Swallows Universe, The Artful Dodger, Colin From Accounts, House of Gods, Crazy Fun Park, Swift Street, Videoland, Compass and Otto by Otto.

The awards recognise outstanding directing in everything from online series and children’s TV drama to music video, animation or feature film. They are the only peer-judged directing awards in Australia.

This year saw record entries for Best Direction of a Drama Series Episode, with judges noting the superior standard of directing in the category as well as the inclusion of shows distributed across all platforms, from traditional live broadcasting to fully interactive, on-demand, and internet-based options.

Best Direction of a Children’s Series Episode saw a 75% increase in entries on 2023, with a strong combination of live action, animation, reality and experimental work. Nominations for Best Direction of a Documentary Feature had a third more entries than both of the Feature Film categories combined.

“The quality was extremely high across the board for all documentary categories, with quite a few directors switching between drama and documentary,” Australian Directors’ Guild Executive Director Sophie Harper said.

“It’s fantastic to see directors from around Australia finding commercial and critical success, whether it’s a continuation of George Miller’s incredible legacy with the latest Mad Max movie, or Robert Connolly’s films that take rural Australian stories to the world,” said Ms Harper.

“There are an extraordinary number of Australian directors working on some of the biggest shows in the US and the UK and what’s really exciting is to see the exceptional entries both from those established directors and from up-and-coming Australian directors, exploring worlds and perspectives we’ve rarely seen.”

Australian Directors’ Guild President Rowan Woods said, “Being willing to push boundaries, to innovate and to challenge norms means Australian directors will continue to shape the narrative of what constitutes excellence in filmmaking long into the future. I congratulate each of our nominees and wish them every success in next week’s awards.”

Winners will be announced at the ADG Awards 2024 hosted by Gabbi Bolt at The Astor Theatre St Kilda on Friday November 22.

TV & related categories:

Best Direction of a Drama Series Episode

Jeffrey Walker The Artful Dodger S1 E8 – Untapped Potential
Fadia Abboud House of Gods S1 E5 – Lament
Adam Murfet and Jessie Oldfield Heartbreak High S2 E8 – Boys Don’t Cry
Leticia Cáceres Erotic Stories S1 E1 – Philia
Emma Freeman Fake S1 E5

Best Direction of a Miniseries Episode

Peter Salmon After The Party S1
Bonnie Moir Exposure S1 E5
Glendyn Ivin The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart S1 E1 – Black Fire Orchid
Tig Terera Swift Street S1 E1 – Thank You Elsie (pictured)
Bharat Nalluri Boy Swallows Universe S1 E1 – Boy Smells Rat

The Esben Storm Award for Best Direction of a Children’s Series Episode

Sarah Hickey Crazy Fun Park S1 E4 – Remember Me
Craig Irvin The Spooky Files S1 E5 – Welcome to Lake Tranquillity
Rosemary Myers Beep and Mort S2 E2 – Today! The Musical
Sian Davies Surviving Summer S2 E1 – Selection
Nina Buxton Planet Lulin S1 E7 – Hair Raiser

Best Direction of a Comedy Series Episode

Robyn Butler & Wayne Hope Colin From Accounts S2 E5 – Waterfall
Helena Brooks Population: 11 S1 E10 – Like Father, Like Son
Trent O’Donnell Population: 11 S1 E1 – Outback UFO Tours
Alyssa McClelland Sex Education S4 E6

Best Direction of Online Shortform

Nash Edgerton Far Enough – Vote Yes
Ryan Cauchi Greystanes – Chapter 09
Jemma Cotter I’m So Sorry For Your Loss S1 E3 – Dead Ringer
Kaius Potter Fluff – Before The Mirror
Jesse Vogelaar Ruby Rai P.I. S1 E2 – Gobbo & Chi Chi

Best Direction of Online Longform

Liam Fitzgibbon Descent S1 E4 – Get Busy Livin’ or Get Busy Eel
Jessica Smith Videoland S1 E1 & E2
Aimée-Lee Xu Hsien Pleasant Avenue S1 E2 – Mr Masala
Monique Terry and Abby Gallaway Touch S1
Joanna Beveridge Shippers S1 E7 – O K-Drama

Best Direction of an Animation

Alexs Stadermann 200% Wolf
Tania Vincent and Ricard Cussó The Sloth Lane

Best Direction of a Short Documentary

Gianna Mazzeo The History of the Carabiner
Brietta Hague Compass S39 E10 – Not In My Name
Patrick Abboud Gayrabia
Ella Wright Tee Ken Ng

Best Direction of a Documentary Series Episode or One-Off

Emma Watts Last Chance To Save A Life
Nel Minchin The Way We Wore S1 E1 – The Media
Serge Ou RUNN

Best Direction of a Documentary Feature

Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe Renee Gracie: Fireproof
Jenny Hicks Dale Frank – Nobody’s Sweetie
James Bradley Welcome to Babel
Gracie Otto Otto by Otto

Eligibility: Projects must have been screened or released for the first time between 1 January 2023 and the closing date 1 August 2024, and not have entered the 2023 ADG Awards.