British Academy Children’s Awards 2014 Winners
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners for tonight’s annual British Academy Children’s Awards. The ceremony was hosted by Doc Brown at the Roundhouse, London and presenters included Samantha Barks, Sharleen Spiteri, Bernard Cribbins, Myleene Klass, Emma Bunton, Jamal Edwards, James Norton, Simon Webbe, MyAnna Buring and Malorie Blackman.
It has been a successful week for the team behind Katie Morag: after picking up a British Academy Scotland Award last Sunday; they won two BAFTAs at tonight’s Children’s ceremony. The first Award was in the Drama category and the second for Performer with Cherry Campbell taking home the BAFTA for her portrayal of the title role. Cherry becomes the youngest BAFTA winner ever at nine years old.
Double-act Dick & Dom - Richard McCourt & Dominic Wood - celebrated winning in the Presenter category for Absolute Genius with Dick & Dom, while another of their shows, Diddy Movies, picked up the BAFTA in the Comedy category.
Kindle Entertainment Ltd triumphed as the winners of Independent ProductionCompany of the Year and as part of the team behind Dixi, the online mystery-drama that took home the BAFTA for Interactive – Original.
For the first time, Cartoon Network won the BAFTA in the prestigious Channel of the Year category while one of its most popular shows, Adventure Time, celebrated a win for International.
The Short Form category was won for the third year in a row by CITV’s Share a Story. There was a consecutive win for the Operation Ouch! team, who picked up the BAFTA for Factual. Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep received a second BAFTA award for Animation.
Warner Bros.’ adventure-comedy The Lego Movie fought off stiff competition from Maleficent, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Frozen to triumph in Feature Film. TheGame category was won by Mario Kart 8, the latest instalment of the popular racing title.
Peter Firmin received the Special Award for his outstanding contribution to children’s media. The esteemed illustrator and puppet-maker was presented the Award by Bernard Cribbins, and received a special introduction from Michael Palin.
The results of the BAFTA Kids’ Vote were also announced at the ceremony. Over 200,000 votes were cast by seven – 14 year-olds who had their say in a nationwide poll to choose their favourite film, television programme, website and game. The winners in the four categories were: Frozen (Feature Film), Jessie (Television),Minecraft (Game) and Bin Weevils (Website).
Other winners on the night were: Disney Animated for Interactive – Adapted;Lizard Girl for Learning: Primary; Poetry: Between the Lines for Learning: Secondary;Old Jack’s Boat for Pre-school Live Action; Sarah & Duck for Pre-school Animation;Junior Bake Off for Entertainment; and Debbie Moon who won the Writer category for Wolfblood.
OFFICIAL WINNERS LIST
ANIMATION sponsored by Toon Boom
SHAUN THE SHEEP Richard Starzak, Jay Grace, John Woolley – Aardman Animations/CBBC
CHANNEL OF THE YEAR
CARTOON NETWORK
COMEDY
DIDDY MOVIES 2 Steve Ryde, Dez McCarthy, Annette Williams – CBBC/CBBC
DRAMA
KATIE MORAG Production Team – Move on Up/CBeebies
ENTERTAINMENT
JUNIOR BAKE OFF Production Team – Love Productions/CBBC
FACTUAL
OPERATION OUCH! Production Team – Maverick Television/CBBC
FEATURE FILM
THE LEGO MOVIE Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dan Lin, Roy Lee – Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Road Show Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures
GAME
MARIO KART 8 Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
KINDLE ENTERTAINMENT LTD
INTERACTIVE: ADAPTED
DISNEY ANIMATED Development Team – Touch Press/Disney Interactive/Walt Disney Animation Studios
INTERACTIVE: ORIGINAL
DIXI Dan Berlinka, Nina Metivier, Melanie Stokes – Kindle Entertainment/Syndicut/Lucy Atkinson/CBBC Online
INTERNATIONAL
ADVENTURE TIME Pendleton Ward, Graham Falk, Nick Jennings – Cartoon Network Studios/Cartoon Network
LEARNING: PRIMARY
LIZARD GIRL Iona Sweeney, Lynsey Miller, Vivienne Franzmann – Feelgood Fiction/BBC Two
