Cambridge is hosting the Royal Television Society East Awards 2024, which take place at Gonville & Caius College on 21 June.
The event has been organised by Cambridge’s premier video production company, Vine FX, and is sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The awards evening will bring together more than 100 industry professionals from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire to celebrate television filmed or produced in the East of England in the last year.
Across 14 competitive categories, 41 programmes have been nominated, recognising outstanding work in journalism, factual, scripted, short form, crafts, and promotional film.
ITV News Anglia leads the way with six nominations, including News Story of the Year for Send SOS and Cost of Learning Crisis, On-Screen Personality for David Whiteley, and News Journalist of the Year for Rob Setchell. Following closely is the BBC with five nominations, with Debbie Tubby and Nikki Fox competing for News Journalist of the Year and Janine Machin nominated for On-Screen Personality. Competing for On-Screen Personality is also Matt Baker, who is being recognised for his work on the series Matt Baker’s Travels in the Country: USA and Travels with Mum and Dad.
With five nominations, True Vision East’s productions are also featuring heavily in the awards. Stacey Dooley: Ready for War? secured three nominations for Craft Director, Editor, and Cinematographer, while The Sixth Commandment was nominated for Craft Cinematographer and Scripted – Single or Series.
New to this year’s ceremony are awards for Short Form Digital, Games and VFX, and News Craft Talent. Cambridge-based Vine FX (The Lazarus Project Series 2) and Sketchbook Games (Lost Words: Beyond the Page) go head-to-head in the Games and VFX category, while Eye Film, Meantime Media and Louis James-Parker LTD compete for Short Form Digital.
In addition to Short Form Digital, Norwich’s Eye Film is also nominated for Promotional Film and Factual – Specialist, competing in the latter category against Cambridge’s DragonLight Pictures (Six Inches of Soil) and Bohemia Films (The Gold: The Inside Story), who also secured a nomination in Factual – Documentary for Being Kae Tempest.
This year the awards feature an unprecedented number of first-time nominations, including two for Six Inches of Soil from Cambridge's DragonLight Pictures.
Colin Ramsay, director, Dragonlight Films and director of the independent environmental documentary, said: “We’re really honoured and chuffed to be nominated for the Factual – Specialist Award category in the RTS East Awards 2024 for our film Six Inches of Soil.
“A lot of effort and time and passion went into making this film, and so it’s great to be recognised with the current nominations, which of course we hope we win!”
Colin added: “It’s also important for us to have been nominated as an independent film among numerous TV productions. For us, this means that we are being considered as serious contenders alongside broadcast in a commensurate way, in terms of production, quality, and storytelling – we’re truly proud of this.
“We’re also pleased for Daria Hupov, editor at Dragonlight Films and editor for Six Inches of Soil, who has also been nominated for the Craft – Editor Award. Daria did a fantastic job editing what was ultimately a difficult story to tell.”
Daria said of her nomination: “I was excited to see my name amongst BBC editors as part of my nomination for the Craft – Editor award.
“Six Inches of Soil was a challenging project to edit due to the complexity of the topic. I’m glad I was able to bring it to life together with the team and am excited to attend the awards ceremony later this month.
“We’ve all worked very hard, so I am grateful that our work has been noticed and appreciated.”
Craft honours appear at RTS East for the first time to celebrate the many talented individuals based in the East of England.
First time nominees in these categories include cinematographer Christopher Sharman (Inappropriate), editor Adam Bokey (Grime Kids), and sound designers / composers Andrew Barnabas (Harvey Greenfield is Running Late), Bennet Maples (The Beasts of Halloween), and Mike Exarchos and team (Drunk? Adventures in 16th Century Brewing).
Rachel Watson, chair of RTS East, said: “We are so excited to announce the nominations for this year’s RTS East awards. There’s so much talent working in film and television in the East of England and we’re delighted that our expanded awards this year are able to showcase the very best in the industry across a range of genres.
“And it’s an honour to have Anglia Ruskin University on board as our major sponsor for the 2024 awards, as it’s such an important part of our own remit to encourage and support the next generation of award-winners.”
Laura Usaite, MD at Vine FX, said: “The RTS East Awards are a fantastic showcase of creative talent and capability in the region. As category sponsors, we’re excited to help support and cultivate the industry in the East of England, and are equally thrilled to be nominated.
“There are some incredible creators, game designers and production companies involved, so we’re proud to showcase Vine FX’s presence in Cambridge and celebrate the community we’re a part of.”
