The Sargent-Disc team were delighted to be a part of another spectacular celebration of talent at the 2023 Broadcast Awards earlier this week (8 February).
Always a highlight of the UK television awards calendar, this year’s ceremony took place in front of a packed audience at The JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, hosted by comedian Sue Perkins.
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Over 250 people (industry experts, newcomers, students, educators and skills bodies) came together at The Savoy Hotel on Tuesday 24th January for the first Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB) Talent Showcase. As a member of the PGGB Board, Sargent-Disc Director, Lara Sargent, attended the evening with Director Laurence Sargent to watch the presentation of the inaugural Earl of Wessex Award.
The award was presented in person by His Royal Highness Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and the PGGB’s Royal Patron to 6ft From the Spotlight. The award recognised the Film and TV industry charity’s work to shed light on and improve mental health and wellbeing in the UK production workplace.
The Earl of Wessex Award was launched last year to identify those who have created “a successful way of inspiring local talent or skills, widening access or being more inclusive” within the UK film and TV industry. The other finalists for the 2023 award were Fully Focused, MAMA Youth and Resource Productions.
The event, hosted by presenter Ayo Akinwolere, commenced with a panel discussion involving the PGGB Careers Pathways Panel – Production Finance Manager Chika Ansiobi; Production Manager and PGGB Spotlight on New Talent Award winner Fay Mohamed; Head of Film Barking & Dagenham Lisa Dee; Producer and Co-Founder of HaZ Film Paula Crickard; Executive Producer Roopesh Parekh and Alliots LLP Media Accountant Samuel Ampah.
The panellists shared insights into their own beginnings and the challenges they have faced throughout their careers to date. Advice echoed across the panel was the importance of self-belief, perseverance and to speak to everyone you can as all it takes is one person to make a difference.
The evening ended with a drinks reception, allowing attendees the opportunity to network with fellow members of the industry.
Photo Credits: Ben Meadows for the Production Guild of Great Britain
Sargent-Disc co-director Lara Sargent explains why supporting female accounting talent in the film and TV industry is a post-Covid priority.
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Members of the Sargent-Disc and Cast & Crew teams were delighted to be in Belfast last week to meet the members of the Production Guild of Great Britain’s (PGGB) Northern Ireland (NI) committee, Northern Ireland Screen and others working in the vibrant NI production industry.
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It was with great pleasure that Sargent-Disc, a Cast & Crew company sponsored The Production Guild of Great Britain’s Summer Drinks on Thursday 8th September at The Bloomsbury Hotel. The evening brought together around 300 attendees, including many of our clients in the field of finance and accounting.
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It was our absolute pleasure for Sargent-Disc (a Cast & Crew company) to be Headline Sponsor of the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards, which took place on Thursday 25 August at a glittering ceremony hosted by writer and comedian Sophie Ducker.
A total of 20 awards were presented on the night including the prestigious Channel of the Year title, which went to Channel 4 whose Director of Content Ian Katz was on hand to receive the Award from Jury president Sue Vertue. Other winners in the most sought-after categories included Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s company Merman (Motherland, This Way Up) which was named Production Company of the Year, whilst Firecrest Films (Michael Palin’s Travel of a Lifetime, Life: Behind Bars) received the Small Indie of the Year Award.
Sargent-Disc’s Sarah McKenzie, Business Development had the honour of presenting the Best Drama award to the team behind hit drama The Responder starring Michael Freeman, made by Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC One. Best International drama went to Pachinko, representing the first win at the awards for Apple TV+. Netflix’s Sex Education took home the Best Comedy Series award whilst the TV Moment of the Year Award went to See Saw Films / Netflix’s Heartstopper for Charlie and Nick’s First Kiss.
We were particularly delighted to celebrate the first ever recipient of Edinburgh’s new Climate Impact Award. The prize went to Channel 4 documentary Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant, by Rumpus Media, and it was a fantastic moment to see this important new category introduced at the first Edinburgh TV Awards following the critical signing of the Climate Content Pledge at Cop26 last year.
The awards topped off an exceptionally well-attended Festival, where the return to an in-person, live event for the first time since 2019 was resoundingly welcomed by industry. The atmosphere buzzed throughout three days of packed-out events.
Ahead of the festival, Sargent-Disc Director Laurence Sargent reflected in this Broadcast article on Edinburgh’s significance in the UK TV industry calendar, celebrating its reputation for “providing a platform for challenging issues to be explored and important conversations to be had.”
