AWGIE Awards

AWGIE Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in stage, television, radio, and filmwriting
Country	Australia
Presented by	Australian Writers Guild
First awarded	1968

The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. The 56th Annual AWGIE Awards ceremony is being held in Sydney on 15 February 2024.

History

The AWGIE awards were conceived in 1967, with the first event being held in 1968.[1] Bettina Gorton the wife of prime minister John Gorton was guest of honour at the event held at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney on 22 March 1968,[2] Also in attendance was Sir Robert Madgwick, chairman of the ABC. There were 250 guests in attendance, only 35 of whom were AWG members.[3]

The AWGIES awards ceremony has become a prominent industry event, and has featured many well-known guests of honour and speakers in the past, including: Manning Clark; Ken Hall; Fred Schepisi; Tom Keneally; Gough Whitlam; Paul Keating; and Roy and HG.[4]

It was held in Melbourne for some years,[5]

Current/upcoming awards

The 56th Annual AWGIE Awards event is being held on 15 February 2024 at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney.[6] In most categories, the awards are given for works for which principal photography, production, or recording was completed in the 2022 calendar year. Stage productions must have had their first professional production in this year, while interactive media or gaming must have been commercially released in this year.[7]

Description

The awards are given annually at an awards event by the AWG for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing.[1]

Categories

There is a large number of categories, as well as some special awards and industry fellowships. The awards are given specifically for the writing of the scripts and not the finished product.[1]

The Major AWGIE Award is awarded to the outstanding script of that year across all categories.

As of 2024 (56th Annual AWGIE Awards), the award categories are:[7]

• Feature film
  • Original
  • Adaptation

• Short Film

• Documentary
  • Public Broadcast (including VOD) or Exhibition
  • Community, Educational and Training

• Television Drama (Includes VOD)
  • Serial
  • Series
  • Limited Series or Telemovie

• Children's Television
  • Pre-school (under 5 years)
  • Children's (5–14 years)

• Comedy (any medium)
  • Situation or Narrative
  • Sketch or Light Entertainment

• Audio ("All scripted radio and podcast works...")
  • Fiction
  • Non-Fiction

• Theatre
  • Stage – Original
  • Stage – Adapted
  • Community and Youth Theatre
  • Theatre for Young Audiences
  • Music Theatre

• Interactive Media & Gaming

• Animation

• Web series

Named awards and fellowships

For the John Hinde and Monte Miller awards, see Australian Writers' Guild § Awards.

Current

David Williamson Prize

The David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre,[8] named after playwright David Williamson, was established in 2013. The annual prize is sponsored by David and Kristin Williamson, and Shane and Cathryn Brennan, and awarded "to the most outstanding script selected from the winners of each of the theatre categories at the AWGIE Awards". The purpose of the fund is "to encourage theatre companies to commission, develop and program a new Australian work".[9] From 2017, the value of the prize was increased to A$100,000, with $20,000 awarded to the playwright, and $80,000 to the theatre company that commissioned and staged the prizewinning play, "when they commission and program a new work by an Australian playwright within the following 12 months".[10]

Winners include:

• Alana Valentine for Grounded (2013)[9]
• Andrew Bovell for The Secret River (2014)[9]
• Finegan Kruckemeyer for The Boy at the Edge of Everything (2015)[9]
• Angus Cerini for The Bleeding Tree (2016)[9]
• Leah Purcell for The Drover's Wife (2017)[9]
• P.J. Hogan with Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall for Muriel's Wedding the Musical (2018)[9]
• Kate Mulvany for her stage adaptation of the Ruth Park novel The Harp in the South (2019)[9]
• Suzie Miller for Prima Facie (2020)[9][11]
• Ellen Graham and Jamie Hornsby for Claire Della the Moon (2021)[9]
• Maxine Mellor, for Horizon,[8] with $80 000 going to Playlab Theatre in Brisbane[12]

Other named awards

As of 2023^[update]:

• Dorothy Crawford Award – for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession and the Industry (1984–)[8][1] (after Dorothy Crawford)[13]
• Hector Crawford Award – for Outstanding Contribution to the Craft as a Script Producer, Editor or Dramaturg[8] (1991-)[1] (after Hector Crawford; not awarded every year)[13]
• Fred Parsons Award – for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Comedy[8](1988-)[1][a]
• Australian Writers' Guild Life Membership[8]

