Hours after NZ’s only nominee at APSA won in Brisbane, the feat was repeated at the Asian TV Awards, where Attitude Pictures’ Unlocking Autism won the Best Social Awareness Programme category.
Unlocking Autism
The win capped a good year for Attitude at awards events in Asia. The company has already had wins this year at the Apollo Awards (also in Singapore) for Jimmy Wants a Job and at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s ABU Prizes in Macau, where Attitudes’ own gong fest, The Attitude Awards, took the Perspectives Award.
NHNZ sister company Beach House Pictures, which was busy making announcements earlier in the week at the Asian Television Forum & Market, went into the evening with 10 nominations – a record for an independent production house – which converted into two wins and three Highly Commended mentions.
The two wins were for ABC series Kakadu, co-produced with Northern Pictures, named Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme; and, in the Best Entertainment Presenter/Host category, for Simon Yin on Hidden Cities Extreme (Season 2).
Kakadu
The Highly Commended awards went to: Himalayan Tsunami (Best Documentary Programme), Caspar Mazzotti for Best Editing (Kakadu); and Kids vs Film 2 in the Best Children’s Programme category.
BHP MD Jocelyn Little said the wins were testament to the amazing talent BHP has inhouse and the international crews it worked with: “It’s great to receive such praise from our industry peers, more so across so many different genres and programs this year.”
While NZ wasn’t over-represented in the awards, in the market Banijay announced a sale of Screentime’s Pound Pups to Dog Stars to Thailand.
Unlike the evening’s earlier APSA bash in Brisbane, the ATA didn’t have to contend with lightning strikes, although the award of the Best Actress gong to seven year old Puteri Balqis Azizi set off a different kind of storm. Social media lit up and, while nobody was especially keen to badmouth the child, supporters of China’s Joan Chen (Serangoon Road) and Singapore’s Rui En (Sudden) reasonably claimed their preferred candidates had been robbed.
The Asia TV Awards ran 11 December in Singapore, as part of the Singapore Media Festival (4 – 14 December). Other participating events included the Asian Television Forum & Market (ATF), ScreenSingapore and the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF).
The 2014 Asian TV Awards winners were:
PROGRAMMING CATEGORIES
Best Documentary Programme (One-Off/Special)
People of the Himalayas: The Ice Road to School, Chaddar
Highly commended: Himalayan Tsunami
Best Documentary Series
CNN Freedom Project
Highly Commended: Exodus out of North Korea
Best Natural History Or Wildlife Programme
Kakadu
Highly Commended: Wildlife – Sophisticated Farmers: Leafcutter Ants
Best News Programme
News Stream
Highly Commended: Surviving Haiyan
Best Single News Story/Report (<10 minutes)
On the Frontline of the Bangkok Protests
Highly Commended: Tibetan Self-Immolations
Best Current Affairs Programme
Undercover Asia – Invisible Children
Highly Commended: 101 East – Return of the Lizard King
Best Drama Series
Naoki Hanzawa
Highly Commended: The Empress Ki
Best Single Drama Or Telemovie
Taichi Yamada’s Time Never Stops
Highly Commended: DramaW_”Airport 2013″
Best Comedy Programme
Spouse For House
Highly Commended: Gang Nom Klong (Little Big Gang)
Best Children’s Programme
Bushwhacked – Series 2
Highly Commended: Kids Vs. Film 2
Best Preschool Programme
Spiny Shiny Grocery Store
Highly Commended: Kids Vs. Film 2Hoopla Doopla
Best Entertainment (One-Off/Annual)
Woolworths Carols in the Domain 2013
Highly Commended: NET. ONE Presents Indonesian Choice Awards
Best General Entertainment Programme
