TV’s brightest new and emerging talent gathered at London’s Rich Mix last night for The TV Foundation’s New Voice Awards 2020. The awards hosted by multi-faceted entertainer and Wall of Comedy/YouTube sensation Yung Filly recognised and celebrated undiscovered creatives and the companies who do the most to support them.
Yung Filly dished out accolades in 13 categories to emerging talent across presenting, directing, producing and scriptwriting categories; and production companies, agencies, mentors and broadcasters were also recognised for their support of new talent.
For their continued commitment to nurturing emerging talent, the BBC took the Best Broadcaster for New Talent award. The Big Light Productions supported award for Debut Creator celebrating breakout talent authoring their first project was presented to newcomer Amanda Duke for her heart-wrenching drama The Cure for Channel 4. Shivani Vijayapalan received the award for Debut Writer, also supported by Big Light, for In The Long Run Ep 202 for Sky One. Awards for on-camera talent spotlighting the emerging faces of British TV were snapped up by Cameron Mackay (Future Presenter) and Tiffany Sweeney (Debut Presenter).
“We like to think of the New Voice Awards as a welcome antidote to the traditional awards season where the people who really deserve to win, win. These writers, directors and presenters represent the breadth and depth of British talent and we are so excited to support them through to the Festival in August and beyond as they work to take over the industry.”
Sarah Vignoles, Talent Schemes Director
The Netflix supported ‘Stage to Screen’ award went to Sadie Clark for Algorithms, while the All3Media New Script Awards for Comedy and Drama were picked up by Lady Aria Grey for C’mon, Vague! and Nichola Wong for The Clinch respectively.
Rebecca Coxon received The Victor Adebodun Debut Director Award for Channel 4’s Britain’s Child Drug Runners. The award, dedicated to the memory of Victor Adebodun (director, creative leader and managing director of Purple Geko) passes the baton to an emerging directorial voice with a passion for elevating others in the industry.
For a full list of the winners, see here.
The evening also featured a special panel, in partnership with The Brit List, engaging a selection of acclaimed writers (including David Macpherson, Fraser Ayres, Lauren Sequiera and Archie Maddocks) in conversation about the highs and lows of breaking into writing for TV, chaired by Founder of The Brit List and Head of Development at Caryn Mandabach Productions, Alexandra Arlango.
Run by The TV Foundation, the charitable arm of the Edinburgh Television Festival, the New Voice Awards are part of an extensive programme of schemes and events designed to increase access to the TV industry, including flagship schemes The Network and Ones to Watch.
Applications for The Network and Ones to Watch are open now.
“We created the awards with one thing in mind, how unawardsy can you make an awards night? Take away the tuxedos, the velvet ropes, the politics, the prohibitive prices and give an awards boost to the emerging talent who can actually use that recognition to make their creative dreams a reality. Three years in and the New Voices go from strength to strength. I look at our shortlists and am very proud to see the individuals and companies represented who will make the future of TV a brighter place.”
Campbell Glennie, Managing Director of Edinburgh TV Festival and The TV Foundation