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IF Awards shortlist industry achievers

Andrew Denton, Rob Sitch, Brian Walsh and John Edwards are some of the names up for contention in the first IF Award for Contribution to TV.

Andrew Denton, Rob Sitch, Brian Walsh and John Edwards are some of the names up for contention in the first IF Award for Contribution to TV.

This is the first time the Inside Film Awards has recognised the Television industry, as one of two dedicated awards.

The four will be joined by Steve Vizard, Posie Graeme-Evans, Kim Williams, Hal McElroy, Penny Chapman and a joint nominee Mark and Carl Fennessy.

The group is a formidable line-up of industry performers, writers, producers, directors and executives. Choosing just one from the shortlist will be a tough ask.

The IF Awards has also shortlisted its new Out of the Box Award, to recognise an emerging talent who is likely to make the jump to the big screen in the future.

They are actors Hugo Johnstone Burt, Firass Dirani, Katherine Hicks, Eva Lazzaro, Richard Davies and Ryan Corr.

Curiously, this awards isn’t actually for someone who has necessarily made transition, so much as those deemed likely to be the next big thing.

They were chosen by a jury comprising executive producer Kim Vecera, producer Steve Knapman, agent Mark Morrissey, actor Matt Day and casting director Christine King and will be chosen by public vote.

The 2010 Inside Film Awards will take place at the City Recital Hall Angel Place in Sydney on Sunday November 14 and will screen on SBS.

Nominees for the Docklands Studios Melbourne IF Award for Contribution to TV are:

Rob Sitch – Sitch has Executive Produced, written and directed for shows including The Panel, The Hollowmen, Thank God You’re Here and Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever. He has also appeared in front of the camera as both an actor and comedian.

Andrew Denton – In addition to his public role as the host of ABC’s Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, Denton has been Executive Producer on shows including Enough Rope, :30 Seconds, The Gruen Transfer, Hungry Beast and The Chaser.

Brian Walsh – Walsh is the man credited with revitalising Channel Ten in the 1980s with the launch of Neighbours. He also successfully relaunched rugby league with a multi-million dollar TV campaign starring Tina Turner alongside the game’s star players. Walsh is now Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television and Marketing the home of programs including Love My Way, Spirited, Australia’s Next Top Model and The Contender Australia.

Posie Graeme-Evans – Graeme-Evans was the creator of long running drama series McLeod’s Daughters. The Co-creator of Hi-5, Posie is a former Director of Drama for the Nine network. Credits include commissioning Two Twisted from Bryan Brown and Sea Patrol from Hal and Di McElroy, she was also Executive Producer for The Alice and Little Oberon. In 2002 Variety Magazine named Posie as one of twenty significant women in international Film and TV, the same year SPAA acknowledged her as Independent Producer of the Year.

Steve Vizard – Vizard is one of Australia’s foremost comedians and television hosts who has interviewed over 2000 people for television including Bob Hope, Audrey Hepburn, Oliver Reed and Bette Midler. He has gone on to executive produce countless shows including Fast Forward, Jimeoin, Full Frontal and The Eric Bana Show Live. Vizard currently hosts a show on Melbourne Talk Radio.

Kim Williams – Williams has been Chief Executive at Foxtel since 2001 and has lead spearheaded a number of innovative initiatives including videos on demand and time shift recording. Under his leadership Foxtel have commissioned some of Australia’s most acclaimed drama series including Love My Way and Spirited.

John Edwards – Edwards is the man behind some of Australia’s best loved dramas. He is the creator and Producer/Executive Producer of shows including The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, Rush, Tangle and Offspring. He has also produced Police Rescue, Marking Time and Spirited.

Hal McElroy – McElroy is the creator and Executive Producer of some of Australia’s most popular television series Blue Heelers, Water Rats, Murder Call and Sea Patrol.

Mark and Carl Fennessy – Television executives and brothers Mark and Carl Fenessy launched and managed the renowned Crackerjack Productions. When Crackerjack merged with Grundy to form FremantleMedia Australia Mark and Carl were the CEO and COO respectively until 2009 when they left to set up Shine Productions Australia. The Fennessys are behind shows including Backberner, Jamie’s Kitchen Australia and CNNNN.

