On Monday night the Equity Foundation honoured the winners of the 2012 Equity Awards at a ceremony in Sydney.

The Equity Awards recognise excellent performances by Australian television ensembles in comedy, drama and miniseries categories.

Some of the cast member of The Slap, winner of the best miniseries award

This year’s winners, as voted by Australian performers, were the casts of East West 101, The Slap and At Home with Julia.

Actors Equity welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy that the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) will receive a boost in its base funding.

In yesterday’s federal budget announcement the government said it will provide an additional $158.1 million over five years aimed at infrastructure needs, the production of new Australian content and supporting indigenous broadcasting.

“This is great news for Australian audiences, the content production industry and Australian performers,” said Equity director, Sue McCreadie.

An industry delegation in Canberra (including Equity director Sue McCreadie, far left) lobbying for SBS funding

Actors Equity welcomes the release of the final Convergence Review Report and its recommendations regarding the distribution of local content in a converged media landscape.

“Australian performers welcome the completion of this landmark review,” said Equity director Sue McCreadie. “This was a huge and complex task and we congratulate the Committee on recognising the need for ongoing regulation and funding for Australian content in a converged media environment.”

The Report recommends all Content Service Enterprises – a new term to describe businesses delivering audio-visual material to Australians – be subject to Australian content requirements.

Peter Fraser is co-founder of SR7, a leading social-media intelligence company. This article was orginally published in the Autumn 2012 issue of The Equity Magazine.

The great 20th century American pop icon Andy Warhol observed: “In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes.”

My new line is: “In 15 minutes, everyone will be world famous.” If only Warhol had lived to see the era of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest.

Social media and its unstoppable momentum delivers a global stage, allowing users and their valuable content to be famous − whether it is for 15 minutes or in 15 minutes.

Zoe Naylor

This article was orginally published in the Autumn 2012 issue of The Equity Magazine. Zoe Naylor is a NSW-based performer

I can’t believe it’s been almost a decade since drama-school graduation and since I’ve done any formal study. I’ve worked closely with dialect coaches over the years and privately with teachers preparing auditions, but haven’t flexed my muscles in a classroom environment.

Having spent the last two pilot seasons in LA, it’s incredible to see the commitment actors make to the evolution of their craft. It’s not unusual to find professional actors taking two classes a week alongside their usual filming or stage commitments. That’s before their regular voice class, Alexander class and weekly session with a therapist. Which, according to renowned American acting coach Larry Moss, are musts.

It’s funny, but in my late teens and early 20s I couldn’t get enough of everything ‘drama’. There were ATYP, On Camera Connections and drop-in classes at the Actors Centre, followed by three years of drama school, during which time I even went to London to train with Philippe Gaulier.

A miniseries about the shattering repercussions of a single event on a group of friends and family, a controversial comedy about the private life of our prime minister and a drama that follows members of a major crime squad as they investigate felony and murder in Sydney have won the 2012 Equity Awards.

The performers who starred  in  East West 101 (season 3), At Home with Julia and The Slap were selected – by members of Actors Equity Australia – as the winners of the 2012 Equity Awards.

“We saw some phenomenal performances on Australian television last year, but the ensemble casts of East West 101, At Home with Julia and The Slap have been voted the best of the best by Australian performers. Given the calibre of nominees, it’s a huge honour.” said Equity president Simon Burke.

The cast of critically-acclaimed ABC miniseries The Slap won the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Miniseries/Telemovie Award.

The stars of comedy hit At Home with Julia are winners of the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Award.

The cast members of East West 101 (season 3) were voted the winners of the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Award.

“The nominees and winners of the 2012 Equity Awards are a testament to the wealth of acting talent we have in this country. These awards celebrate outstanding performances by an ensemble of actors. The Slap, At Home with Julia and East West 101 worked so well due to the outstanding performances by the entire cast.” said Equity director Sue McCreadie.

Nominations for the second annual Equity Awards were open to all Australian performers. Winners were selected by members of Actors Equity Australia and will be presented with their awards at a ceremony in Sydney in May.

The Equity Awards are the only peer-judged awards for performers in Australia.

