Craft & Design Awards 2018
Awards Ceremony
Monday, 26 November, 2018
The winners of the 2018 RTS Craft & Design Awards have been announced.
The RTS Craft & Design Awards recognise excellence in broadcast television in 29 categories from Directing to Make Up Design.
The prestigious awards were presented at a ceremony hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen (Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) on the 26th November at the London Hilton on Park Lane.
Winners
Costume Design - Drama: Marianne Agertoft
Title: The City and The City
Production Company: Mammoth Screen
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
The jury said, this category was full of wildly differing entries that made for heated debate. The costume design in the winning programme drew us into two new worlds with a sinister yet familiar feel. Both populated with timeless characterful representations of real and relatable personalities achieved with skilful layering of textures and colour that achieved a cohesive and visually exciting design.
Costume Design - Entertainment & Non Drama: June Nevin
Title: The Windsors Royal Wedding Special
Production Company: Noho Film and Television
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Nominees:
A category that tests the mettle of the designers, with its low budgets and time pressures, however the costume design was still ambitious, which gave us a fantastic comedic interpretation of a royal wedding, full of sensitivity and imagination with enough of a nod to reality that we instantly recognise the characters but are carried along on their soap opera journey. A fabulous bit of telly!
Design - Programme Content Sequences: Axis Animation
Title: Kiss Me First
Production Company: Kindle Entertainment & Balloon Entertainment
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Nominees:
Visually stunning and incredibly well executed, the jury was blown away by the scale of the project. The virtual characterisation of the actors was incredibly impressive and intrinsic to the success of the drama.
Design - Titles: Sasan Roohi, Amber Sutera, Peter Aldridge & Michael Pearson
Title: Deep State
Production Company: Endor Productions
Broadcaster: Fox Networks Group (Europe & Africa)
Nominees:
The jury felt this strong narrative themed sequence was beautifully executed. The visuals move from light to dark, the great choice of music descends into a heavy wave of glitches, static, and cymbals which really encapsulates the mood and central character of the show.
Design - Trails & Packaging: BBC Sport, BBC Creative, Blinkink
Title: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia
Production Company: BBC Sport / BBC Creative / Blinkink
Broadcaster: BBC
Nominees:
Iconic in its approach, ambitious in its scale, unique in its design. The jury felt that this simple idea was meticulously considered with regard to the animation, the styling of the typography and the detailing of the weaving machine. It was a great canvas for binding together past and present imagery. A real masterstroke.
Director - Comedy Drama/Situation Comedy: Michael Lennox
Title: Derry Girls
Production Company: Hat Trick Productions
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Nominees:
The director managed to garner stellar performances out of the entire (young) cast achieving a breath-taking combination of profoundly poignant intercut with fearfully funny moments which elevated this material beyond what was simply on the page.
Director - Documentary/Factual & Non Drama: Deeyah Khan
Title: White Right: Meeting the Enemy
Production Company: Fuuse Films
Broadcaster: ITV
Nominees:
This film stood out for its fearless immediacy of approach and its confident and totally engaging voice: an exciting directing talent, brilliantly deployed in front of camera too. Fascinating encounters and brilliant interviews reframed the familiar, by sitting down with and trying to understand the human beings behind the rise of the far right.
Director - Drama: Stephen Frears
Title: A Very English Scandal
Production Company: Blueprint Pictures
Broadcaster: BBC One
Nominees:
This was incredibly brave – the performances were on the nose – a masterclass in character directing. Luscious and excellent in every way!
Director - Multicamera: Nikki Parsons
Title: Strictly Come Dancing (Series 15)
Production Company: BBC Studios
Broadcaster: BBC One
Nominees:
The jury thought the beautifully crafted direction conveyed every nuance of the dance perfectly to the audience.
