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magical night
Children’s Film & Television Awards in association with the LEGO Company
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The London Hilton on Park Lane played host last November to the biggest night of the year for the children’s film and television industry - The British Academy’s eighth annual Children’s Film & Television Awards in association with the LEGO Company.
Nigel Pickard, ITV Director of Programmes and the outgoing chairman of BAFTA’s Children’s Committee, paid tribute to those attending the Awards. “Tonight is a celebration of all those actors, pre- senters, producers, writers, directors and production teams that togeth- er make the UK television business dynamic, vibrant and one of the leading producers of children’s programming in the world.
“Many children can choose from over twenty dedicated chil- dren’s channels presenting a range of programming that is rich, innovative, diverse and, above all, hugely entertaining. This is vitally important as we are creating the viewing habits of tomorrow.”
Fearne Cotton proved a extremely popular host with an infectious enthusiasm and a respect for the work being honoured. The presenter’s line up featured other familiar faces from children’s televi-
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sion – Michael Underwood, Stephen Mulhern - in addition to best selling author Jacqueline Wilson; BBC jour- nalist Rageh Omaar; actresses Michelle Collins, EastEnders’ Michelle Ryan and Hollyoaks’ Elize Du Toit and stand-up comedian James Campbell.
There was something of a transatlantic travel theme with Seb Clover, the youngest single- handed sailor to cross the Atlantic and, Mike Bannister, the pilot on Concorde’s last flight from New York, both presenting awards.
Young opera star Hayley Westenra performed a track from her platinum-selling album, Pure, and there was a surprise guest appearance from Roland Rat, who entertained the snappers on the red carpet when he arrived in his chauffeur-driven Audi.
Colin Salmon took precious time out of his 48-hour furlough from film- ing Alien Vs Predator to present the LEGO/BAFTA Kids Vote alongside LEGO Company’s Marketing Vice President, Ulrik Gernow.
Ulrik explained LEGO’s com- mitment to both the Awards and, in particular, the LEGO/BAFTA Kids Vote: “At LEGO Company we believe passionately in nurturing and stimulating the curiosity, cre-
ativity and imagination of young people. Film and television are great media for achieving this.”
And thousands of children across the country took the opportunity to have their say and voted online for their favourite film from a top ten list. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets worked its magic with a landslide win followed by The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.
An extremely excited and grateful Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) accepted the LEGO/BAFTA Kids Vote on “behalf of the humongous Harry Potter family.” The competition, which ran alongside the voting, was won by Ashleigh Masson from the Orkney Islands and the winning schools were Larkswood Junior in Chingford and Broadwater High School in Godalming.
Christopher Grace, widely regarded as the “founder of the animation industry in Wales”, was the popular recipient of The Special Award.
Chris has spent more than 30 years in Welsh broadcasting, and pioneered co-productions with the former Eastern-bloc countries. His diverse credits include Super Ted, Fireman Sam, the Prince of Wales’
The Legend of Lochnagar, award winning The Canterbury Tales, Famous Fred and multi country projects such as Animated Tales of the World and Shakespeare – The Animated Tales.
BAFTAs were won by a mixture of established favourites and new faces. Matt Baker was Best Presenter for the second year run- ning; Bob the Builder and Hilltop Hospital won, having been previ- ously nominated three and two times respectively; the low-budg- et Kiwi feature Whale Rider added a BAFTA to its numerous awards and new commissions, Raven and Bootleg, won in Factual and Drama.
Finally a number of thank yous: to our incredibly supportive spon- sors, the LEGO Company; the Children’s Committee for their ongoing commitment to the Awards and the development of a year round children’s pro- gramme at BAFTA, awards pro- ducer Marc Baker and awards co-ordinator Kelly Smith.
Lisa Prime – Children’s Awards Officer
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