LEARNING: SECONDARY
POETRY: BETWEEN THE LINES Production Team – Somethin’ Else/BBC Two
PERFORMER
CHERRY CAMPBELL Katie Morag – CBeebies
PRESCHOOL: ANIMATION
SARAH & DUCK Tim O’Sullivan, Sarah Gomes Harris, Jamie Badminton – Karrot Entertainment/CBeebies
PRESCHOOL: LIVE ACTION
OLD JACK’S BOAT Dominic MacDonald, Tony Reed, Tom Poole – CBeebies/CBeebies
PRESENTER
RICHARD MCCOURT & DOMINIC WOOD Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom – CBBC
SHORT FORM
CITV SHARE A STORY 2013 Waldemar Werbel, Jardine Sage, Frank Mansfield – CITV/CITV
WRITER
DEBBIE MOON Wolfblood – CBBC
BAFTA KIDS’ VOTE IN 2014
FILM - FROZEN (PG) Walt Disney Pictures
GAME - MINECRAFT Mojang
TELEVISION - JESSIE Disney Channel
WEBSITE - BIN WEEVILS
Summit want Tom Cruise for Highlander Remake
Summit Entertainment are reportedly interested in approaching Tom Cruise for a major role in their long planned Highlander reboot. Cruise is thought to be on the studios wishlist for the part of Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez, played in the original series by Sean Connery. Ramirez is the mentor of the film’s hero, schooling him in both deadly swordplay and the burdens of immortality.
Fans of the long running often re-imagined franchise should be cautious about the news though as it’s unclear if Cruise is even willing to consider the role. The departure of previously attached star Ryan Reynolds does not bode well on that front. The project remains without either a director or leading man, making it pretty unlikely that Cruise would risk his already questionable box office success by gambling on the troubled remake.
Though the franchise has a cult following in truth many believe the original film should probably have stuck to it’s own iconic catchphrase “There can be only one!”.
Melissa McCarthy to play Tinkerbell
Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy will reportedly star in an as yet untitled Tinkerbell comedy project. Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy is attached to direct, having been the one responsible for making the unlikely connection between the diminutive animated fairy and the bawdy slapstick wit of McCarthy.
Nicholas Stoller the writer responsible for the laudable Muppets reboot and more recently Sex Tape is attached to craft a scrip that somehow makes all this make sense…
Pitch Perfect 2 Trailer
Check out the first official trailer for musical comedy sequel Pitch Perfect 2. The new adventure finds Becca and A-Capella singing sensations The Bellas leaving the comfort zone of inter-collegiate sing-offs to step up to the daunting big leagues of the world championships. Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow lead an eager returning cast as the girls once again find themselves outcast underdogs thanks to the fact the rest of the world conveniently hates America…
Luckily, THE PITCH IS BACK in the full trailer below:
Graduate Director Mike Nichols Dies at 83
Award winning director Mike Nichols has died at the age of 83, passing away in his New York home from an apparent heart attack. After making his directing debut with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1966 the versatile filmmaker was responsible for Catch-22, Working Girl, Regarding Henry, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Closer and most recently Charlie Wilson’s War.
However despite an enviable and varied body of work spanning several decades of cinema, the director will undoubtedly be best remembered for iconic screen classic The Graduate. Propelled by a star making turn from Dustin Hoffman and a timeless Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, the film remains a beloved masterpiece; chronicling the post adolescent malaise of a nervous young man embarking on an affair with a predatory older women, the infamous Mrs Robinson. The Graduate remains arguably the most eloquent portrayal of a quarter life crisis, speaking to subsequent generations of university leavers with the same wry wit and frank truthfulness.
So here’s to you… Mr Nichols.