Editing - Documentary/Factual: Paul Carlin, Paul Dosaj & Kevin Konak
Title: The Detectives: Murder On The Streets
Production Company: Minnow Films
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
Astonishing imagery and beautiful editing put this programme into a class of its own and took observational documentary making to a new level. The choice of music, shot selection and pace was pivotal to the ambitious cinematic approach to the storytelling in this outstanding documentary.
Editing - Drama: Adam Trotman
Title: Come Home
Production Company: Red Production Company
Broadcaster: BBC One
Nominees:
An impactful example of the craft of editing, in which the very sensitive use of cutting delivered the viewer right into the emotional heart of the story.
Editing - Entertainment and Comedy: Mark Williams
Title: The Windsors Royal Wedding Special
Production Company: Noho Film and Television
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Nominees:
The skill of gag collection as well as a terrific narrative makes this one of the funniest satirical shows on TV. The impeccable pacing and comic timing throughout the editing process is outstanding.
Editing - Sport: Ian Grech, Mike Carter & Kevin Evans
Title: Champions League Final Liverpool v Real Madrid: Opening Music Sequence
Broadcaster: BT Sport
Nominees:
Weaving live music and archive, the jury thought this was a beautifully edited piece with great pacing. It was as much a skilful music edit as it was a sport piece and told the story very well. All in all, it was a joy to watch!
Effects: One Of Us, Chris Reynolds
Title: The Crown
Production Company: Left Bank Pictures
Broadcaster: Netflix
Nominees:
The jury found this entry breath-taking in its scale, ambition and achievement. Movie magic brought to the small screen with stunning effects so true to life that you never questioned anything from buildings, boats and planes to the Antarctic. Seamless, flawless and beautifully crafted.
Lighting for Multicamera: Martin Kempton
Title: Upstart Crow (Series 2)
Production Company: BBC Studios
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
This was felt to be beautiful and realistic. Each shot was expertly crafted capturing the essence of “old masters”. Light and shade captures the atmosphere and being comedy it was careful not to miss any facial expressions!
Make Up Design - Drama: Naomi Donne
Title: King Lear
Production Company: Playground Television (UK) / Sonia Friedman Productions
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
A huge number of amazing entries with vastly different budgets and subjects made it incredibly difficult to judge one against the other. In the end it was the absolutely perfect translation of classic to contemporary that won the jury over. A breath-taking adaptation supported fabulously by the make-up design. Each character was delivered with a skilled but gentle simplicity raising the visual pathos whilst allowing the tragedy of the story to play out.
Make Up Design - Entertainment & Non Drama: Vanessa White
Title: The Dali and The Cooper - Urban Myths
Production Company: Me and You Productions
Broadcaster: Sky Arts
Nominees:
This is a genre not for the faint hearted, tight deadlines and budgets with make-up teams pushed to achieve ever more fabulously entertaining characters at high speed. The combination of great skill and sheer bonkersness won through here. It was a fantastic recreation of two iconic characters and shows skilfully how hair and make-up can enhance and support comedy.
Multicamera Work: Camera Team
Title: The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Production Company: BBC Studios
Broadcaster: BBC One
Nominees:
A monumental task realised with feeling which completely summed up the mood for the millions of viewers. Subtle use of camera moves, perfect timing and not over cut. Perfect depth of field in the close ups, and stunning wide and super wide shots.
Multicamera Work - Sport: Micky Payne
Title: The London Marathon
Production Company: BBC TV Sport Production
Broadcaster: BBC
Nominees:
This was great coverage, good use of technology with helicopter and radio cam on bikes. London’s landmarks featured well to give a great geographic sense of being there.
Music - Original Score: Murray Gold
Title: A Very English Scandal
Production Company: Blueprint Pictures
Broadcaster: BBC One
Nominees:
A simply brilliant score that perfectly pitched the humour and pomp with light and shade to deliver an emotional soundtrack that was cool, catchy and very charismatic.
Music - Original Title: Oli Julian
Title: Motherland
Production Company: Merman and Delightful Industries
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
The jury said this title score was cool, fun, bold and brassy. A high tempo introduction that grabbed you and made you want to watch!
