The Production Guild of Great Britain paid tribute to leading UK film and TV industry professionals on September 17th with its awards which recognise remarkable achievements made by its members. The awards come at a time when the creative success of the UK film and TV industry and its contribution to UK economy has never been stronger.
Taking place on Saturday 19 September at The Grove in Hertfordshire, The Production Guild Awards, in association with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, awarded four individuals/teams for their exceptional work.
The UK production team behind Twentieth Century Fox Television’s hit TV series 24: Live Another Day, received The Production Guild Member/Team of the Year Award in association with Millbrook. Producer and British Film Commission chairman Iain Smith OBE led a team that comprised a number of Production Guild members including unit production manager Kathy Nettleship, location manager Casper Mill and production accountant David Jones. The decision by Twentieth Century Fox Television to entrust the production and VFX of its highly-successful US series’ to British crew was seen as a bold move and a huge gesture of trust in the UK. The production team delivered on every count, achieving a fast-paced, challenging shoot with precision. The speed of turnover of writing, shooting and going to air was unprecedented in British production with filming taking place around the clock and Fox’s US air dates rolling as the team worked.
Roy Button OBE DL, executive VP and managing director, Warner Bros. Productions Ltd, received The Production Guild Contribution to the Industry Award in association with Panavision, for his outstanding contribution to the development and sustainability of the UK film and TV industry.
As head of physical production for Warner Bros. Productions Ltd, Button is responsible for all Warner Bros’ films based out of the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He has also been the driving force for Warner Bros.’ investment in Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, Europe’s largest studio, owned and run by Warner Bros. and the production base for films made in the UK by a number of US ‘majors’ including eight Harry Potter films, Edge of Tomorrow, Jupiter Ascending, Tarzan, Knights Of The Round Table: King Arthur, Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them, and host to Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation, Kingsman: The Secret Service, as well as the Leavesden Harry Potter Tour. Button is currently a member of the FITB (Film Industry Training Board) and the board of the British Film Commission.
Assistant production accountant, Jessamyn Keogh, received The Production Guild Rising Star Award in association with Warner Bros, Studios Leavesden. Keogh began the Production Guild’s Assistant Production Accountant Training Scheme (APATS) funded by Creative Skillset in 2012, taking up placements on Sky1’s Starlings (series two), Channel 4’s Top Boy (series two) and Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted. Since graduating in 2013, Keogh’s focus and dedication has seen her move upwards in an astonishingly short period, working as first assistant accountant on series five of E4’s Misfits, quickly followed by series five and six of ITV drama Downton Abbey.
Producer Mairi Bett received The Production Guild Inspiration Award in association with Creative Skillset, in recognition of her long-standing dedication to assisting the career development of young producers and production crew. Bett established Skyline Films with partner Steve Clark-Hall over 25 years ago, and her many co-producing credits include the upcoming Victor Frankenstein, as well as in recent years Closed Circuit, The World’s End, Oscar-winning and BAFTA-nominated Jane Eyre, The Debt, Green Zone, and the BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated United 93.