2012 EQUITY AWARDS - WINNERS AND NOMINEES

Equity Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Television Drama Series

WINNER
East West 101 (Series 3)
Don Hany, Susie Porter, Matt Nable, Daniela Farinacci, Aaron Fa’Aoso, Renee Lim, Tasneem Roc

NOMINEES
Bed of Roses (Series 3)
Kerry Armstrong, Julia Blake, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Jay Laga’aia, Andrew S. Gilbert, Kaarin Fairfax, HaiHa Le, Frank Magree, Caroline Gillmer, Cameron McKenzie, Matt Levett

Crownies
Marta Dusseldorp, Andrea Demetriades, Todd Lasance, Hamish Michael, Ella Scott Lynch, Indiana Evans, Peter Kowitz, Jeanette Cronin, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Jerome Ehlers, Christopher Morris, Daniel Lissing, Paul Moxey, Chantelle Jamieson

Offspring (Series 2)
Asher Keddie, Kat Stewart, Linda Cropper, John Waters, Richard Davies, Eddie Perfect, Deborah Mailman, Matt Le Nevez, Lachy Hulme, Alicia Gardner, Jane Harber

Packed to the Rafters (Series 4)
Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson, Michael Caton, Hugh Sheridan, Angus McLaren, Jessica Marais, George Houvardas, James Stewart, Ryan Corr, Hannah Marshall, Merridy Eastman

Equity Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Mini-Series or Telemovie

WINNER
The Slap
Jonathan La Paglia, Sophie Okonedo, Melissa George, Essie Davies, Alex Dimitriades, Anthony Hayes, Lex Marinos, Sophie Lowe, William McInnes, Blake Davis, Diana Glenn, Toula Yianni, Liberty Townsend, Raffaele Costabile

NOMINEES
Cloudstreet
Geoff Morrell, Kerry Fox, Todd Lasance, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Adam Sollis, Sarah McKellar, Siobhan Dow-Hall, Amanda Woodhams, Callan McAuliffe, Tom Russell, Rohnan Tierney, Annie Smith, Freya Tingley, Grace Ray, Stephen Curry, Essie Davies, Emma Booth, Sean Keenan, Shannon Lively, Lara Robinso, William Mattock, Reece Sardelic

Killing Time
Diana Glenn, David Wenham, John Brumpton, Sean Rees-Wemyss, Colin Friels, Max Fairchild, Kerry Walker, Bethany Whitmore, Steve Hayden, Reef Ireland, Nick Farnell, Malcolm Kennard, Kate Jenkinson, Martin Sharpe, Terry Norris, Kris McQuade, Louise Crawford, Robert Taylor, Richard Cawthorne

Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo
Asher Keddie, Rob Carlton, Jessica Tovey, Matt Day, Ian Meadows, Maeve Dermody, Tony Barry, Rory Williamson, Annie Maynard, Cheree Cassidy, Octavia Barron-Martin, Richard Healy, Charlton Hill, Robin Goldsworthy

Underbelly: Razor
Danielle Cormack, Chelsea Preston Crayford, Anna McGahan, Jack Campbell, Felix Williamson, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Lucy Wigmore, Khan Chittenden, Richard Brancatisano, Craig Hall, Izzie Stevens, John Batchelor, Guy Edmonds, Rick Donald,, Stevel le Marquand, Matt Boesenberg, Caroline Craig

Equity Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Television Comedy Series

WINNER
At Home with Julia
Amanda Bishop, Phil Lloyd, Peter Carmody, Michael Denkha, Craig McLachlan, Georgina Naidu, Al Dukes, Paul McCarthy, Jonathan Biggins, Jim Russell, Drew Forsythe, Joel Barker, Jack Dawes, Jack Versace, Pavarotti the Dog

NOMINEES
Angry Boys
Chris Lilley, Daniel and Nathan Sims, S.mouse, Jen Okazaki, Gran, Blake Oakfield

Laid
Alison Bell, Celia Pacquola, Abe Forsythe, Toby Truslove

The Jesters (Series 2)
Mick Molloy, Susie Porter, Deborah Kennedy, Emily Taheny, Ben Geurens, Christian, Barratt-Hill, Andrew Ryan, Travis Cotton

Twentysomething
Jess Harris, Josh Schmidt, Hamish Blake, Simon Russell, Leah de Niese, Jasna Harriss-Currie, Laura Gordon

ABC TV and the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance are the proud sponsors of the Equity Awards

 
About The Equity Awards: The Equity Awards were introduced in 2011 to honour excellent performances by television ensembles. The Equity Award nominees and winners are selected by Australian performers. Television programs must be Australian and must feature an Australian cast. Television programs must have been first broadcast on television in Australia between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.