Photography - Documentary/Factual & Non Drama: Andrew Muggleton
Title: Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery
Production Company: Tigerlily Productions
Broadcaster: BBC Four
Nominees:
Here the jury were faced with the impossible task of comparing exquisite and unparalleled efforts to showcase nature, with impossibly charming and characterful human connection, with a series which seemed to transcend the form as it created a uniquely experiential narrative - one to which its sensitive and evocative photography was both formative and indispensable.
Photography - Drama & Comedy: Justin Brown
Title: The End of the F***ing World
Production Company: Clerkenwell Films & Dominic Buchanan Productions
Broadcaster: Netflix/Channel 4
Nominees:
In a remarkably diverse category, both in terms of budget and tone, the jury hotly contested but swung eventually to a show that is outstandingly fresh in vision and execution, and sleight-of-hand clever in its creation of an immersive and compulsively watchable world.
Picture Enhancement: Adam Dolniak
Title: The UN Sex Abuse Scandal
Production Company: Ronachan Films
Broadcaster: Channel 4
Nominees:
The jury highly commended this documentary for a grade that felt cinematic and beautiful, adding immensely to the emotion and mood of the film. Astounding work. Powerful, stand out and with huge impact.
Production Design - Drama: Simon Rogers
Title: The City and The City
Production Company: Mammoth Screen
Broadcaster: BBC Two
Nominees:
The jury said these were bold, atmospheric and confident designs which were very well executed, with an excellent attention to detail and dressing.
Production Design - Entertainment & Non Drama: Peter Bingemann
Title: Britain’s Got Talent
Production Company: Thames / Syco
Broadcaster: ITV
Nominees:
A beautifully executed transformation of this existing location, with the flexibility to change looks for each performance over many weeks.
Sound - Drama: Dan Johnson, Simon Farmer, Jamie Caple & Mark Lawes
Title: Bodyguard
Production Company: World Productions
Broadcaster: BBC
Nominees:
The sound was dramatic, visceral and seamlessly-mixed, with nothing out of place.
Sound - Entertainment & Non Drama: Doug Dreger, Greg Gettens & Kim Tae Hak
Title: Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery
Production Company: Tigerlily Productions
Broadcaster: BBC Four
Nominees:
This programme, so simple in concept, keeps our attention in large part because of the fantastic sound, so comprehensively captured and creatively mixed.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Kathy Schulz
Nominees:
Lee Connolly, Chair, Craft & Design Awards said:
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award goes to someone I bet everyone in this room will know, will have encountered, and will have benefited from her unwavering professionalism, passion, honesty and loyalty.
Professionalism, because of her unique understanding of the business and her drive to be the very best.
Passion, for her genuine love and affection for this industry of ours.
Honesty, for never letting client or crew down, despite huge pressures.
Loyalty, for her desire to maintain relationships built on trust and transparency.
This person started her career in broadcasting at the BBC before moving on to ITV and it was at ITV where she would make her mark. Starting as a graduate engineer and editor across sport, entertainment and current affairs. Then onto client liaison as the critical link between programme makers and production facilities and crew, before eventually becoming Director of The London Studios and ultimately Managing Director.
Literally thousands of hours of programmes. The very biggest shows, sitcoms, entertainment, sport, current affairs, kids tv, music…the list of shows is so huge we’d be here all night. But you’ll all know them, many of you will have worked on them, and will have benefited from what this person made happen, often against the odds.
There was nowhere in the world like The London Studios and this was largely because of the person we are honouring tonight.
The way in which she handled the closure earlier this year with such dignity and respect underlined why she was only ever the right person for the job.
The last ever live show was Saturday Night Takeaway, a bitter sweet celebration really, but a show that epitomised TLS and this person’s work.
The Studios may be gone, but the person who made them what they were hasn’t. She has moved on to pastures new, something she can tell us about now maybe, because one thing is for sure, we need her in our industry.