The Audio Production Awards, sponsored by Audible, were held at a gala event on Wednesday 22 November at the BFI on London’s South Bank. Nish Kumar & Coco Khan, presenters of weekly British political comedy podcast, Pod Save the UK, were this year’s hosts.
The APAs, organised by AudioUK (the trade body providing business support and growth to professionals making podcasts, radio and audiobooks), celebrate outstanding achievement in
audio production across a huge range of audio content including; podcasts, audiobooks, sound design, radio, presenting and more.
This year’s winners include Overcoat Media (above), which was named Production Company of the Year and Jack Suddaby (Beautiful Strangers), who won five awards in total – gold for Best Arts & Culture Producer, silver for Best Lifestyle & Society Producer, and three bronze awards for his podcast Time & Again. The highly competitive Best Factual Producer award went to Joe Kent (BBC News Long Form Audio) for his work on the narrative podcast The Shamima Begum Story.
The Sustainability Award went to Talia Randall for her BBC Sounds podcast, Blossom Trees & Burnt Out Cars, commissioned as part of the inaugural BBC Sounds Audio Lab Scheme. Audio newcomer Kwesia, aka City Girl in Nature, was awarded Best New Voice for Peanut & Crumb’s Get Birding podcast Season 3, and Becky Green (Audio Always) took home the gold for Best New Producer.
Anishka Sharma was crowned Producer of the Year and Resonance won Publisher or Network of the Year for the consecutive year. The AudioUK Award was presented to Reform Radio for their outstanding work and contribution to the Manchester audio community, and wider UK audio industry.
Chloe Straw, Managing Director of AudioUK, said:
“This is my third year at the awards, and it is great to see them change and grow each time.
It has been a challenging year in the audio industry and the wider world, and the awards gave us the opportunity to take a breath to celebrate the incredible talent that we see in the UK, across the many strands of podcasting, radio, audiobooks and sound design. The awards celebrate those right across the industry, and audio reaches far and wide: we have seen winners from production businesses, from freelancers, from platforms, from brands, from the BBC, from publishers. I am delighted that we get to bring all areas of the industry together, this really is a unique event.
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, I am so pleased that we get to put on this
show every year to celebrate you all, your talent and your productions. Thank you to our headline sponsor Audible, who work with us every year to put the awards on, to Amazon Music and Wondery for partnering with us on the Pay What You Can Scheme again, and to the Entry Level Audio Network, who partnered with us on the pre-show mixer, for people who are new to the industry or who were coming alone.
Thank you to all of our key sponsors: BBC Sounds; BetterHelp; In:Quality; Morley Radio; The Podcast Show; Sue Terry Voices; United Voices; and whynow Media. And thank you to our media partners: Community Media Association, Content Is Queen, Creative Mentor Network, Disruptive Talent Group, Earworm, North Media Talent, Pineapple Audio Production, Pod Bible, Podfollow, Podium.me, Podnews, Podomedy, PodPod, Pospike, RadioToday, Reel2Media, SRA, Sport Social Podcast Network, The Radio Academy and WIZZFX. Partnerships are so important in the growth of the audio industry, and it has been a pleasure working with you all.
Finally thank you to the team behind the awards – all of the excellent judges; Chair of Judges
Joby Waldman; EDI consultant Yassine Senghor; Executive Producer Sophie Cantopher, Lead Producer Katie Banham.
See you again next year!”
Audio Production Awards – Winners 2023
Best New Producer sponsored by BBC Sounds
GOLD – Becky Green – Audio Always
SILVER – Silvia Malnati – Reduced Listening
BRONZE – Tess Davidson – Freelance
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Sam Tyler – There Are No Greater Heroes
Nominees
Jill Achineku – Whistledown
Talia Augustidis – Broccoli Productions/Freelance
Best Factual Producer
GOLD – Joe Kent – BBC News Long Form Audio
SILVER – Arlie Adlington – Overcoat Media
BRONZE – Phoebe McIndoe – Falling Tree Productions
Nominees
Anishka Sharma
Dan Tierney – BBC Audio North
Scarlett O’Malley – Little Cactus
Best Entertainment Producer
GOLD – David Manero – Listen
SILVER – Amy Johnson – BBC Radio 1
BRONZE – Kay Hutchison – Belle Media
Nominees
James Payne – Folding Pocket
Lucy Hunt – Listen
Matt Thomas – Audio Always
Best Arts & Culture Producer
GOLD – Jack Suddaby – Beautiful Strangers
SILVER – Peter Curran – The Foghorn Company
BRONZE – Geoff Bird – Freelance
Nominees
Becca Bryers – BBC Audio
Michael Umney – Freelance
Natalie Steed – Rhubarb Rhubarb
Best Lifestyle & Society Producer sponsored by BetterHelp
GOLD – Sylvie Carlos – Freelance
SILVER – Jack Suddaby – Beautiful Strangers
BRONZE – Bea Duncan – Broccoli Productions
Nominees
Beth Madden – Prison Radio Association
Ruth Abrahams – The Guardian
Ryan Winders – This Is Distorted
This award is sponsored by BetterHelp. Life would be so much easier if it came with a user manual. Producing a podcast would be, too. When things feel difficult, BetterHelp is an accessible and affordable option for therapy. With nearly 35,000 therapists and over 3 million people served worldwide, they know a thing or two about helping people navigate life. BetterHelp is proud to be the leading global podcast advertiser, and to support the Audio Production Awards here in the UK.
