AACTA awards nominations 2022

The nominees for this year’s AACTA awards have been announced, and when it comes to comedy, it’s a mixed bag of one or two good nominations, a whole lot of terrible nominations, and some odd omissions.

AACTA Award for Best Comedy Program
Aftertaste
Five Bedrooms
Hard Quiz
Mad As Hell
Spicks and Specks
Summer Love

AACTA Award for Best Comedy Performer
Wayne Blair, Aftertaste
Patrick Brammall, Summer Love
Harriet Dyer, Summer Love
Tom Gleeson, Hard Quiz
Charlie Pickering, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering
Doris Younane, Five Bedrooms

AACTA Award for Best Stand-Up Special
Geraldine Hickey: What A Surprise
Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2022 Gala Supported by Oxfam
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2022 Opening Night Comedy AllStars Show
Tom Ballard: Enough
Tommy Little: I’ll See Myself Out

Best Digital Series or Channel
A Beginner’s Guide to Grief – Renee Mao, Julie Byrne, Kate Butler, Linda Ujuk, Anna Lindner
Black As – Joseph Smith, Dino Wanybarrngu, Chico Wanybarrnga, Jerome Lilypiyana, David Batty
Iggy & Ace – A.B Morrison, Monica Zanetti, Melissa Kelly, Hannah Ngo
It’s Fine I’m Fine – Clare Delaney, Iain Crittenden, Florence Tourbier, Stef Smith
Jimmy Rees POV – Jimmy Rees
Ozzy Man Reviews – Ethan Marrell

People who worked on comedies also got a few nominations in the production categories…

AACTA Award for Best Original Score in Television
Aftertaste – Episode 3, Benjamin Speed

AACTA Award for Best Sound in Television
Aftertaste – Episode 3, Michael Darren, Pete Smith, Josh Williams, Leah McKeown
Summer Love – Episode 1, Scott Findlay

…but nothing in the direction category.

AACTA Award for Best Direction in Drama or Comedy
Bump – Episode 1, Geoff Bennett
Heartbreak High – Episode 1, Gracie Otto
Love Me – Episode 4, Emma Freeman
Mystery Road: Origin – Episode 3, Dylan River
The Twelve – Episode 9, Daniel Nettheim

And in case you’re wondering who decides the nominations, and will decide the winners:

Voting is exclusive to AACTA members, with members drawn from every sector of the screen entertainment industry including Free-To-Air Television, Streaming/SVOD/Subscription Television, Online/Digital, and Film and Documentary.

In a further expansion of our voting process, and to continue to ensure a broad and diverse cross section of voices and lived experience contribute to our awards, all AACTA members – Professional, General, and Youth – will vote on the nominees and winners across all major Award categories. Our General membership is inclusive and open to people from all backgrounds, including those that may be facing systemic barriers to their professional development, and we welcome their contribution to the conversation around our culture and creativity.

The determination of Technical Craft nominees and winners across TV, Film and Documentary is limited to Professional members with relevant craft accreditation. Professional members are invited to submit their interest to join a branch in line with their experience and accreditation.

It’s good to see there’s a diverse bunch of people making the choices, but what percentage of them knows anything about comedy, we wonder…?