Endemol Shine Australia Receives Three AACTA Award Nominations

MasterChef Australia and Australian Survivor both nominated in the Best Reality Series category whilst Gogglebox goes up for Best Entertainment.

The 2018 AACTA nominations have been announced, with Endemol Shine Australia up for three awards. MasterChef Australia and Australian Survivor have both been nominated in the Best Reality Series category, whilst Gogglebox Australia is up for the AACTA Award for Best Entertainment Program.

It’s the eighth time MasterChef has been nominated, and the nomination follows four consecutive wins in the Best Reality Series category. Along with Australian Survivor, it will compete with My Kitchen Rules, The Real Housewives Of Melbourne and The Single Wives for this year’s award.

Gogglebox goes up against Little Big Shots, Hard Quiz, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery and The Weekly With Charlie Pickering in the Best Entertainment Program category. 

The 2018 AACTAs mark the 60th anniversary of AFI | AACTA and see 395 individuals from 105 productions competing for a total of 54 Awards.

AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella, says, “We’re thrilled to see such a wealth of screen talent recognised at this year’s Awards – from some of the earliest AFI Award winners to many emerging and early-career practitioners – and we look forward to celebrating their fine achievements, as well as our 60th Anniversary as the longest standing national screen culture and industry development organisation at the 2018 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel in Sydney.”

The winners of the 2018 AACTA Awards will be announced at an industry luncheon on Monday 3 December and The AACTA Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 5 December.

Building Begins On Lego Masters

Nine’s brand-new family entertainment series will be hosted by Hamish Blake and feature fanatical brick builders from all around Australia.

Production has commenced on Endemol Shine Australia’s brand-new family entertainment series, LEGO MASTERS®.

Bringing together the most fanatical brick builders from around Australia, the scene is set for a competition unlike any other where eight pairs of LEGO-loving characters surprise and delight with the funniest battle of the bricks ever staged.

Unashamed LEGO tragic and big kid at heart, Hamish Blake will be in his element as host and ringleader of the fun, ably assisted by judge and resident LEGO expert Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught. As the Southern Hemisphere’s only LEGO-certified professional – and one of only fourteen in the world – no one is better placed than The Brickman to put these talented amateur builders to the test.

We’re expecting nothing short of jaw-dropping, show-stopping models that must be seen to be believed from each of our eight teams taking part. There will be challenges to test the LEGO lovers’ design and engineering skills, their storytelling ability and adaptability when all is not as it seems. With many hours of intricate building ahead, stamina and a sense of humour will be key as they are pushed to their LEGO limits.

Michael Healy, Director of Television for Network Nine, says: “We are very excited about LEGO MASTERS. It will redefine family entertainment in 2019 because there’s no greater brand that resonates more with families than LEGO.”

With $100,000 in prize money up for grabs and 2.5 million LEGO bricks in play, the possibilities are mind-bogglingly big. The team who consistently impresses with the best use of bricks, plates, tiles, studs, knobs and tubes – that’s LEGO to the rest of us – will walk away victorious, LEGO trophy held aloft and bragging rights intact for the rest of their days.

Filled with passion, imagination and creativity, LEGO MASTERS® is a production for Nine set to air in 2019.

US Remake Of Endemol Shine Australia’s Drama Sisters Announced

Annie Weisman and Jason Katims will produce the one-hour drama for Fox under a competitive put pilot commitment.

Endemol Shine Australia-produced drama, Sisters, has been picked up by Fox in the US under a put pilot deal. The one-hour drama will be produced by co-executive producer Annie Weisman (Desperate Housewives, The Path) and executive producer Jason Katims (The Path, About A Boy, Parenthood).

Fox made the put pilot commitment “in a very competitive situation” and has Weisman and Katims producing in a team that also includes the original series’ co-creator, ESA Drama Producer Imogen Banks (Offspring, Puberty Blues), Jeni Mulein, Universal TV and Endemol Shine North America president Sharon Levy.

Imogen Banks co-created the original Sisters with Jonathan Gavin (Offspring, The Beautiful Lie) for Network TEN. Starring Maria Angelico, Antonia Prebble, and Lucy Durack, the show premiered on TEN in 2017 and launched in the US as a Netflix Original in September 2018.

Sisters follows the story of only child Julia Bechly who finds her life turned upside down when her father is forced to reveal that, over the course of his career as a fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive dozens of children. As Julia determinedly begins to track down an increasingly large group of siblings, she discovers only two sisters among a veritable sea of brothers – both sisters quickly become a part of her redefined family.