Battleground 2013 – The Space
Highly Commended: Battleground 2013 Final
Best Game Or Quiz Programme
The Cube Season 2
Highly Commended: Still Standing – China
Best Music Programme
Celebrity Battle
Highly Commended: Music Everywhere – Raisa
Best Reality Show
MasterChef: The Professionals
Highly Commended: My Kitchen Rules Season 5
Best Infotainment Programme
I Wouldn’t Go In There – Philippines: Haunted Hospital
Highly Commended: City Time Traveller
Best Talk Show
The Buck Stops Here Special – Malala: Daughter of Courage
Highly Commended: India Questions – Bill Gates & Aamir Khan
Best Social Awareness Programme
Attitude – Unlocking Autism, Attitude Pictures Ltd
Highly Commended: The Pad Piper
Best Adaptation Of An Existing Format
Junior MasterChef Swaad Ke Ustaad
Highly Commended: MasterChef – Pakistan
Best Digital Fiction & Non-Fiction Programme/Series
Who Killed The Lead
Highly Commended: Autumn Di Hatiku 2
Highly Commended: Dan Calonnya Adalah…
Best Lifestyle Programme
Invite Mr. Wright: China
Highly Commended: Passage To Malaysia
Best 2D Animated Programme
The Flamin’ Thongs – Nobody Likes A Smart House
Highly Commended: Chhota Bheem And The Throne Of Bali
Best 3D Animated Programme
Oddbods
Highly Commended: Weather Boy!
PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES
Rajdeep Sardesai, The Verdict
Highly Commended: Rico Hizon, Newsday
Best Current Affairs Presenter
Kristie Lu Stout, On China
Highly Commended: Barkha Dutt, Malala: Daughter of Courage
Best Entertainment Presenter/Host
Simon Yin, Hidden Cities Extreme Season 2
Highly Commended: Nikki Muller, The Food Detectives
Best Sports Presenter/Commentator
Andrew “ET” Ettingshausen, Ultimate Fish: PNG Bass
Highly Commended: Richard Lenton, Football 360
Best Actor In A Leading Role
Pierre Png, Zero Calling
Highly Commended: Dennis Trillo, My Husband’s Lover
Best Actress In A Leading Role
Puteri Balqis Azizi, Balqis
Highly Commended: Kristal Tin, Brother’s Keeper
Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Rayson Tan, Entangled
Highly Commended: Alaric Tay, Serangoon Road
Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Hsieh Chiung-Hsuan, Lonely River
Highly Commended: Elena Kong May-yee, Triumph In The Skies II
Best Comedy Performance By An Actor/Actress
Irene Ang, Spouse For House
Highly Commended: Selena Li, Spouse For House
TECHNICAL & CREATIVE CATEGORIES
Best Cinematography
Veerdhawal Puranik, Buddha
Highly Commended: Joseph H Pickering, Serangoon Road
Best Direction
Kate Siney & Jenny Ewig, Access 360° World Heritage Series 2 – Sagrada Familia
Highly Commended: Aditya Thayi, I Wouldn’t Go In There – Hong Kong: Haunted School
Best Editing
Grace Xiao, Access 360° World Heritage Series 2 – Angkor Wat
Highly Commended: Caspar Mazzotti, Kakadu
Highly Commended: Yusei Watanabe, Auto Artisans: Dream Team
Best Original Screenplay
Tan Wei-Lyn & Lillian Wang, Spouse For House
Highly Commended: Lee Thean-jeen, Zero Calling
Highly Commended: Ma Delin, Love of OB & GYNS
Best Theme Song
Wong Ei Ei, Wan Wan Dong Ting
Highly Commended: Mo Ju Li, The Journey: A Voyage
Non-Juried Awards
Terrestrial Channel Of The Year
Channel 5, MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Singapore
Highly Commended: Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Singapore
Cable & Satellite Channel Of The Year
CNN International, Hong Kong
Highly Commended: National Geographic, Fox International Channels Asia, Hong Kong
Terrestrial Broadcaster Of The Year
MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Singapore
Highly Commended: TV Asahi Corporation, Japan
Cable & Satellite Network Of The Year
CNN International, Hong Kong
Highly Commended: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Singapore
