Nominations announced for 2022 Audio Production Awards

Poppy Jay & Rubina Pabani, stars of BBC Sounds podcast Brown Girls Do It Too, have been announced as hosts. They said: “TV has Ant and Dec, Comedy has French and Saunders, Podcasting now has Poppy and Rubina. Glad to be of service. We’re thrilled to be hosting this year, the APAs are letting us run riot and celebrate the best creators of British audio today”.  

Poppy & Rubina have been confirmed as the hosts of this year’s Audio Production Awards ceremony to be held on Wednesday 23rd November.

The Awards, sponsored by Audible, will be held at a gala evening at the BFI on London’s South Bank.

The APAs, organised by AudioUK (the trade body which champions and supports independent audio production businesses in the UK), celebrate outstanding achievement in audio production across a huge range of audio content including; podcasts, audiobooks, sound design, radio, presenting and more.

Producer, Sound Designer and Presenter Axel Kacoutié received nominations across three categories, as did Producer Victoria Ferran, nominated for Best Arts & Culture Producer, Best Entertainment Producer and Producer of the Year.

Presenter category nominees include talkSPORT’s Lianne Sanderson for Best New Voice, Claudia Winkleman and Rob Beckett for Best Presenter, BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Throwback Party hosts Joelah, Keke and DJ Silk for Best Ensemble Cast, and Minnie Driver for Bonnier Books UK for Best Narrator.

Carousel, an organisation supporting learning disabled people to fulfil their creative ambitions in the arts, received a first time nomination for the Grassroots Production Award. Newcomer Talia Augustidis for Message Heard received two nominations for Best New Producer and Best New Voice. Plus a new category for 2022, Publisher or Network of the Year, proved “tough competition”, said judges.

Tickets to attend the awards ceremony on sale now: bit.ly/APAs_2022

Bernard Achampong, Founder of Unedited, Vice Chair of AudioUK and Chair of Judges, said:

“This year we received a record breaking number of entries across the 22 categories which reflects the sheer growth, creativity and talent working in this space. It is so encouraging to see, and such an exciting industry to be a part of. Our vision is to champion the most outstanding producers whose work we will listen back to in 20 years time and all be proud of. Congratulations to all the nominees, I’m looking forward to raising a glass to the winners of 2022”.

Chloe Straw, Managing Director of AudioUK, said:

“Thank you to everyone who entered the Audio Production Awards this year – it is fantastic that we have had a record number of entries once again, testament to the growth of the UK audio industry, and the people who make such quality audio content.

Thank you to our judges who give their expertise so willingly to help decide the shortlist and winners. We have an excellent team who help run the awards; thank you to Sophie Cantopher and Ria Penido; thanks to our excellent Chair of Judges, Bernard Achampong; and thanks to Yassine Senghor who works with us consulting on equality, diversity and inclusion.

A huge thank you to our lead sponsor Audible, without whom the awards would not be able to happen, and to Amazon Music & Wondery who have joined us this year to sponsor the Pay What You Can scheme. Thank you also to our key sponsors: BBC Sounds, BetterHelp, In:Quality, The Podcasting Seriously Awards Fund, The Podcast Show and Radiocentre.

Finally, congratulations to all the nominees. I’m incredibly proud of the quality of work that we hear in the UK audio industry and the brilliant people who make it. I look forward to seeing you all on the 23rd November at the BFI”.

Full list of Nominees for the APAs 2022 below.

