Patrick Spence – Producer AC Chapter One; Monica Dolan – actress; Sarah McKenzie, Business Development Sargent-Disc
Cast & Crew was delighted to be the headline sponsor of the Edinburgh TV Awards 2024 for the third year running at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Another inspiring Festival, the 2024 edition shone the spotlight on several key issues including the social make-up of the work force and reduced production budgets. It also celebrated the incredible depth of talent, creative and crew, within the British industry.
The pain felt by company closures was clearly acknowledged. However, many industry insiders such as Patrick Holland (Banijay UK), Charlotte Moore (BBC), Nicola Shindler (Quay Street) and Ian Katz (C4) expressed a long held view that there were just too many indies to be sustainable.
This ‘resizing’ of the workforce is likely to make it harder for working class people to enter the industry and build their careers. Both James Graham during his McTaggart Memorial Lecture and Carol Vorderman in her Alternative McTaggart Lecture highlighted how serious an issue this is for the future of the industry. They spoke about the detrimental impact of only 8% of those working in television coming from a working-class background – in terms of content, representation and workplace role models. Several participants feel that the TV Access Project (TAP) is making a difference. It’s importance was also flagged up by Julie Clark, ITV Studios, Director of Production Drama during her Sargent-Disc International Women’s Day In Conversation. With the support of the broadcasters and streamers it is having a real impact, but more work needs to be done.
The extent of talent and creativity within the UK television industry along with the current financial challenges were clearly evidenced in so many of the festival sessions. For instance, ‘Back From the Brink: Reimagining The Future of Television’, the ‘Spotlight On …….’ series with ITV, BBC, Netflix, C4, Warner Brothers; ‘Will.I.Am: AI and The Future of Creativity’ supported by his AI assistant, ‘Saving Mr Bates: The Future of Factual Drama’ and many more.
The Festival’s major celebration of this creativity was the 90 minute 2024 Edinburgh TV Awards which showcased the best of the previous year’s British and international productions. Cast & Crew was honoured to support the event. Sargent-Disc, Cast & Crew’s UK company, was proud to Chair the ‘Best Drama’ and ‘Best International Drama’ judging panels and to present the best Drama Award to the very deserving winner ‘Mr Bates v the Post Office’. It was a thrill to realise Sargent-Disc had provided payroll, production accounting and Digital Production Office services to so many of the nominated productions
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!
The 2024 winners were:
Outstanding Achievement Award:
Martin Lewis
Channel of the Year:
ITV1
Production Company of the Year:
Studio Lambert
Best Drama:
‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ – ITV Studios and Little Gem for ITV1
Best International Drama:
‘The Bear’ – FX Productions for Disney+
Best TV Actor – Comedy:
Bridget Christie in ‘The Change’
Best TV Actor – Drama:
Monica Dolan in ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’
Climate Impact Award:
‘The Great Climate Fight’ – Keo Films Ltd for Channel 4
Best Comedy Series:
‘Big Boys’ – Roughcut TV for Channel 4
Small Indie of the Year:
Hardcash Productions
Best TV Presenter Entertainment:
Graham Norton – ‘The Graham Norton Show’
Best TV Presenter Factual: Nadifa Mohamed – ‘Britain’s Human Zoos’
Breakthrough Performance:
Dylan Thomas Smith in ‘G’wed’
Best Documentary:
‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ – Keo Films & Walk on Air Films for BBC Two & BBC Northern Ireland
Best On Demand Service:
BBC iPlayer
Best Entertainment Series:
‘The Traitors’ – Studio Lambert for BBC One
Best Popular Factual Series:
‘Sort Your Life Out’ – Optomen for BBC One
Production Group of The Year:
Banijay UK
TV Moment of the Year:
‘Hairy Bikers Coming Home for Christmas’
What a fantastic year it’s been!