This year was no exception, with broadcaster Emily Maitlis’ McTaggart Memorial Lecture, ‘Boiling Frog: Why We Have to Stop Normalising the Absurd’, provoking powerful discussion around news and impartiality. In it, Maitlis warned against the rise of populism and highlighted the role that reporters and broadcasters should play “to hold power to account without fear or favour.”
Elsewhere, Rose Ayling-Ellis’ powerful Alternative MacTaggart Lecture saw the deaf actress, BSL campaigner and Strictly Come Dancing winner urge the TV world to “be braver and have the courage to make changes”, such as bringing deaf consultants in to work with writing teams. Stressing the important difference between representation and access, she urged the industry to think about both in her impactful speech, which provided valuable insight into the stark realities of life as a Deaf person working in television.
For more information about the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards sponsored by Sargent Disc (a Cast & Crew Company), click here.
Best Comedy Series – Sex Education, Eleven Film for Netflix
Best Documentary – The Return: Life After ISIS, Alba Sotorra Productions and MetFilm for Sky Documentaries
Best Drama – The Responder, Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC1
Best Entertainment Series – The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan, Expectation and MoMo G for Channel 4
Best International Drama – Pachinko, Media Res / Blue Marble Pictures in association with Apple for Apple TV+
Best On Demand Service – BBC iPlayer
Best Popular Factual Series – Uprising, Rogan Productions, Lammas Park and Turbine Studios for BBC1
Best TV Actor – Comedy – Daisy Haggard in Back To Life
Best TV Actor – Drama – Jodie Comer in Help
Best TV Presenter – AJ Odudu & Mo Gilligan for The Big Breakfast
Breakthrough Talent – Actor – Danielle Macdonald
Breakthrough Talent – Presenter – Munya Chawawa
Channel of the Year – Channel 4
Climate Impact Award – Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant, Rumpus Media for Channel 4
Production Company of the Year – Merman Television
Small Indie of the Year – Firecrest Films
Global Success Award – ITV Studios
Variety Outstanding Achievement Award – Diane Morgan
TV Moment of the Year – Heartstopper: Charlie and Nick’s First Kiss, See Saw Films for Netflix
Ones to Watch / Random Acts Live Pitch – Alex Rodrigues, Thanks Boss.
Cast & Crew is very proud to be the headline sponsor of the prestigious Edinburgh TV Festival Awards 2022 – returning in person after two years.
“These awards showcase outstanding talent, creativity and the breadth of programming from broadcasters, streamers and production companies alike. We are delighted to support this celebration of their fantastic work,” – Dr Laurence Sargent, Co-Head of International, Cast & Crew
The sixteen 2022 Awards category nominations showcase an extraordinarily diverse slate of productions including Squid Game, Top Boy, Succession, the Mare of Easttown, Gogglebox, Uprising, Horrible Histories’ Precious Planet and Motherland. Their success is in no small part due to the performances of actors and presenters such as Letitia Wright, Stephen Graham, Rose Mataf, and Professor Benhamin Zephaniah to name just a few.
Sue Vertue, CEO, Hartswood Films (Sherlock) – this year’s jury President says, “I know how hard it has been to film during these last few Covid years, but even with that, our amazing TV industry has gone full throttle delivering some of the most creative, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining shows I have seen in a long time.”
Taking place on Thursday 25th August, the Awards will be hosted by stand-up comedian and award winning writer, Sophie Ducker.
Established in 1976, the Edinburgh International TV Festival is famous for its relevant, provocative and entertaining programme which attracts 2000 industry professionals from across the globe. The 2022 festival will run from Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 August, and will include keynotes, debates and masterclass events alongside a wide range of networking opportunities.
After two years of COVID disruption, it was a welcome return to normality at this years’ 75th Festival De Cannes (17-28 May). Sargent-Disc and parent company Cast & Crew were delighted to have a strong combined representation at the festival, and to produce and sponsor a number of industry events that brought international delegates together.
Attending from the UK were Laurence and Lara Sargent, Co-Heads International at Cast & Crew and Sargent-Disc Directors, were accompanied by Sargent-Disc executives Sarah McKenzie (Business Development) and Emma Hicks (Marketing Manager); from Cast & Crew in the US were Andrew Jablonski (Vice President – East Coast and International Sales), David Benavente (VP Head of Independent Sales and Services), Diedre Owen (Incentive Financing Vice President, Production).
