The big winners were Stellify Media which won the Comedy and Entertainment Award for Beauty Queen and Single and the Factual Entertainment Award for In Solitary.

Holywood Producer Mark Huffam was announced as the winner of the RTS NI Judges Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to local television and film production. Huffam who was born in Antrim, has produced a number of television shows and films including Saving Private Ryan, Mamma Mia and the first series of Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, although Huffam planned to attend the Awards in person, he had to send a video message as he was called back to film Christopher Plummer’s new scenes for the upcoming Ridley Scott thriller ‘All the Money in the World’.

Huffam said: “It’s great to see how Northern Ireland Film and Television is thriving in the current climate, largely down to a lot of self motivated individuals and entrepreneurs who have helped grow the industry at a rapid rate. This couldn’t have been done without the support of Northern Ireland Screen and also local Government, who have been fantastic and very supportive, I’d quite like to see them back at work soon.”

Line of Duty filmed in Belfast by World Productions took the award for Best Drama and Sixteen South won the new Original Score Award for The Salty Chicken.

BBC Northern Ireland picked up two awards for Current Affairs and News both relating to its coverage of the RHI Scandal for Spotlight: Burn to Earn and A Nolan Show Investigation. 

Crossing the Line’s Wild Ireland took the Specialist Factual Award and Tern Television and Borough Productions’ The Good Terrorist won Best Documentary.

The Interactive Entertainment Award went to Big Motive for Tara’s Locket – A VR Story for Children and the award for Children’s / Animation went to Zodiak Kids Studios UK for Secret Life of Boys.

The RTS NI Programme Awards 2017 are delivered in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Channel 4 and UTV, along with the headline sponsor this year Ka-Boom.

Sarah McCaffrey, Chair of the RTS NI Awards said:

“Congratulations to all our winners who represent the best of the exceptional talent coming out of Northern Ireland in recent years.

“And a special congratulations to Mark Huffam for winning the Judges’ Award. As a creative community, we are extremely proud of his achievements making some of the best television and film productions in the world which has helped to put Northern Ireland on the global map.”

 

The full list of winners are:

Comedy and Entertainment: sponsored by NEP Broadcast Services

WINNER: Stellify Media: Beauty Queen and Single (BBC NI)

Nominees: Waddell Media Ltd: Francis Brennan’s Grand Tour Vietnam and Roughcut TV: Delete Delete Delete

 

Factual Entertainment and/or Features: sponsored by G&H Film & Television Services

WINNER: Stellify Media: In Solitary

Nominees:Tyrone Productions: Nathan Goes to Nashville and BBC NI Productions: Love in a Day

 

Specialist Factual: sponsored by City Air Express

WINNER: Crossing the Line: Wild Ireland (BBC NI)

Nominees: Alleycats: Pop Pride & Prejudice and Tern Television and Iconografie Films: Britain’s Lost Masterpieces: Aberdeenshire

Documentary: sponsored by Ulster University

WINNER: Tern Television and Borough Productions: The Good Terrorist

Nominees: Alleycats: How to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story and True North: My Wig and Me

 

Current Affairs: sponsored by Queens University Belfast

WINNER BBC Northern Ireland: Spotlight: Burn to Earn

Nominees: Erica Starling Productions: Channel 4 Dispatches: Under Lock and Key  and UTV: UTV Up Close: Northern Ireland’s Prescription Addiction:

 

News Coverage: sponsored by InBroadcast

WINNER: BBC Northern Ireland: A Nolan Show Investigation

Nominees: UTV: UTV Live: The Death of Martin McGuinness  and BBC Northern Ireland: BBC Newsline: The Death of Martin McGuinness

 

Drama: sponsored by Yellowmoon

WINNER: World Productions: Line of Duty (BBC NI)

Nominees: HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead, Television 360/Starling TV: Game of Thrones and BBC Studios in Association with Cuba Pictures: Paula

 

Children’s and /or Animation: sponsored by Performance Film and Media Insurance

WINNER: Zodiak Kids Studios UK: Secret Life of Boys

Nominees: Sixteen South: Lily’s Driftwood Bay – The Salty Chicken and Jam Media: Little Roy

 

Interactive Entertainment:

WINNER: Big Motive: Tara’s Locket – A VR Story for Children

Nominees: Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd: Her Majesty’s SPIFFING and Neon: RETNE

 

Original Music Score: sponsored by Millar McCall Wylie

WINNER: Sixteen South: The Salty Chicken

Nominees: World Productions: Line of Duty and Fables and Artists Studio: The Fall

 

RTS NI Judges Award: sponsored by Ka-Boom –

WINNER: MARK HUFFAM