New Zealand Television Awards Announces 2022 Winners

(Auckland - November 24, 2022)  Aotearoa's television industry gathered to celebrate the sector’s achievements tonight as the 2022 New Zealand Television Awards winners were announced. Hosted by Kura Forrester, the sold-out red carpet gala event was held at Auckland’s Shed 10.

Celebrity Treasure Island host Bree Tomasel won the publicly-voted Television Personality of the Year category this year, while veteran children’s television producer Janine Morrell-Gunn was honoured as this year’s TV Legend. Morrell-Gunn’s award was presented by broadcaster Stacey Morrison.

The Panthers, produced by Tavake Limited for TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+, dominated the scripted categories at tonight’s presentation, winning eight awards including NZ On Air Best Drama. The historical drama series which chronicles the rise of the Polynesian Panthers in 1970s Tāmaki Makaurau also won Best Post Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Contribution to a Soundtrack, Best Editing: Drama/Comedy Drama, Images & Sound Best Cinematography: Drama/Comedy Drama and of the show’s three director finalists, Miki Magasiva was named Screen Auckland Best Director: Drama/Comedy Drama.

The Pact, KOHA’s poignant family drama exploring end of life choice which premiered on TVNZ+, won a total of four awards including Best Script: Drama presented to Harry McNaughton and Natalie Medlock as well as three out of tonight’s four performance awards: Best Supporting Actress for Timmie Cameron, Best Actress for Irene Wood and Best Actor which was presented to 2021 Television Legend honouree, Ian Mune.

Rounding out the acting award winners is Scotty Cotter who was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Plus6Four’s Papakura-set TVNZ+ comedy series ‘Kura.  

In the comedy categories, Pax Assadi’s semi-biographical comedy Raised by Refugees which played on Prime and Neon was named Best Comedy while Tom Sainsbury won Best Script: Comedy for Wellington Paranormal, the show’s third consecutive win in this category.

Three’s Newshub has been awarded Best News Coverage for the fourth year running, this time for its reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 1 News’ Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver was named Reporter of the Year and Jack Tame, the eponymous host of TVNZ’s Q + A won Best Presenter: News & Current Affairs. The other news, current affairs and sport wins included: Newsroom for Best Current Affairs Programme for Newsroom Investigates: Breaking Bad Practice, the follow-up to its 2020 investigation of Oranga Tamariki’s practice of ‘reverse uplifts’, Sky Sport for Best Sports Programme for 1-39: The Highlanders Story and  TVNZ’s Te Karere which won Te Māngai Pāho Best Reo Māori Programme.  

In the factual and documentary categories, Stuff Circuit received the award for NZ On Air Best Documentary for Disordered, a multi-part investigation into Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in New Zealand,  Black Iris Limited’s Whakaata Māori series Chatham Islanders won Best Factual Series, Bevan Crothers won Best Camerawork: Documentary or Factual for his work on Whakaata Māori’s Moko, Chris Graham won Best Director: Documentary/Factual for TVNZ+’s Scribe: Return of the Crusader and Prisca Bouchet, Julie Alp and Annie Goldson won Best Editing: Documentary or Factual for the Prime TV documentary A Mild Touch of Cancer. 

In the reality and entertainment categories: Attitude Pictures’ groundbreaking primetime TVNZ 2 series Down for Love won Best Original Reality Series while Pango Productions’ second season of Match Fit for Three won Best Format Reality Series; NZ Opera and Greenstone TV’s feature screen production of Handel's baroque masterpiece Semele was named Best Entertainment Programme and Tāmati Rimene-Sproat was named Best Presenter: Entertainment for Great Southern TV’s Hongi to Hāngi: And Everything In Between and Great Southern TV’s The Casketeers was awarded Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori Programme - the show previously won the category in 2019. 

Other winners on the night included: SweetShop & Green and Studio Local’s animated series Bird’s Eye View which was named NZ On Air Best Children’s Programme; Gary Mackay, Alistair Kay, Anneke Botha who won Best Production Design for Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop; Amanda Ashton who was awarded Best Makeup Design for her work on Kura Productions’ and Whakaata Māori’s bilingual youth drama series Ahikāroa; David Long & Stephen Gallagher who won Images & Sound Best Original Score for Mystic; Mitchell Hawkes who was awarded Best Director: Multi Camera for Kura Productions’ and South Pacific Pictures TVNZ 2 special Stan Walker: Impossible Live; and Kahawai Productions’ Celebrate Matariki, broadcast on various platforms, which won Best Live Event Coverage.