Sargent-Disc and Cast & Crew’s Cannes Festival Lounge at the Grand Hotel on Boulevard de la Croisette, welcomed the steady flow of festival delegates dropping in for meetings, refreshments – and access to those all-important device charging points!
On the Festival’s opening weekend, Cast & Crew with Sargent-Disc co-hosted the seventh International Producers Reception. Taking place at the Members Club, Long Beach on Saturday 21 May, the return of this event after a two-year hiatus gave producers and financiers from across the globe the valuable opportunity to gather in person, strengthening existing relationships and building new connections. We extend our thanks the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), The Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB), Screen Producers Ireland, the British Film Commission and New Zealand Film Commission, for their support for the event.
Sargent-Disc was also delighted to sponsor the 2022 Screen International Cannes UK Reception on 23 May alongside headline sponsor British Film Commission. Welcoming guests to the always popular event, which this year took place on the beach at Le Gray d’Albion, were Matt Muller (Editor, Screen International), Laurence Sargent (Co-Head International Cast & Crew and Director Sargent-Disc) and Adrian Wootton OBE (CEO, British Film Commission & Film London). View photos from the Reception here.
Away from the buzz of parties and receptions, it was a strong year for UK film at Cannes, with five UK features and seven shorts in selection, and the coveted Palme d’Or going to Ruben Östlund for black comedy satire Triangle of Sadness, a Swedish/UK/German/French co-production starring Woody Harrelson, produced by the UK’s Mike Goodridge.
“It was wonderful to be able to meet colleagues face to face again at the world’s biggest film festival, leaving behind the virtual settings of video calls that have dominated throughout the pandemic,” says Laurence Sargent, Sargent-Disc Director and Co-Head International at Cast & Crew. “The production industry has stayed strong throughout the challenges of COVID-19 but the return of Cannes is a real reminder of how worthwhile it is to be able to reconnect again in person.”
“We were particularly proud to see two films supported by Sargent-Disc going on to shine at Cannes. Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’ debut Aftersun, which we provided Payroll, CrewStart, PSL+ and Digital Purchase Order services to, received the French Touch Prize of the Jury in Critics’ Week, and Alex Garland’s latest feature Men starring Jessie Buckley, which we provided Digital Purchase Order support to, had its World Premiere in Directors Fortnight. Congratulations to everyone involved in those films!”
For more information about Sargent-Disc’s Digital Production Office suite of applications, click here.
We were delighted to sponsor this years’ Reception at the 2022 Production Guild of Great Britain Awards in association with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, which took place at The Grove in Hertfordshire on Saturday 26 March.
The awards recognise remarkable achievements made by Guild members working in film or television drama within the production office, accounting, locations, assistant directing, post-production and VFX.
Whilst the pandemic forced the biannual event online in 2020, this year saw the welcome return to a glittering in-person ceremony, hosted by comedian and TV presenter Patrick Kielty. Six awards were handed to film and High End TV-industry figures, productions and initiatives that have achieved remarkable success in the past year.
Dr Laurence Sargent, Director of Sargent-Disc and Co-Head of Cast & Crew International, said: “After so long working remotely, it was a real milestone to be able to gather together with industry colleagues in person at The Production Guild of Great Britain Awards 2022, to applaud the successes of those working in UK production. It was our pleasure to sponsor this year’s Reception.”
“We were particularly proud to see the recognition for The North Water and The Northman, two titles that Sargent Disc provided payroll services for. And of course, we join many others in congratulating Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson on their Contribution to the Industry award. Sargent Disc has a long-standing relationship with EON that we were recently delighted to continue by supplied payroll services for No Time To Die. Congratulations to all the winners!”
When the UK entered lockdown just days before The Northman’s principal photography was due to start in March 2020, director Robert Eggers and crew quarantined in Belfast rethinking production practises and schedules, devising innovative solutions to Covid-safety challenges, and navigating arrangements with a multi-national cast that included Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe. With overseas locations off the table due to travel restrictions, the team set out to recreate the Scandinavian look and feel of the film in Northern Ireland, rethinking locations and set building and prepping everything from costumes and props to horse-training and armory-safety during shutdown. The three month shoot finally began in August 2020 at Belfast Harbour Studios and on location at Torr Head (County Antrim) where a full Viking village was built. Other locations included Five Finger Strand (County Donegal) and The Gleniff Horseshoe (County Sligo).
