Strong Showing For Comedy In Film And TV Awards

PRESS RELEASE
FROM: THE NZ COMEDY GUILD

Strong Showing For Comedy In Qantas Film And Television Awards

The nominees for this year’s Qantas Film and Television Awards have been announced, and 2009 is proving, again, to be a strong year for homegrown comedy.
In the Film section, the Topp Twin’s feature length documentary Untouchable Girls has been nominated in the Best Feature Film (Budget Under $1 Million, Best Sound Design and Best Original Music In A Feature Film categories, after proving itself the surprise (to some) local box office hit of the year.

It is in the field of television, however, that comedy, and comedians, have made the biggest impact. It is particularly pleasing to see so many comedians, past and present, represented outside the traditional categories of NZ On Air Best Comedy Programme (Nominees – The Jacqui Brown Diaries, The Pretender, The Millen Baird Show) and Best Entertainment Programme (Nominees – Eating Media Lunch, Dancing With The Stars, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.)

Of the nominees in other categories, Bob Mclaren, Cohen Holloway (Best Performance By An Actor for The Pretender and Until Proven Innocent, respectively), Andre King (Best Supporting Performance By An Actor for The Pretender), and Te Radar ( Best Presenter - Entertainment/Factual Programme for Off The Radar) all cut their teeth on the local live stand-up circuit, and are now using their talents across a wide range of media and genres. Both Off The Radar and Eating Media Lunch are also nominated for Best Director – Factual/Entertainment Programme.

Add to all this the recent Emmy nominations for Flight of The Conchords and Jermaine Clement in the US, and the upcoming television debuts of new local comedy shows 7 Days and A Night at The Classic, and local television comedy seems to be entering a new era.

The NZ Comedy Guild congratulates all nominees in all categories, not just the comedians.

Having said that, go the funny people.

ENDS

© Scoop Media