Audio Production Awards 2022 Nominees

Best Arts & Culture Producer

Hannah Dean – Falling Tree Productions

Hannah Hufford – BBC Audio

Geoff Bird – Freelance

Lyndsay Fenner & Victoria Lloyd – Storyglass

Steven Rajam – Overcoat Media

Victoria Ferran – Just Radio

Best Audiobook Producer

Chris Thompson – Penguin Random House

David Beck – Wireless Theatre for Audible

Kathleen Moroney – Red Apple Creative for Audible

Laura-Leigh Smith – String and Tins for Audible

Lily Ridett – Freelance

Tanya Hougham – HarperCollins

Best Branded Sound Producer

Adam Venton – Little Monster Media

Ali Rezakhani – BBC Sounds

Chris Nicoll – WIZZFX

Kenny Southavy – Reelworld

Luke Berry – BBC Popular Music Station Sound

Sam Parker – WIZZFX

Best Drama & Fiction Producer

Andrew Mark Sewell – B7 Productions

Barnaby Eaton-Jones & Ian Haig – Idea Hat Productions

Celia de Wolff – Pier Productions

Jacqueline Rayner – Big Finish Productions

Melanie Harris – Sparklab Productions

Nicolas Jackson – Afonica

Best Ensemble Cast

Elis James & John Robins – Audio Always

Helen Brown, Terri Sweeney, Emma Goswell & Beena Khetani – Effin Hormones

Joelah, Keke & DJ Silk – 1Xtra’s Throwback Party

Kat Anderson & Natalia Anderson – Expat Immigrant Podcast

Kim Davis & Raffaella Coleman  – The Scene

William Hanson & Jordan North – Audio Always

Best Entertainment Producer

Adem Waterman – Absolute Radio

Lorna Skingley – 7digital

Lucy Dearlove – Storyglass

Meera Kumar – Freelance

Ore Olukoga – TBI Media

Victoria Ferran – Just Radio

Best Factual Producer Sponsored by In:Quality

Axel Kacoutié – Falling Tree Productions

Eva Krysiak – Freelance

Joshua Kelly – The Guardian

Kate Taylor – Audible

Redzi Bernard – Falling Tree Productions

Russell Finch – Wondery

Best Lifestyle & Society Producer (New for 2022) Sponsored by BetterHelp

Andrew Gold – Freelance

Anouszka Tate – Freelance

Lina Prestwood – Scenery Studios

Sangeeta Pillai – Soul Sutras

Selina Ream – Somethin’ Else

Sylvie Carlos – Unedited

Best Music Producer

Arthur Hagues – Prison Radio Association

Helen Weatherhead – Audio Always

Jack Howson

Katie Callin – Reduced Listening

Keana Bernard – BBC Audio

Nate Goodman – We Are Grape

Best Narrator

Andy Serkis – HarperCollins

Julie Hesmondhalgh – HarperCollins

Kristin Atherton – Penguin Random House

Minnie Driver – Bonnier Books UK

Tom Alexander – HarperCollins

Tracy Wiles – Almost Tangible

Best New Producer Sponsored by BBC Sounds

Charlotte North – Whistledown

Julian Maclurg – Freelance

Pippa Smith – Novel

Redzi Bernard – Falling Tree Productions

Rufaro Faith Mazarura – Audio Always

Talia Augustidis – Message Heard

Best New Voice Sponsored by BBC Sounds

Afrodeutsche – Reform Radio

Cara McGoogan – The Telegraph

Lianne Sanderson – talkSPORT

Lily Baldwin – Audible

Peter Waring – Whistledown

Talia Augustidis – Message Heard

Best News & Current Affairs Producer

Ant Adeane – Freelance

Daniel Rosney – BBC Newsbeat

Edward Drummond – The Times and The Sunday Times

James Shield – The Times and The Sunday Times

Ruth Abrahams – Freelance

Taryn Siegel – The Times and The Sunday Times

Best Presenter Sponsored by The Podcast Show

Axel Kacoutié – Falling Tree Productions

Claudia Winkleman – TBI Media

Danny Robins – Bafflegab Productions

Elis James & John Robins – Audio Always

John Sweeney – Chalk and Blade

Rob Beckett – TBI Media

Best Sound Design Producer

Axel Kacoutié – Freelance

Benbrick

Hannah Dean – Falling Tree Productions

John Wakefield – Audible

Kit Milsom – Mags Creative

Steve Urquhart – Freelance

Best Sports Producer

Adonis Pratsides – The Athletic UK

Chessie Bent – TBI Media

Christian Hewgill – BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat

Joel Grove – Guardian News and Media

Isabel Minter – talkSPORT

Olly Clink – talkSPORT

Gethin Thomas Award for Best Comedy Producer

David Tyler – Pozzitive

