Australian Children's Television Foundation

History

The Founding Director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation Dr Patricia Edgar AM was the driving force behind the establishment of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. As the Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's Children's Program Committee for 5 years enforcing children's program standards and the children's drama quota Edgar argued quality programs would not be made without a not-for profit production company creating exemplary programs. Her arguments caught the attention of the Victorian Minister for the Arts (and Educational Services) Norman Lacy who invited her to work with him. Lacy was an admirer of Edgar's ideas for improving the quality of children's television production. They agreed to join forces to promote the proposal for the establishment of an organisation to achieve their shared objectives. Lacy then used his ministerial membership of the Australian Education Council and the Australian Arts Ministers' Conference to initiate funding for the establishment of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. He appointed Edgar to the Arts Ministry staff to steer the project, provided office space and establishment funding, and won the support of NSW Education Minister Paul Landa with whom he co-hosted the early steering committee meetings.[1] which were chaired by Ken Watts former Chair of the Australian Film Commission.

In early 1981, Lacy addressed the Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts arguing for the strategic and national importance of a Commonwealth commitment to recurrent funding for the fledgling Foundation.[2] The Senate Standing committee report Children and Television Revisited recommended the establishment of an independent children's television production unit, which was the impetus for the foundation of the ACTF, to be funded by the Australian government with contributions from state and territory governments.

Norman Lacy's political advocacy and practical support coupled with Patricia Edgar's intellectual capacity and lobbying skills eventually won through and the Australian Children's Television Foundation was born. It was incorporated as a not-for -profit company in Victoria with Board members appointed by Governments which elected to fund it. The Commonwealth, all States and Territories provided funding support for the independent body with the

exception of Queensland. Subsequently, Patricia Edgar, the founding executive director of the Foundation, retired and Jenny Buckland was appointed CEO in July 2002. Formerly its General Manager, Buckland, a lawyer had been encouraged by Edgar to oversee the marketing contracts for ACTF produced programs. Under Edgar's direction the ACTF became its own distributor cutting out the middle man and increasing returns on program investment. Although the original concept was to develop Australian programs for Australian children the programs attracted an overseas following and by the time Edgar stepped down as Director in 2002 the ACTF was selling into 150 countries. Buckland had played a significant support role in the Foundation becoming one of the most successful international marketers of children's television programs.

The ACTF has flourished since its establishment under the leadership of Edgar, Buckland, its long term Chairman Janet Holmes à Court and a Board representative of each of the State and Commonwealth Governments that have provided the bulk of its funding requirements.

The ACTF provides funding and support to independent Australian producers and writers of children's programs.

The headquarters of the ACTF are on Smith Street in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy.

