Winners announced for the RTS East Programme Awards 2024

Television stars from both on and off the screen gathered on Friday 21st June in Cambridge to celebrate the very best in the region’s film and TV output, hosted by the BBC’s Mousumi Bakshi.   

The RTS East Programme Awards are the East of England’s premier broadcast awards and this year they were held in Cambridge for the first time, with guests from across the industry enjoying a midsummer celebration at Gonville and Caius College in the centre of the city.

Nominees such as Countryfile’s Matt Baker, The Sixth Commandment writer Sarah Phelps, BBC’s Janine Machin and David Whiteley from ITV Anglia attended the event which was sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University.  

The awards recognised the hard work that goes on behind the scenes producing film and television and in recognition of the breadth of talent across the region, this year there were  

14 categories, covering genres from drama to documentary, promotional film to VFX and Games.  

“It was a real showcase of what we here in the East of England have achieved over the last year” said Rachel Watson, Chair of RTS East. 

There were also several categories celebrating our superb regional TV news output with the BBC’s Nikki Fox winning Journalist of the Year and ITV Anglia winning News Story of the Year.   

Category sponsors Vine FX and Tysers Live presented trophies in the Craft – Director and Scripted – Single or Series categories.  

AV support was provided by Cambridge’s VenueAV. 

Brian Wood, Executive Director of True Vision East, said, “We were thrilled to win not one by two awards for The Sixth Commandment. Peter Farquhar, who was played so brilliantly by Timothy Spall studied English at Cambridge, so I’m sure he would have been delighted that the awards took place in the stunning venue of Gonville and Caius College. And screenwriter, Sarah Phelps, whose brilliant and sympathetic script told Peter and Anne’s story who the whole series in her home just half an hour from Cambridge, so as well as True Visio East being based here, the entire series has strong links to the region and the Cambridge in particular.” 

Laura Usaite, Managing Director of Vine FX said, “What a fantastic evening! We were thrilled to be in the company of so many talented individuals from our region. It is truly an honour to be recognized by our peers, filmmakers, and creatives here. We want to thank our entire team at Vine FX for their hard work on ‘Lazarus Project S2.” 

–

Craft – Cinematographer:

• Almudena Garcia-Parrado and Blanca Munoz for Stacey Dooley: Ready for War?, True Vision East, Little Dooley

• Christopher Sharman for Inappropriate, Coda Films

• Rik Zang SBC for The Sixth Commandment, True Vision East, Wild Mercury – WINNER 

News Journalist of the Year:

• Debbie Tubby, BBC

• Nikki Fox, BBC – WINNER

• Rob Setchell,  ITV News Anglia

News Story of the Year:

• BBC Politics East, BBC

• Cost of Learning  Crisis, ITV News Anglia

• Send SOS, ITV News Anglia – WINNER

News Craft Talent:

• Jonathon Stevens, ITV News Anglia

• Sean Cockrell, ITV News Anglia – WINNER

• Shaun Whitmore, BBC

On-Screen Personality:

• David Whiteley, ITV News Anglia

• Janine Machin, BBC

• Matt Baker, Big Circus Media – WINNER

Scripted – Single or Series, Presented by Tysers Live:

• Love Without Walls, Hidden Door Productions

• The Sixth Commandment, True Vision East, Wild Mercury – WINNER

• Typical?, Inclusivity Films, Bedazzle inclusive Productions

Promotional Film:

• Living The Ice-Cream Dream, Cut the Mustard Animation LTD

• The Chapman Heritage Pin, Donovan Jones

• Town Close, Eye Film – WINNER 

Short Form Digital:

• Ansible Motion: Driver in the Loop, Eye Film

• Owen Pick: Moving Forward, Louis James-Parker Ltd – WINNER 

• Trussell Trust: Emergency Appeal, Meantime Media

Factual – Specialist:

• Discovering the Gloucester, Eye Film – WINNER 

• Six Inches of Soil, DragonLight Films and Springtail Productions

• The Gold: The Inside Story, Bohemia Films

Factual – Documentary:

• Being Kae Tempest, Bohemia Films

• How the Holocaust Began, Caravan

• Seaside Special, Instant Film UG – WINNER 

Craft – Director, Presented by Vine FX:

• Almudena Garcia-Parrado for Stacey Dooley: Ready for War?, True Vision East, Little Dooley

• Joe Murray for Trussell Trust: Emergency Appeal, Meantime Media

• Sarah Leigh for Typical?, Inclusivity Films, Bedazzle inclusive Productions – WINNER   

Craft – Sound:

• Andrew Barnabas for Harvey Greenfield is Running Late, Screenlooker Productions

• Bennet Maples and Andy Wisher for The Beasts of Halloween, Sonic Fruit, Blue Pigeon Productions – WINNER 

• Mike Exarchos, Rob Toulson, Marques Hardin, and Elizabeth Landesberg for Drunk? Adventures in 16th Century Brewing, Eyeline Films, University of Arts London, Trinity Dublin University

Craft – Editor:

• Adam Bokey for Grime Kids, Mammoth Screen – WINNER

• Daria Hupov for Six Inches of Soil, DragonLight Films

• Paddy Garrick for Stacey Dooley: Ready for War?, True Vision East, Little Dooley

Craft – Games and VFX:

• Mark Backler, Rhianna Pratchett, Beck Lavender, and Luke Peek for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, Sketchbook Games – WINNER 

• VineFX for The Lazarus Project Series 2, VineFX, Urban Myth Films – WINNER