The story has parallels with that of real-life US fertility doctor, Donald Cline, who was sued and given a 365-day suspended jail sentence in 2017 when it came to light that he supplemented his sperm for the fertilisation of around 50 unsuspecting women throughout his career.

Sisters will be a Fox co-production with Universal in association with Endemol Shine North America.

Endemol Shine Australia Honoured In An Array Of International Awards

MasterChef Australia picks up a national Asian Academy Creative Award for Best Non Scripted Entertainment whilst Family Food Fight wins the International Content Innovation Award for Factual Entertainment Program of the Year.

Endemol Shine Australia has been recognised in a raft of international awards and nominations, including in the Asian Academy Creative Awards and the International Content Innovation Awards, both held in Cannes, France this week. 

MasterChef Australia picked up the national Best Non Scripted Entertainment Award for Season 10 at the Asian Academy Creative Awards last night (Monday 15 October), whilst Family Food Fight scooped an International Content Innovation Award for Factual Entertainment Program of the Year in Cannes the night before.

Having been named one of the national winners in this year’s Asian Academy Creative Awards, Masterchef has been judged by industry professionals as “the very best in [its] own nation” and will represent Australia (one of sixteen countries) in the Gala Finals held at Capitol Theatre in Singapore this December.

Speaking about this year’s nominations, Asian Academy Creative Awards President Michael McKay says, “We gathered expert judges from right across the region to assess the work in each country and after the appointed panel had cast their votes, there were instances where a fraction of a point separated the shows”.

Australia has eighteen national wins under its belt, with MasterChef recognised alongside Method Studios’ work on Game of Thrones (Best Visual or Special FX), Network TEN’s The Project (Best News Programme) and ABC’s Hard Quiz (Best Game or Quiz Programme) among others.

Back at home, four of our talented editors – Melinda George (MasterChef, S10 Ep18), Federico Felixberto (Australian Ninja Warrior, S2 Ep1), Leanne Cole and Louise Massignat (Married At First Sight, S5 Ep31) – have been nominated in the Best Reality category at the Australian Screen Editors Guild Ellie Awards, which will be announced later this year. Congratulations to all!

Shane Gould Wins Australian Survivor 2018

The Olympic icon takes home $500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor.

Swimming world record holder and Australian legend Shane Gould, 61, has been crowned the Sole Survivor of Australian Survivor: Champions V Contenders.

Winning by one vote in the gripping finale, the Olympic icon managed to outwit, outlast and outplay the 23 other contestants after 50 days in the challenging tropical region of Savusavu, Fiji, securing the win along with $500,000 in prize money.

“It feels surreal,” Shane says. “It’s been a while since I’ve won an Olympic medal, and it was a challenge to see what I’m made of, to do something crazy!”

What began as twelve Champions and twelve Contenders commencing an unforgettable journey to play the world’s greatest game concluded with three original Champions – AFL Triple Premiership Footballer Brian Lake; Criminal Barrister Sharn Coombes; and swimming great Shane Gould – taking on their last chance at Immunity in the final episode.

In the ultimate endurance test, Brian, Sharn and Shane held onto an idol on top of a pole in the open waters, perched with their feet on narrow pedestals and exposed to the natural elements. Unlike the final challenge in previous seasons of Australian Survivor, this year contestants were required to keep both hands on the idol and both feet on the pedestals they were balanced on at all times.

Offering an extra motivational incentive to endure the harrowing challenge, host Jonathan LaPaglia surprised the remaining castaways with an emotional visit from their loved ones.

Battling immense seasickness from swaying atop the pole, Shane was the first to concede, collapsing into her husband Milton’s loving arms after one hour and 18 minutes. Desperate for the win, Brian’s attempt to crack Sharn’s determination and her loyalty to Shane resulted in a heated exchange between the duo as they continued to fiercely battle it out. Just after two hours, Brian made the fateful mistake of throwing his hat to Jonathan, thus breaking the rules of keeping both hands on the idol and eliminating himself from the Immunity Challenge by default.

With Sharn winning the all-important Immunity Necklace, her decision to stay loyal to her original alliance saw her take Shane through to the final Tribal Council.

At the last Tribal Council of Australian Survivor: Champions V Contenders this year, Sharn and Shane made their final emotional pitches to the jury. With nowhere to hide, the duo faced down their adversaries, tackling tough questions and criticisms head on and explaining their strategies and social games.

The deciding votes were dramatically cast and with only one ballot between them, Jonathan revealed Shane Gould as Australian Survivor: Champions V Contenders Sole Survivor.