ACTF Program Awards As ACTF director, Patricia Edgar was responsible for the creation, development, financing, production and marketing of all the following productions produced 1982 -2004. She was a producer and/or executive producer. Winners The Other Facts of Life and Quest Beyond Time, Chosen out of fifteen films selected for final screening at the 11th International Kinderfi lm Festival, Frankfurt, 1985 The Other Facts of Life and Top Kid, Selected as award finalists in the Children’s Program category at the Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1986 The Other Facts of Life, Children—Original Work Award at AWGIE Awards, Sydney, 1985 Top Kid, General Award—Narrative; On Loan, Children’s Award—Social Issues; Special Commendation, General Award—Social Issues; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1986 On Loan, Certificate of Merit for Acting (Quang Chinh Dinh), St Kilda Film Festival, Melbourne, 1986 On Loan, Citation at the United Nations Association Media Peace Awards, Sydney, 1986 Top Kid, First Prize for Live Action; The Paper Boy, Honourable Mention for Live Action; The Other Facts of Life, Special Jury Prize for Cinematic Impact; Just Friends, First Prize voted by the children’s audience for the Most Popular Video; Chicago International Festival of Children’s Films, United States, 1986. As a result of the Festival’s response to the Winners series, the Jury gave a Special Award recognising the ACTF’s outstanding achievements in developing high-quality films for children’s audiences. Top Kid, Best Children’s Drama, Penguin Awards, Melbourne, 1986 Kaboodle The Huge Adventures of Trevor a Cat, Children’s Award— Best Animation, and Best Film—Tertiary Student; The Fogbrook Thing, Children’s Award—Best Narrative; Joshua Cooks, Award for Best Animation; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1987 Molly Makes Music, Second Prize, Television Production, Part of a Series—Animation, Chicago International Festival of Children’s Films, United States, 1987 Double Take, Children’s Award—Best Narrative; The Wheelie Wonder, Children’s Award—Animation; Molly Makes Music, Lock Up Your Toys and The Cure, Award finalists; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1988 Kaboodle, One of three finalists, 9th Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1988 Kaboodle, International Children’s Variety Program— Series Award, 1988 Bicentennial Pater Awards, 1988 Kaboodle, Award for Excellence—Children’s Program, Television Society of Australia Awards, Melbourne, 1988 Kaboodle 2 The Hedge & Mr Snip, The Great Hedge Race, Highly Commended Children’s Award—Animation, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1990 Kaboodle 2, Certificate of Merit—Children’s Program, Television Society of Australia Awards, Melbourne, 1990 The Great Detective, Award for Cinema Photography, Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) Awards, New South Wales, 1990 Touch the Sun Captain Johnno, Princess Kate and Devil’s Hill, Finalists at the First International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Sofia ’88, Bulgaria, 1988 Peter & Pompey, Selected for screening at festival, 8th International Film Festival for Children, Adelaide, 1988 Touch the Sun, Australasian Children’s Drama Program— Series Award, 1988 Bicentennial Pater Awards, 1988 Devil’s Hill, First Prize for Live Action Feature-length Videotape, Chicago International Festival of Children’s Films, United States, 1988 Princess Kate, George Ogilvie received a nomination for his work as director, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1988 Captain Johnno, Roger Dowling received the Gold Camera Award for his work as cinematographer, Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) Awards, New South Wales, 1988 Peter & Pompey, John Misto received the Award for Excellence—Scriptwriting—One-Off Drama or Mini-Series; Peter & Pompey, Award for Excellence— Children’s Drama; Captain Johnno, Damien Walters received the Award for Excellence—Performance by a Juvenile Actor; Television Society of Australia Awards, Melbourne, 1988 Captain Johnno, Winner—Children’s and Young People’s Section, International Emmy Awards, New York, 1988 Captain Johnno, High Distinction—Grand Jury Prize Section, 7th International Festival for Youth, Paris, France, 1989 Captain Johnno, Finalist—Children’s Section; Princess Kate, Finalist—Telefeatures Section; Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1989 Touch The Sun, Best Television Series, The Grenfell Henry Lawson Festival of Arts, New South Wales, 1989 Touch the Sun, Film and Television Award, New South Wales Children’s Week Awards, Sydney, 1989 Captain Johnno, Children’s Television Program Award, CCTV, China, 1990 Captain Johnno, First Prize—Regional Guild of Film Writers, Cinemagic Northern Ireland International Film Festival for Young People, Belfast, 1990 More Winners Boy Soldiers, Children’s Award to Cliff Green, AWGIE Awards, Melbourne, 1990 Boy