The 2022 New Zealand Television Award winners are: 

Best Post Production Design 
James Gardner
The Panthers
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Best Production Design
Gary Mackay - Production Designer, Alistair Kay Supervising Art Director, Anneke Botha - Set Decorator
Cowboy Bebop
Intergalactic Productions Limited / Netflix

Best Costume Design 
Sammy Salsa
The Panthers
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Best Makeup Design
Amanda Ashton
Ahikāroa: Season 4
Kura Productions / Whakaata Māori

Best Contribution to a Soundtrack
Native Audio
The Panthers
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Images & Sound Best Original Score
David Long & Stephen Gallagher
Mystic: Series 2
Libertine Pictures & Slim Film + TV / TVNZ 2

Best Editing: Documentary or Factual
Prisca Bouchet, Julie Alp and Annie Goldson
A Mild Touch of Cancer
Occasional Productions / Prime

Best Editing: Drama / Comedy Drama 
Sacha Campbell
The Panthers
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Best Camerawork: Documentary or Factual
Bevan Crothers
Moko
Velvet Stone Media Ltd / Whakaata Māori

Images & Sound Best Cinematography: Drama / Comedy Drama 
Andrew McGeorge
The Panthers
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Best Script: Comedy
Tom Sainsbury
Wellington Paranormal - Series 4, Episode 4
New Zealand Documentary Board / TVNZ 2

Best Script: Drama
Harry McNaughton and Natalie Medlock
The Pact, Episode 2
KOHA Productions / TVNZ+

Best Director: Multi Camera
Mitchell Hawkes
Stan Walker: Impossible Live
Kura Productions / South Pacific Pictures / TVNZ 2

Best Director: Documentary/Factual 
Chris Graham
Scribe: Return of the Crusader
The Down Low Concept / TVNZ+

Screen Auckland Best Director: Drama / Comedy Drama
Miki Magasiva
The Panthers, Episode 1
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

Best Live Event Coverage
Celebrate Matariki
Brendon Butt, Tobias Jones
Kahawai Productions / Various

Best Supporting Actress 
Timmie Cameron
The Pact
KOHA Productions / TVNZ+

Best Supporting Actor 
Scotty Cotter
Kura
Plus6Four Entertainment / TVNZ+

Reporter of the Year 
Barbara Dreaver
1 News
TVNZ / TVNZ 1

Best Presenter: Entertainment
Tāmati Rimene-Sproat
Hongi To Hāngī: And Everything In Between
Great Southern Television Limited / TVNZ 1

Best Presenter: News And Current Affairs 
Jack Tame
Q+A with Jack Tame
TVNZ / TVNZ 1

Best Actor
Ian Mune
The Pact
KOHA Productions / TVNZ+

Best Actress
Irene Wood
The Pact
KOHA Productions / TVNZ+

Television Legend
Janine Morrell-Gunn

Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori Programme 
The Casketeers
Annabelle Lee-Mather, Philip Smith, Viv Wigby-Ngatai, Chris Anderton, Francis Tipene, Kaiora Tipene
Great Southern Television Limited / TVNZ 1

Te Māngai Pāho Best Reo Māori Programme
Te Karere
Rapaera Tawhai, Ripeka Timutimu, Scotty Morrison
TVNZ / TVNZ 1

NZ On Air Best Pasifika Programme
The Panthers 
Halaifonua Finau, Tom Hern, Vea Mafile'o, Chris Graham, Mario Faumui
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

NZ On Air Best Children's Programme
Bird's Eye View
Sharlene George, Gal Greenspan, Tania Smiler, Gemma Easton, Pete Circuitt, Jared Kahi
SweetShop & Green and Studio Local / HEIHEI

Best Sports Programme
1-39: The Highlanders Story
Ross Karl, Mark Malaki- Williams
Sky Sport

Best Entertainment Programme 
Semele
Rebecca Tansley, Rochelle Leef, Tash Christie
N.Z. Opera & Greenstone TV / Sky Arts

Best Factual Series 
Chatham Islanders
Kathleen Mantel
Black Iris Limited / Whakaata Māori

Best Current Affairs Programme
Newsroom Investigates: Breaking Bad Practice
Melanie Reid, Mark Jennings, Bonnie Sumner, Paul Enticott
Newsroom

Best Original Reality Series 
Down for Love
Robyn Paterson, Candida Beveridge
Attitude Pictures / TVNZ 2

Best Format Reality Series 
Match Fit - Series 2
Aaron Dolbel, Mark Taylor, Bailey Mackey
Pango Productions / Warner Bros. Discovery/Three

Television Personality of the Year
Bree Tomasel
Celebrity Treasure Island (TVNZ 2)

Best Comedy 
Raised by Refugees
Bronwynn Bakker, Cam Bakker, Pax Assadi
Kevin & Co / Prime

NZ On Air Best Documentary
Stuff Circuit - Disordered
Paula Penfold, Louisa Cleave, Toby Longbottom, Phil Johnson
Stuff

Best News Coverage
Russia Invades Ukraine
Newshub
Warner Bros. Discovery / Newshub

NZ On Air Best Drama
The Panthers 
Halaifonua Finau, Tom Hern, Vea Mafile'o, Chris Graham, Mario Faumui
Tavake Limited / TVNZ 1 & TVNZ+

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