Palawa playwright Dylan Van Den Berg has swept the Australian Writers’ Guild’s annual AWGIE Awards, taking home three prizes including the prestigious David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre for Whitefella Yella Tree.
In the television categories, Academy Award-nominee for Poor Things Tony McNamara was rewarded for the final season of The Great, taking home the AWGIE Award for Television – Series. Giula Sandler picked up the Award in the Limited Series category for her The House Across the Street and Harriet Dyer won Comedy – Situation and Narrative for the pilot episode of international hit Colin from Accounts.
Van Den Berg now takes home $20,000 in prize money, while Griffin Theatre Company will receive $80,000 to develop and program a new work for the Australian stage.
In the Stage – Adapted category, Tom Holloway was acknowledged for his adaptation of the Stella Prize-winning The Museum of Modern Love, which premiered at Sydney Festival in 2022, while former David Williamson Prize winner Alana Valentine won in Music Theatre for Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan alongside co-writer Christos Tsiolkas.
NCIS: LA creator and celebrated Australian screenwriter Shane Brennan was honoured on the night, receiving the Richard Lane Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication to the Australian Writers’ Guild, recognising his fierce and unwavering advocacy for Australian writers over many years, including as President of the Australian Writers’ Guild 2020-2023.
‘Shane’s vision for what Australian writers can do now and in the future is revolutionary. And it’s been backed by a tireless willingness to engage, to mentor countless writers, for no other reason than because he can. It’s one thing to conquer the entertainment world. It’s another thing entirely to reach back and hold the door open for others to follow,’ said AWG President Peter Mattessi.
‘Congratulations to all our AWGIE Award winners. Every story we celebrate this evening, whether it was written for screen, stage, interactive or audio, was once an idea in the mind of a writer who crafted it into something incredible.
‘These ideas, our Australian stories, are what power the industry, and with the right framework from government we can build a healthy and robust landscape with writers at the centre.’
Other AWGIE Award winners:
- Colin and Cameron Cairnes picked up the AWGIE Award for Feature Film – Original for Late Night with the Devil, a found-footage supernatural horror film in cinemas this March,
- Oscar Redding and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel continued its Awards season run, winning Feature Film – Adapted,
- Tim Russell, James Crawley and Steven Sander won the Documentary – Public Broadcast or Exhibition category for Volcano Man,
- The Documentary – Community, Educational and Training AWGIE Award went to Sofya Gollan for Imagined Touch,
- Mitch McTaggart took home the AWGIE for Comedy – Sketch and Light Entertainment for The Last Year of Television: 2022,
- Sarah Mayberry won the Television – Serial category for Episode 8867 of Neighbours,
- Vee Shi won the AWGIE for Short Film with Jia,
- The Web Series category went to Andrew Undi Lee for Night Bloomers: Season 1, ‘Friend or Foe’,
- Magda Wozniak won Children’s Television – C Classification for Crazy Fun Park: Season 1, ‘Remember Me,
- Charlotte Rose Hamlyn won the AWGIE for Beep and Mort: Season 1, ‘Nothing to do Day’ in the Children’s Television – P Classification category, and
- Nina Oyama’s Koala Man: Season 1, ‘The Red Hot Rule’ won Animation.
In the theatre and audio categories:
- Brendan Hogan won Theatre For Young Audiences for All The Shining Lights,
- Dylan Van Den Berg received a second AWGIE Award in Community and Youth Theatre for Ngadjung,
- Sami Shah won Audio – Fiction for The Missed, and
- Simon Nasht with Akhim Dev, Belinda Lopez and Anna Lancaster won for Disclosed: The Children In The Picture: ‘Crimes Without Borders’ in the Audio – Non-Fiction category.
For the full list of AWGIE winners, click here. For the full list of AWGIE nominees, click here.
The 56th Annual AWGIE Awards are made possible with the generous support of our sponsors, in particular our Gold Sponsors: Media Super, SBS, Screenrights, AWGACS, Netflix and NIDA.
To watch the full AWGIE Awards broadcast, click here.