Soldiers, Liv Ullmann Peace Prize, Chicago International Children’s Films Awards, United States, 1990 The Big Wish, Festival Award for Outstanding Humour, Chicago International Children’s Films Awards, United States, 1990 The Big Wish, Highly Commended, Children’s Award— Narrative Section; Boy Soldiers, Highly Commended, General Award—Narrative Section; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, 1991 The Big Wish, Selected for screening in Children’s Program category, Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1991 The Big Wish, Nominated, Best Children’s Television Drama; Mr Edmund, Nominated, Best Children’s Television Drama; The Big Wish, Cameron Nugent, Nominated, Top Television Actor Award; The Big Wish, Steve J Spears, Nominated, Best Screenplay in a Television Drama; The Big Wish, Esben Storm, Nominated for The Cameraquip Award for Best Achievement in Direction in a Television Drama; AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1991 Boy Soldiers, Finalist—Children’s and Young People’s Section, International Emmy Awards, New York, 1991 More Winners, Nominated, Best International Children’s Series, CableAce Awards, Los Angeles, United States, 1993 Boy Soldiers, Finalist, Moscow International Festival of Film and Television for Children and Youth, Russia, 1994 Round the Twist Wunderpants, Highly Commended Children’s Narrative Award, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1990 Cabbage Patch Fib, Merit to Jan Kenny for her work as cinematographer, Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) Awards, New South Wales, 1990 Round the Twist, Children’s (TV) Award to Paul Jennings, AWGIE Awards, 1990 Without My Pants and Lucky Lips, Winners, Children’s Award—Narrative Section; Lucky Lips, Winner, General Award—Narrative Section; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, 1991 Cabbage Patch Fib and Spaghetti Pig Out, Selected for screening in the Children’s Program category, Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1991 Cabbage Patch Fib, Nominated, Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1991 Wunderpants, Winner, Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1991 The Greatest Tune The Greatest Tune On Earth, Certificate of Merit— On Earth Children’s Program, Television Society Awards of Australia, 1990 Lift-Off Something Tells Me, Nominated, Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1992 A Load of Old Rubbish, Winner, Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1992 Lift-Off, Winner of the Major Award in the Children’s category, United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards, Canberra, 1992 Lift-Off, Winner, TV World Marketing Award for Best Marketing by an Independent sponsored by BBC Enterprises, TV World Marketing Awards, Cannes, France, 1993 Round the Twist 2 Little Squirt, Winner, Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1993 Nails, Winner, Children’s Adaptation (TV) awarded to Paul Jennings and Esben Storm; Copy Cat, Nominated, Children’s Adaptation (TV), AWGIE Awards, Sydney, 1993 Round the Twist 2, Finalist—Children’s and Young People’s Section, International Emmy Awards, New York, 1993 Little Squirt, Winner, Primary Student Judging Panel Award; Little Black Balls, Winner, Children’s TV Award; Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1994 Little Squirt, Winner, Age 7–12 Fiction category, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 1994 Round the Twist 2, Screened in Australian Children’s Panorama, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Egypt, 1996 Sky Trackers Skating the Dish, Winner, Best Children’s Drama Series category; Zbych Trofi miuk, Winner of Young Actor’s Award; AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1994 Sky Trackers, Winner, Golden Cairo for TV Programmes, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Egypt, 1994 Sky Trackers, Winner, Best Children’s Television Series Award, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, M Sky Trackers, Selected for the International Competition of the MediaNet Awards, presented by the Bavarian State Ministry for Education, Culture, Science and Art, Munich, 1995 Skating the Dish, Nominated, Banff Rockie Award for Best Children’s Program, Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1994 Sky Trackers, Finalist in Children’s Program, Age 7–12 category, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 1996 Lift-Off 2 Smelly the Clown, Selected in competition, Annecy Animation Festival, France, 1995 Heroes episode, Lift-Off to Fire Safety, Hoso Bunka Foundation Award for Excellence in Pre-School Programming; selected as one of seven programs included in the 1996 Japan Prize circulating library, The Japan Prize Contest, Tokyo, 1995 Lift-Off 2, Bronze World Medal in Youth Programming, Series, Age 7–12 category, 38th New York Festival Television Programming Awards, 1995 Lift-Off 2, Golden Cairo Award for Television Programmes, 