“The Northman was the first major feature to shoot in Northern Ireland during COVID-19,” said Jury Chair, Producer / Exec Producer Callum McDougal. “It was an absolute trailblazer, sending a sign across the world that we could continue to work safely in this country and deliver film successfully. The team really went above and beyond, showing an exceptional degree of resilience and ingenuity whilst remaining true to the original concept of the movie.”
A Special Mention went to the team behind award-winning indie feature Rocks (Fable Pictures/BFI/Film4) for championing emerging talent in front of and behind the camera and building a predominantly female team.
The new PGGB High-End TV Production Team of the Year Award went to five-part BBC Two miniseries The North Water made by See-Saw Films. Nicky Earnshaw (Head of Production), Alice Dawson (Co-Producer), Paul Murphy (Financial Controller), Edward Rastelli-Lewis (Production Manager), Adam Hutchings (Production Accountant), Owen Keys (1st Assistant Accountant) collected the award for their outstanding work on the survival thriller set in the UK and the ice floes of the Arctic in the late 1850s.
Driven by director Andrew Haigh’s vision for maximum authenticity, shooting took place in the Arctic in Svalbard, up to 81 degrees north, earning The North Water the reputation of being the most northerly drama shot to date. At times locked in sea ice and up to 24 hours away from land, filming took place on a period whaling vessel with just two small support vessels and on floating ice sheets.
Cast and crew lived in close quarters for a month, enduring hostile conditions and freezing temperatures, encountering polar bears and walruses. Production continued in Budapest at the end of 2019, and when the pandemic brought about lockdown in March 2020, the team were forced to pull the Canadian leg of their shoot, moving filming for remaining sequences to the UK. The shooting crew were a mix of British, Hungarian, Norwegian and Canadian.
“The North Water team demonstrated how to survive the perfect production storm: you take all the elements that make production tricky, throw in Covid and then sail north!” said Jury Chair PGGB Chair, Producer Alex Boden. “The fact that they not only survived it, but they’d do it again, is testament to this team’s achievement. This is what UK High-end television looks like today.”
A Special Mention went to the team behind Channel 4 crime drama Suspect (w/t) produced by Eagle Eye Drama, for their progressive approach to scheduling the shoot in a way that reimagined the ‘work-life balance’ of the film set, placing well-being of crew at the heart of the show.
This year’s PGGB Inspiration Award went to Samantha Perahia MBE, British Film Commission Head of Production UK, for the continuous guidance, advice and support she provided to the UK film and High-end TV production sector throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
An integral member of the BFI Covid Safety Taskforce and the BFC Covid-19 Inward Investment Recovery Group, Samantha led on the drafting of BFC’s ‘Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-end TV Drama Production’ guidance. Working remotely, her team led one of the biggest cross-industry consultations ever undertaken, considering hundreds of submissions to develop the guidance.
Working with DCMS, Samantha led the guidance through government scrutiny to the highest level including Public Health England and, finally, No.10. On 1st June 2020 the UK film and High-end TV sector became the first industry to publish Government-endorsed safety guidance, enabling production to start moving again. Samantha’s team has regularly updated the guidance amidst changing restrictions, providing up-to-date guidance to production professionals in the UK and overseas. She was awarded an MBE for services to the industry in the New Year Honours List 2019.
“Samantha is the best asset the British Film Commission has,” said Iain Smith OBE. “Through her passion, her can-do approach and her hard work, she has become the trusted voice of our industry around the world and particularly in North America. As Chair of the BFC I thank her for her hard work and her dedication to that work and I salute her for everything she has done for our industry in this country.”
A Special Mention went to Lynn Saunders, Head of Liverpool Film Office, for her work developing the screen sector in Liverpool and the North-West region.
The newly introduced PGGB Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award went to Emily Stillman (Senior Vice President, Studio Operations WBSL) and actor Charlotte Riley for their work in bringing The WonderWorks, the first dedicated childcare facility at a UK film or TV studio, to Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden.
The WonderWorks provides accessible, affordable and flexible support for families, with 45 places available to productions and Warner Bros. staff based at the site. Founded in 2019, the Ofsted registered nursery has set a precedent for the industry to provide support for parents working in film and TV production and has since launched the ‘Keeping Families in Film’ campaign urging industry leaders to make on-set childcare solutions a priority, with a line in every budget for childcare. The campaign has garnered widespread support in the form of an open letter signed by major figures such as Keira Knightley, Cillian Murphy, Hayley Atwell, Lizzy Caplan, Alfred Molina and Jodie Whittaker, along with organisations including Time’s Up.