Penny Chapman – Chapman is the producer of the television dramas RAN: Remote Area Nurse, The Road From Curain and The Cooks; and the documentaries Rampant, Darwin’s Lost Paradise and The Track. She is the executive producer of the mini-series Brides of Christ, The Leaving of Liverpool, Blue Murder and Heartland. She is currently producing part two of the children’s series My Place, the ABC crime drama The Straits (with Helen Panckhurst), the documentary Leaky Boat and executive producing the factual series, Sex: An Unnatural History.

Nominees for the IF Out Of The Box Award are:

Hugo Johnstone Burt – played the role of Adam Andrews in Underbelly: The Golden Mile and has landed a lead role in as Fish in the upcoming mini-series adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel Cloudstreet.

Firass Dirani – Following roles in TV series such as Kick and East West 101, Firass Dirani became a household name with his role as John Ibrahim in Underbelly: The Golden Mile.

Eva Lazzaro – At the tender age of fifteen Eva Lazzaro already has credits including Blue Heelers, Underbelly, The Elephant Princess, Satisfaction and The Pacific. Her most recent role as Gigi Kovac in Tangle has wowed critics and audiences alike.

Katherine Hicks – Katherine Hicks graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2004, with a role as Tess Mason in Heartbreak High already under her belt. She went on to star as Poppy Hammond in soap Out of the Blue before landing her current role as Heidi Wilson in Channel Nine’s Rescue Special Ops.

Richard Davies – Davies appeared in shows including Neighbours, The Saddle Club, Rush and Bed of Roses before landing his breakout role of Jimmy Proudman in Channel Ten’s Offspring.

Ryan Corr – Corr’s TV career started seven years ago with the role of Matthew McDougal in The Sleepover Club. He has since appeared in shows including Blue Water High, Underbelly: The Golden Mile and Tangle. This year he joined the cast of Channel Seven’s Packed to the Rafters as Coby Jennings.

15 Responses

  1. I’m with you, marcf – it’s not only arrogant, but also deluded to suggest that people need to somehow graduate from TV to film.

    It’s an outdated idea that’s even lost currency in America, where they have an actual film industry.

    Actors, screenwriters and directors have no snobbery anymore about making great television, and most of us probably agree that there is significantly better content being made for TV than film in America these days as a result.

    In Australia, the difference is even starker – about 7 or 8 people went to the cinema this year to see an Australian film, and yet millions tune in nightly to watch Australian-made television.

  2. What a crazy horse race – all those TV people have made a major contribution to their industry – what will an award by IF mean? It a bit ridiculous IMO. I look forward to the day we are screen neutral about content creation anyway.

  3. For the Out of the Box Award I wish they had nominated Michael Vice from Underbelly (Benny Kassab). Personally, I think his performance was better than Dirani’s, Johnstone-Burt’s and Corr’s. But I guess he’s not really breaking out into the film industry and only had a small part in Animal Kingdom. But many of the nominees on that list aren’t starring in upcoming films anyway!

  4. Fennessy brothers in my op are only good at adapting existing concepts. For me, McElroy and Denton have broken lots of new ground – but it is not a list that overly excites me.

  5. Am i the only one that thinks there’s something intrinsically arrogant about the “Out of the Box Award”

    who says that a big screen role – particularly Aussie big screen roles – are somehow more noble than small screen roles?

    I mean more people watch aussie content on tv than they bloody do in the cinema? And even in the US, the quality of top-tier television, by and large, is far better than the top-tier of cinema.

    1. I see it as similar to the AFI adding an International category for the likes of Hugh, Nicole, Cate, Toni, Eric etc. It’s about creating a populist award that seeks to resonate beyond their current list of nominees with both media and public. In the case of the AFI it’s also about luring big names to the event. I think this Out of the Box Award should have gone to someone who has successfully made the transition from small to big screen. But the question of more noble is a good point.

    2. I see it as similar to the AFI adding an International category for the likes of Hugh, Nicole, Cate, Toni, Eric etc. It’s about creating a populist award that seeks to resonate beyond their current list of nominees with both media and public. In the case of the AFI it’s also about luring big names to the event. I think this Out of the Box Award should have gone to someone who has successfully made the transition from small to big screen, rather than who might. But the question of more noble is a good point.

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