6th Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Egypt, 1996 Lift-Off to Fire Safety package, Finalist, Education Resource category, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1996 Lift-Off to Fire Safety package, Honourable Mention in Education & Instruction: Safety category, The Chris Awards, 44th Columbus International Film & Video Festival, United States, 1996 Lift-Off to Fire Safety package, Honourable Mention, Video Fuego Festival, Spain, 1997 Lift-Off 2, Finalist, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 1998 I Think, Winner for Primary Student Education Resource, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 2000 I Can, Selected for entry into festival with twenty other programs from around the world (program rating the third highest on the day), China Central TV, 24 hr Children’s Festival, 2000 The Genie from Down Under Wishing and Hoping, Children’s Drama S Nomination The Genie from Down Under, Finalist—Children’s Series; and Finalist—Primary Student Judging Panel, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1996 The Genie from Down Under, Finalist, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Egypt, 1996 Wishing and Hoping, Finalist, Banff Television Festival, Canada, 1996 The Genie from Down Under, Finalist, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 1998 First Day First Day, Television Documentary, Nomination, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1996 First Day, Finalist Documentary—Social Issues; and Special Award, Hearthealth Award for Human Development, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 1996 First Day, Documentary Finalist, Cairo International Film Festival for Children, Egypt, 1996 First Day, Chris Award in Social Issues—Documentary category—The Chris Awards, 44th Columbus International Film & Video Festival, United States, 1996 First Day, Finalist Certificate in the Human Relations category, 1996 New York Festival Television Programming & Promotion Competition, 1997 First Day, The Silver Apple Award, United States National Educational Media Network Award, New York, 1997 Li’l Elvis Jones Caught in a Trap, Selected for Panorama (French version) and the Annecy International Animation Festival, France, Truckstoppers 1998 Li’l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers, Finalist, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, 1998 Caught in a Trap, Third Place, Children’s Programming Category, Certificate for Creative Excellence, US International Film and Video Festival Awards, 1998 Caught in a Trap, One of three winners for Best Children’s Program—international section, Chiarra D’Assisi Children’s Television Prize, Milan, Italy, 1998 L’il Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers, Winner, Best Animation Program broadcast on cable and satellite television, Itheme 99, France, 1999 Song Don’t Hide Your Teddy nominated for Best original song composed for a feature film, telemovie, TV series or miniseries (David Cheshire for Li’l Elvis), Australian Guild of Screen Composers Screen Music Awards, 1999 Crash Zone Dream Team and The Shadow, Selected for screening in Drama for Children and Adolescents category; Awarded Special Prize in category two—TV Drama for Children and Adolescents; Awarded The Children’s Jury Prize, Golden Chest International Festival, Bulgaria, 1999 Dream Team, Nominated for Best Direction in a Television Drama (Esben Storm) and Nominated for Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 1999 Dream Team and The Shadow, Finalists, New York Festival, United States,1999 Dream Team, Finalist, Age 11–15 Fiction category, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 2000 Dream Team, Honorable Mention, The Film Council of Greater Columbus (also known as The Chris Awards), 2000 Round the Twist 3 Whirling Derfish, Finalist in Children’s Program category (selected from 1028 entries), Banff Rockie Awards, Canada, 2000 Episodes 3, 6, 9 and 10, Nominated for Best Children’s Television Series, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 2000 The Nirandathal Beast, Selected for screening for the Ninth International Children’s Television Festival, Museum of Television & Radio, New York and California, 2000 Whirling Derfish, Winner, Children’s Program category (Writer and Director Ray Boseley), Banff Rockie Awards, Canada, 2000 Whirling Derfish, Accepted for entry into judging, BAFTA Awards, London, 2000 Tears of Innocence and Whirling Derfish, Honourable Mentions; and Whirling Derfish, Certificate of Recognition—Media of Print, The Film Council of Greater Columbus (also known as The Chris Awards), 2000 Whirling Derfish, Nominated, Best Children’s Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 2000 Whirling Derfish and Tears of Innocence, Winners, Gold Medals—Youth Category 7–12 Section, New York Festival 2000 Awards, United States Whirling Derfish and Tears of Innocence, Winners, Grand Jury Prize for Best Show—Youth Category 7–12 Section, New York Festival 