The Beautiful Lie dominates with nine nominations; Rake, Jack Irish, Janet King, Upper Middle Bogan, Black Comedy and more all honoured

Sydney, Australia; Thursday, 27^th October 2016: Nominations for the 6^th annual AACTA Awards were today announced, with numerous ABC Commercial distributed programs, along with the actors, actresses and creatives behind them, receiving nods of recognition from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts in the lead up to the awards ceremony to be held on Wednesday, 7^th December, 2016.

ABC Commercial titles received 33 nominations overall, with drama series The Beautiful Lie leading all television series with nine nominations, including ‘best telefeature or mini series’, ‘best lead actress in a television drama’ honours for Sarah Snook and ‘Best guest or supporting actress in a television drama’ honours for Celia Pacquola. The series was also nominated for ‘best screenplay’, ‘best cinematography’, ‘best editing’, ‘best sound’, ‘best production design’ and ‘best costume design’.

The ABC’s hit dramas Jack Irish and Rake were also honoured with nominations for ‘best television drama series’, with Rake picking up an additional six nominations, including a ‘best lead actor in a drama series’ nomination for Richard Roxburgh, ‘best guest or supporting actor’ honours for Russell Dykstra and ‘best guest or supporting actress’ honours for Caroline Brazier. The critically acclaimed criminal drama series Janet King also received two nominations at this year’s awards, including ‘best editing’ and a guest actor nomination for Hamish Michael.

Upper Middle Bogan and Black Comedy were each nominated for ‘best television comedy series’, with Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope also recognised in the ‘best screenplay’ category for their New Kids on the Block episode of Upper Middle Bogan. Black Comedy’s Leah Purcell was also honoured with a nomination for ‘best performance in a television comedy’, along with Alison Bell for her performance in her ABC Comedy Showroom pilot The Let Down.

Both Luke Warm Sex and Gruen were nominated for ‘best light entertainment television series’, with the Luke McGregor sex life tell-all also picking up honours for ‘best direction’.

Walkley award-winning journalist Sarah Ferguson’s investigation into Australia’s domestic violence crisis, Hitting Home, was honoured with two nominations, including ‘best documentary television program’ and ‘best editing in a documentary’, marking the second year running Sarah Ferguson has been recognised with a nomination in this category.

Finally, both The Deep and Play School were nominated for ‘best children's television series’, with The Deep also receiving a nod for ‘best original music score in television’.

The 6^th Annual AACTA Awards ceremony will be held at The Star Event Centre in Sydney on Wednesday, 7^th December 2016. The complete list of ABC Commercial distributed titles that received nominations is as below:

B​est television drama series
Jack Irish - Ian Collie S.P.A, Andrew Knight – ABC
Rake - Ian Collie S.P.A, Peter Duncan ADG, Richard Roxburgh – ABC

Best telefeature or mini series
The Beautiful Lie - John Edwards S.P.A, Imogen Banks S.P.A – ABC

B​est television comedy series
Black Comedy - Kath Shelper, Mark O'Toole – ABC
Upper Middle Bogan - Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope, Ben Grogan – ABC

Best light entertainment television series

Gruen - Jon Casimir – ABC
Luke Warm Sex - Jon Casimir, Richard Huddleston, Karina Holden, Anna Bateman – ABC

Best lead actor in a television drama
Richard Roxburgh - Rake – ABC

​Best lead actress in a television drama
Sarah Snook - The Beautiful Lie – ABC

Best performance in a television comedy

Alison Bell - ABC Comedy Showroom - The Letdown – ABC
Leah Purcell - Black Comedy – ABC

Best guest or supporting actor in a television drama

Russell Dykstra - Rake, Episode 8 – ABC
Hamish Michael - Janet King - The Invisible Wound, Episode 8 - The Long Goodbye – ABC

Best guest or supporting actress in a television drama

Caroline Brazier - Rake, Episode 8 – ABC
Celia Pacquola - The Beautiful Lie, Episode 3 – ABC
​
Best direction in a television drama or comedy

Rake, Episode 8 - Peter Duncan ADG – ABC

​Best direction in a television light entertainment, lifestyle or reality series

Luke Warm Sex, Episode 4 - It's A Pleasure To Meet You - Hayden Guppy – ABC

Best screenplay in television

ABC Comedy Showroom - The Letdown - Sarah Scheller, Alison Bell – ABC
The Beautiful Lie, Episode 3 - Jonathan Gavin – ABC
Upper Middle Bogan, Episode 1 - New Kids on the Block - Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope – ABC

Best cinematography in television

The Beautiful Lie, Episode - 3 John Brawley – ABC

​Best editing in television

The Beautiful Lie, Episode 6 - Denise Haratzis ASE – ABC
Janet King - The Invisible Wound, Episode 6 - The Thaw - Nicole La Macchia – ABC
Rake, Episode 7 - Mark Perry – ABC

Best sound in television

The Beautiful Lie, Episode 6 - John McKerrow, Glenn Newnham, Cameron Grant, Blair Slater, Andrew Neil, Paul Pirola – ABC
Rake, Episode 7 - Guntis Sics ASSG, Michol Marsh, Peter Hall, Olivia Monteith – ABC
​
Best original music score in television

The Deep, Episode 11 - Monster Hunter - Nerida Tyson-Chew AGSC – 7Two
​
Best production design in television

The Beautiful Lie, Episode 3 - Elizabeth Mary Moore – ABC
​
Best costume design in television

The Beautiful Lie, Episode 3 - Erin Roche – ABC

Best children's television series

The Deep - Avrill Stark, Asaph Fipke – 7Two
Play School - Jan Stradling, Sophie Emtage, Sarah Dabro, Rebecca O'Brien – ABC 2

​Best documentary television program

Hitting Home - Nial Fulton, Sarah Ferguson, Ivan O'Mahoney – ABC

Best editing in a documentary

Hitting Home, Episode 1 - Andrew Cooke, Philippa Rowlands ASE – ABC
​

FOLLOW US AT:

twitter.com/ABCCommercial

For press enquiries, contact:

Matt Heffernan
ABC Commercial
p: +61 2 8333 3930

heffernan.matthew@abc.net.au