“To see the journey The WonderWorks has gone on in such a short space of time and what Emily and Charlotte have achieved, is incredibly inspiring”, said actress Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who) via a video message on the night. “It is so vital and it’s so necessary for our industry.”
Special Mentions went to: Channel 4’s ‘Black to Front’ campaign; The Film & TV Charity’s Mental Health campaigns; Jules Hussey (Brazen Productions); Nahrein Kemp (ITV Creative Diversity Partner), Digital Orchard Foundation and Sky Productions for The Rising.
The PGGB Spotlight on New Talent Award was presented to Fay Mohamed for the tenacity and ability she has shown whilst stepping up from Production Coordinator to Production Manager.
After gaining Production Coordinator credits on Top Boy (Netflix), The Accident (Channel 4) and Ted Lasso (Apple TV+), Fay made the move to Junior Production Manager for one block of Britannia (Sky Atlantic/Amazon Studios), before stepping into a full Production Manager role in 2021 for Gangs of London, produced by Pulse Films for Sky Atlantic. Remaining poised in the face of huge challenges caused by filming during COVID-19, Fay built trust across all departments and remained enthusiastic for continued responsibility. Throughout her steady career trajectory, her natural and burgeoning talent for production has been recognised by those she has worked with, marking her out as ‘one to watch’.
“We commend Fay for making that big step from the confines of the production office to a more frontline role,” said Pulse Films’ Head of Production Bianca Gavin. “Gangs of London is an ambitious series, yet Fay never once faltered. She put herself front and centre, managing crew and equipment shortages, on top of all the other anxieties that working through a pandemic brings. Stepping up to become a solution focused, friendly ear to cast and crew alike is highly commendable. Fay remained committed and reliable throughout the entire series. We applaud her courage in putting herself forward for that role.”
A Special Mention went to Elizabeth Perkins, Covid Co-ordinator – Additional Photography Unit on Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Marvel Entertainment) and Travel & Accommodation Co-ordinator on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures).
Finally, this years’ PGGB Contribution to the Industry Award went to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of the James Bond franchise and owners of London-based company, EON Productions.
Co-producers of the last nine films in the series, Wilson and Broccoli’s credits include some of the most successful Bond films ever made including Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall (for which they received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film), Spectre and the most recent, No Time To Die, the top-grossing Hollywood film of the pandemic era at the international box office. The 25th film, which marked Daniel Craig’s fifth and final portrayal as 007, was five-times nominated at the 75th British Academy Film Awards where it won the BAFTA for Best Editing; and three-times nominated at the 94th Academy Awards ,where it won the Oscar for Best Original Song (Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell).
Wilson, Broccoli and EON have also produced a number of independent features, often female-directed with strong female storylines, including The Silent Storm (2014), Radiator (2014), Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (2017), Nancy (2018), The Rhythm Section (2020) and Ear for Eye (2021). Working hard behind the scenes to ensure a pipeline of talent for the future, Wilson and Broccoli are founders of the London Screen Academy and Broccoli is BAFTA’s Vice President for Film and a Trustee of Into Film. The pair were awarded OBEs in 2008 and CBEs in the 2022 New Years’ Honours List.
“There are almost too many reasons why Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson deserve this very special award this year, perhaps more than any other year in the long history of their tenure of the Bond franchise,” said Film Critic and award presenter Jason Solomons. “What they did with Bond 25, No Time To Die, is nothing short of phenomenal – showing bravery, commitment, utter faith in their movie, knowledge of their audience and making hard commercial decisions before delivering with the most artistic of flourishes.”
Finally, the Awards also paid tribute to the life of veteran British television producer and Hartswood Films’ founder, Beryl Vertue (1931-2022).
Speaking on the night, PGGB CEO Lyndsay Duthie said: “As British content continues to be in demand, we are delighted to be able to celebrate the achievements of our world class production talent at our prestigious awards ceremony. The winners are all trailblazers and we are so proud of each and every one of them.”
For more information, click here.
The 2022 British Academy Film Awards, the biggest night in the UK’s film calendar, took place on Sunday 13th March, in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Rebel Wilson hosted the ceremony which celebrate the achievements of the nominated and winning films.
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