2000 Awards, United States Round the Twist 3, Winner, Logie Award—Most Outstanding Children’s Program, TV Week Logie Awards, Melbourne, 2001 Round the Twist 4 The Princess and Pete, Nominated, Children’s Screen and Radio category, AWGIE Awards, 2001 Skunkman, Winner, Children’s Screen and Radio category, AWGIE Awards, 2001 Welcome Back, Qualified in top four, membership vote, BAFTA Awards, London, 2001 Round the Twist 4, Winner, Logie Award—Most Outstanding Children’s Program on Australian Television for 2001, TV Week Logie Awards, Melbourne, 2002 Round the Twist 4, Finalist, Best Children’s TV Series, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 2002 Round the Twist Selected as finalist; Won Intermedia-globe Silver Website category: Website: Design: Non-Profit-Organisation Website, World Media Festival, 2000 Chosen as one of the best sites in Australia, Sofcom Pick of the Net Awards, 2000 Kahootz Winner, Best Primary Student Education Resource, multimedia category, Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, Melbourne, 2000 Winner, two Silver Awards, AXIEM (Absolute excellence in electronic media) Awards, United States, 2003 Yolngu Boy Selected for screening, 27th Telluride Film Festival, United States, 2000 Silver Award received by Brad Shield for his cinematography, Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) Awards, Sydney, 2000 Awarded Bronze, Gryphon Prize—Free to Fly section, Giffoni Film Festival (entered by Cowboy International), Italy, 2001 Selected for three screenings, non-competitive section; Winner, People’s Choice Award; Zanzibar International Film Festival, 2001 Selected for screening, The Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Down Under Festival, New York, United States, 2001 Selected for screening, Cinemagic Film Festival, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2001 Selected for participation in The Other Childhood category, Barcelona International Television Festival, Spain, 2001 Yothu Yindi and composer Mark Ovenden, winners in the Excellence in Film or Theatrical Score category, Deadly Awards, Sydney, 2001 Selected for screening in competition, Cape Town World Cinema Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, 2001 Nominations for Ken Sallows for Best Editing, Chris Anastassiades for Best Original Screenplay, Brad Shield for Best Cinematography; John Sebastian Pilakui won Best Young Actor Award; AFI Awards, Melbourne, 2001 Accepted for competition, The Beauvais International Film Festival, France, 2002 (This festival is for the young audience in France and is judged by a jury of children.) Accepted for screening, winner of Best Music category (judged by a panel of children), Cannes Junior de Ille Maurice Festival (section of forum in the Cinéma des Antipodes), France, 2002 (entered by Bernard Bories) Selected: Telluride Film Festival; The Brooklyn Academy of Music; Beauvais International Film Festival; Cinemagic Film Festival in Northern Ireland; Barcelona International Television Festival; 2002 Crash Zone 2 Selected for screening, Tenth International Children’s Television Festival at The Museum of Television and Radio, New York and California, 2001 Skin Deep, Selected for competition, Prix Danube 2001, 16th International Television Festival of Programmes for Children and Youth, Slovak Republic Sabretooth accepted into the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, United States, 2001 (selected from 600 children’s productions from around the world) Skin Deep nominated for Best Children’s Television Drama, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 2001 Sabretooth nominated as a fi nalist, 11–15 year-old fi ction category, Prix Jeunesse, Munich, 2002 Crash Zone 2 nominated as finalist for 2002 TV Week Logie Awards (entered by the Seven network), Melbourne Noah & Saskia Nominated, 29th Gold Chest Awards, Bulgaria, 2004 Honourable mention, The Chris Awards, Columbus, United States, 2004 Paul Nichola nominated for Animation and Digital Effects, AFI Awards, Melbourne, 2004 Nominated, Best Children’s Drama (Australia), AFI Awards, Melbourne, 2004 Finalist, Banff Rockie Awards—Children’s Program category, Canada, 2004 Finalist, Logie Award, Most Outstanding Children’s Program Australia, 2005 Extra Spicy episode, Sam Carroll, co-writer of Noah & Saskia, Winner, AWGIE Award, 2004 Selected for screening, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival—Live Action Television category, 2004 Australian 1998 Governor of Victoria Export Award in the Arts Children’s and Entertainment category, Melbourne, 1998 Television 1998 Austrade Arts and Entertainment Award, National Foundation Export Awards, Sydney, 1998 1999 Governor of Victoria Export Award in the Arts and Entertainment category, Melbourne, 1999 Youth TV Prize, 18th Image and Science Conference, Paris, 2001

Productions

Some notable television series produced by ACTF with others by independent producers financially assisted by the ACTF include: