Actress Juliet Stevenson was today awarded The EON Productions Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th annual Women in Film & Television (UK) Awards.
Hosted by Sandi Toksvig and supported by headline sponsor Sky, the prestigious event saw film and television’s finest come together at London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel to celebrate the year’s most inspiring and talented women in the industry. Guests included Stephen Mangan, Mackenzie Crook, Brenda Blethyn, Michaela Coel, Katie Piper, Victoria Coren, Hayley Atwell, Katherine Ryan and Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Award winning actress, Juliet Stevenson’s career has spanned TV, film and theatre and has seen her nominated three times for the BAFTA TV Best Actress Award and once for BAFTA Film, for her leading role in Truly, Madly, Deeply. Juliet has also won Best Actress at the Olivier Awards for Death and the Maiden and has been nominated another four times. Notable film appearances include Emma, Bend It Like Beckham, Mona Lisa Smile, Being Julia, and Infamous. But the one constant is her choice of roles: “I’ve been working on this all my life, shifting the images of women on stage and screen, shifting them away from cliché.” And she says: “I’m really blown away to get this bit of recognition,”
Actress, writer, playwright and director, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was awarded the The ScreenSkills Writing Award. Phoebe is best known for creating and starring in two sitcoms, Channel 4’s Crashing and BBC Three’s adaptation of Fleabag, as well as for writing and producing the hugely popular BBC drama Killing Eve. Waller-Bridge strives to create characters who defy feminine stereotypes in TV, and in the process has made global audiences fall in love with them.
The ITV Studios Achievement of the Year Award was won by Jameela Jamil – a former presenter who is now starring in US sitcom The Good Place. Jameela is an active campaigner challenging the assumptions society makes about body size and earlier this year set up an Instagram account called ‘I weigh,’ to challenge society’s fixation with body weight. She suggests instead that her online followers consider the many other factors that make us who we are.
The Pinewood Studios Performance Award was won by Nicola Walker and announced by Stephen Mangan, her co-star in the recent drama The Split. Known for her starring roles in various British television programmes, including Collateral and Unforgotten, Nicola has also worked in theatre, radio and film. She won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and has twice been nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax.
Up and coming director and screenwriter, Rungano Nyoni won the The Netflix New Talent Award, for her award-winning work across several short and feature films. Nyoni is best known for writing and directing I Am Not a Witch, her debut feature film, which won her a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2018 and also garnered accolades from several international film festivals. Meanwhile, Hettie MacDonald received The Deluxe Director Award for her work on Howards End, Fortitude and Doctor Who.
Sandi Toksvig was presented The EIKON Presenter Award by Victoria Coren-Mitchell. Sandi was recognised for her work as a comedian and television presenter and is currently hosting The Great British Bake Off. She also presents BBC’s QI, the quiz show 1001 Things You Should Know and hosted The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4. She is also joint founder of the Women’s Equality Party.
The Film Finances Project Management Award went to production manager Arabella Gilbert for her work on a wide range of productions including Jason Bourne, The Night Manager, Killing Jesus, The Man From UNCLE and Hercules. While editor Selina MacArthur was presented with The Technicolor Creative Technology Award for her work cutting comedy, drama and action for the last decade, including Flowers, The Bisexual, Dr Who, Humans and Law & Order: UK. Her latest project included a collaboration with director Toby Haynes on the USS CALLISTER episode of Netflix’s binge worthy Black Mirror.
Katie Piper presented the The Panalux Craft Award to Eunice Huthart for her outstanding work as a stunt double for such stars as Angelina Jolie (Salt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Famke Janssen (James Bond: Golden Eye), Milla Jovovich, and Uma Thurman. Whilst Gill Isles took home The ENVY Producer Award for her work on Detectorists which won the Rose d’Or for Best Comedy Series in 2018. She was presented the award by Detectorists star Mackenzie Crook.
Lucy Ainsworth Taylor and Angela Barson picked up The Barclays Business Award as co-founders of BlueBolt, one of London’s most respected Visual Effects company. In 2009 Lucy realised there was a need for VFX companies that could cover both high-end TV and films and formed BlueBolt along with business partner Angela. Recent work includes The Little Drummer Girl, Holmes and Watson and Johnny English Strikes Again. They were presented the award by ROMA producer, Gaby Rodriguez.
American-born, award-winning documentary film-maker and producer Norma Percy picked up the The Argonon Contribution to the Medium Award for her work in documentaries, including Inside Obama’s White House, The Iraq War, Putin, Russia and the West and Iran and the West amongst many others. The BBC News and Factual Award went to Deeyah Khan – a two-time Emmy Award-winning and twice BAFTA-nominated documentary film director; she is the founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities, and third-culture children at the heart of telling their own stories.
WFTV Chair Liz Tucker: “Sifting through the huge numbers of nominations for our awards, it quickly becomes apparent just how many extraordinarily talented women there are working in film and TV today. (At the Awards) we celebrate their achievements, which I hope will give inspiration across the industry to all women battling to make a difference.”
WFTV Board member and Head of Diversity for ITV Commissioning, Ade Rawcliffe said: “One of the most striking aspects of our unique awards is the huge diversity of our winners. What our annual ceremony clearly shows is the huge achievements women from all backgrounds can make when they are given the right opportunities”.
Full list of winners:
The Barclays Business Award: Lucy Ainsworth Taylor and Angela Barson The Technicolor Creative Technology Award: Selina MacArthur The Panalux Craft Award: Eunice Huthart The ENVY Producer Award: Gill Isles The EIKON Presenter Award: Sandi Toksvig The Film Finances Project Management Award: Arabella Gilbert The Netflix New Talent Award: Rungano Nyoni The ITV Studios Achievement of the Year Award: Jameela Jamil The Deluxe Director Award: Hettie Macdonald The ScreenSkills Writing Award: Phoebe Waller-Bridge The Pinewood Studios Performance Award: Nicola Walker The BBC News and Factual Award: Deeyah Khan The Argonon Contribution to the Medium Award: Norma Percy The EON Productions Lifetime Achievement Award: Juliet Stevenson