Past

• Richard Lane Award (1988–2019),[1][17] for an outstanding contribution to the AWG (after Richard Lane (1918–2008), who received the inaugural award[18])[13]
• Kit Denton Fellowship[1] – For Courage and Excellence in Performance Writing (2007–2012)[13]
• Ian Reed Award for Best Script by a First-Time Radio Writer[1] (1998 and 2000 only [13])
• Foxtel Fellowship - In Recognition of a Significant and Impressive Body of Work (2007–2013; recipients included Mac Gudgeon, Susan Smith, Kristen Dunphy, Jacquelin Perske); Foxtel Fellowship - In Recognition of an Outstanding and Significant Body of Work in Television (2014, final one)[13]
• Richard Wherrett Prize[1] – Recognising Excellence in Australian Playwriting (selected from the winners from all theatre categories, 2007 & 2009 only)[13]
• CAL Peer Recognition Prize,[1] awarded to the winner of the Major AWGIE Award (2008–2010 only)[13]
• Lifetime Achievement Award[1] (2015: Laura Jones;[19] 2016: Craig Pearce;[20] 2017: Andrew Knight;[21] 2018: Sue Smith[22])
• Australian Writers Foundation Playwrights Fellowship[1] (2014: Katherine Thomson and Sue Smith[23])

Notable winners

• Richard Lane, who won four AWGIES
• Cliff Green - Medal of the Order of Australia (June 2009)
• Geoffrey Atherden - Member of the Order Of Australia (Jan 2009)
• Nick Pearce - The Forgotten City - First video game mod to have received a screenwriters award[24]

Footnotes

1. Fred Parsons (1908-1987) was an English-born script writer, stage director, and author; for some years writer for Frank Neil's Tivoli Circuit Australia;[14][15] friend of Graham Kennedy; subject of an episode of This Is Your Life[16]

References

1. "AWGIE Awards". AustLit. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
2. "Social roundabout". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 35, no. 43. 27 March 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Australian Writers' Guild". about us. 2 May 1962. Retrieved 21 December 2023. Note: This source appears to list the year of the first awards
4. "About the AWGIE Awards". Australian Writers' Guild. Archived from the original on 19 December 2002.
5. "AWGIE Awards". Australian Writers' Guild. Archived from the original on 11 February 2005.
6. "56th Annual AWGIE Awards Student Tix". Australian Writers' Guild. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
7. "The 56th Annual Awgie Awards – Categories and conditions of entry" (PDF). Australian Writers' Guild. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
8. "Full List of Winners for the 55th Annual AWGIE Awards" (PDF). Australian Writers' Guild. 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2023.
9. "David Williamson Prize-supported play Jailbaby announced for Griffin's 2023 season". Australian Writers' Guild. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
10. "$100K for Australian theatre: David Williamson Prize set to become one of Australia's richest literary awards". FilmInk. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
11. "Suzie Miller awarded prestigious David Williamson Prize at the AWGIES". NIDA. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
12. "Playlab Theatre Shares David Williamson Prize 2022". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
13. "AWGIE special awards 1973-2015" (PDF). AWG. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
14. "Practitioners [P-Q]". Australian Variety Theatre Archive. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
15. "Fred Parsons". AustLit. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
16. "This Is Your Life - Fred Parsons". NFSA. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
17. "The Richard Lane Award". AustLit. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
18. "AustLit News June/July 2008". 2008. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011.
19. "Laura Jones to receive the inaugural AWG Lifetime Achievement Award". IF Magazine. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
20. "Craig Pearce". Pathways. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
21. "AWG honours Andrew Knight with lifetime achievement award". IF Magazine. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
22. "More than words: dialogue-free animated short film Lost & Found takes home AWG's Major Award for writing". Australian Writers' Guild. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
23. "47th ANNUAL AWGIE AWARDS WINNERS". Stage Whispers. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
24. "An Australian Skyrim Mod Has Won A Screenwriting Award". Kotaku Australia. 17 October 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.

External links

• Australian Writers' Guild Awards, 1997–2016 on Australian Television Information Archive