Ed Morrish – Lead Mojo Productions

Gus Beattie – Gusman Productions

Gwyn Rhys Davies – BBC Studios

Kurt Brookes – Made In Manchester

Matt Thomas – Audio Always

Grassroots Production Awards Sponsored by Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund

Boz Temple-Morris & Fin Kennedy – The Waves

Carousel

Miranda Rae – Afrikan Queens

Modus Arts C.I.C – Tape Letters

Steve Urquhart – Doing Bird

Vic Elizabeth Turnbull – MIC Media

Producer of the Year (New for 2022)

Hana Walker-Brown – Broccoli Productions / Freelance

Hannah Dean – Falling Tree Productions

Jack Howson

Jon Holmes – unusual

Steve Urquhart – Freelance

Victoria Ferran – Just Radio

Production Company of the Year Sponsored by Radiocentre

Holy Mountain

Reduced Listening

TBI Media

Unedited

We Are Grape

Whistledown

Publisher or Network of the Year (New for 2022)

Crowd Network

Fun Kids

Mags Creative

Resonance FM

Sky News

talkSPORT

The Sustainability Award (New for 2022)

Jo Kennedy & Cathy Shaw – Nature Tripping

Loftus Media – Funghi: The New Frontier

The Long Time Academy – Scenery Studios

Lucia Scazzocchio – Wild Eye

Reform Radio

Resonance FM

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More details on the APAs:

Judging

The Audio Production Award Judges are selected from a base of previous years, recom- mendations from those Judges, and the industry. We work each year to expand the net- work of Judges further, reflecting the full diversity of the audio production sector. We ask the Judges to consider and acknowledge resources (or lack of) available to entrants and challenges potentially faced in producing the content. We strive for fairness and quality and will allocate our Judges to categories in a way that eliminates any conflict of interest. Full list of Judges available to view here: https://audioproductionawards.awardstage.com/#!/judges

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

As a trade body, it is vital for AudioUK and the Audio Production Awards to fully reflect the diversity of our sector and this remains at the core of our work. The APAs should be rep- resentative of all platforms: podcasts, audiobooks and radio; individuals, large and small companies; based across the UK. The APAs promotes inclusivity within our industry around gender / gender identity, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identities, disability, age, socio-economic, and more. We work with EDI consultant Yassine Senghor from Confronting Change on the Awards.

Audio Production Awards proceeds

Any profits from the Audio Production Awards are used for training for the audio production sector via our Audiotrain programme. Audiotrain webinars can be seen here: https:// www.audiouk.org.uk/audiotrain/

The Awards Ceremony

This year’s Audio Production Awards, sponsored by Audible, are at the BFI Bar & Kitchen, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XT, on Wednesday 23rd November,  6:00-11:00pm. Hosts for the evening are the stars of BBC Sounds podcast Brown Girls Do It Too; Poppy Jay & Rubina Pubani. Dress code: Awards Party Wear.

Tickets:

Standard tickets cost £60+VAT. We’re pleased to offer Pay What You Can discounted tickets for freelancers and individuals who would otherwise find the cost of a ticket a barrier to attending. Thank you to Amazon Music and Wondery, our Pay What You Can Scheme partners, for enabling this. If you would like to access a discounted ticket please email Ria on [email protected]. Please note these tickets are limited and based on a first-come first-served basis. We ask that if you can afford the standard price ticket, please do so as this helps support the work of AudioUK, Audiotrain and the UK Audio Industry.

A special thanks to our key sponsors: BBC Sounds; BetterHelp; In:Quality; The Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund; The Podcast Show; Radiocentre.