Best Audiobook Producer sponsored by Sue Terry Voices
GOLD – Laura-Leigh Smith – String & Tins
SILVER – Jessica Beck – The Guardian
BRONZE – Caroline Raphael – Dora Productions
Nominees
Christopher Thompson – Penguin Random House
Lily Ridett – Freelance/Penguin Random House
Nathan Freeman – Granny Eats Wolf
Best Drama & Fiction Producer
GOLD – Nicolas Jackson – Afónica
SILVER – Anishka Sharma
BRONZE – Rooks Nest – Algorithms
Nominees
David Beck – Wireless Theatre Company
Jack Bowman – Freelance
Nicholas Newton – Promenade Productions
Best Narrator sponsored by United Voices
GOLD – Eva Feiler – Almost Tangible
SILVER – Kristin Atherton – HarperCollins Publishers
BRONZE – Natasha Miller – Miller Libertine
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Oliver Jeffers – HarperCollins Publishers
Nominees
Kerry Godliman – Wondery
Paapa Essiedu – Audible Studios
Best Ensemble Cast
GOLD – Betty Glover, Christian Hewgill & Greg James – The Fast and the Curious
SILVER – William Hanson and Jordan North – Help I Sexted My Boss
BRONZE – The Ensemble Cast of Bess Loves Porgy
Nominees
Coco Khan and Nish Kumar – Pod Save the UK
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders – Titting About
The Kurupt FM Podkast – series 3′ (Audible)
Best Presenter sponsored by Morley Radio
GOLD – Catherine Carr – Loftus Media
SILVER – Jack Saunders – Listen
BRONZE – James Grasby – National Trust
Nominees
Justin Dealey – BBC Three Counties Radio
Niall Paterson – Sky News
Scarlett O’Malley – Freelance/Little Cactus
Morley Radio, a proud sponsor of the Best Presenter award, is delighted to present a one-year residency opportunity, tailor-made for the passionate individuals who have submitted their work in this category.
Morley Radio is committed to fostering the growth of individuals deeply passionate about the radio and podcasting industries.
Best New Voice sponsored by BBC Sounds
GOLD – Kwesia aka City Girl in Nature – Peanut & Crumb
SILVER – Ali Ali – Prison Radio Association
BRONZE – Aggie Chambré – Politico/Whistledown
Nominees
Coco Khan – Reduced Listening
Natasha Miller – Miller Libertine
Phoebe McIndoe – Falling Tree Productions
Best Branded Content Producer
GOLD – Daniel Prior – Absolute Radio Network
SILVER – Adam Venton – Little Monster Media
BRONZE – Natalie Steed – Rhubarb Rhubarb
Nominees
Arthur Hagues – Prison Radio Association
Geoff Bird – Freelance
James Stodd – Greatest Hits Radio
Best Music Producer
GOLD – Katie Callin – Reduced Listening
SILVER – Tom Whalley – Freelance
BRONZE – Silas Gray – Freelance
Nominees
Bradley Duggan – Listen
Gabriel Francis – Reduced Listening
Shreni Yajnik – Listen
Best Comedy Producer (Gethin Thomas Award)
GOLD – Joe Fraser – Baby Cow
SILVER – Simon Nicholls – Freelance
BRONZE – Jon Holmes – unusual
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Lyndsay Fenner – Mighty Bunny
Nominees
Lance Dann – Rezilience
Matt Thomas – Audio Always
Best News & Current Affairs Producer
GOLD – James Tindale – Whistledown
SILVER – James Shield – The Times and The Sunday Times
BRONZE – Alex Bishop – Reduced Listening
Nominees
Rebecca Kesby – CTVC
Ruth Abrahams – The Guardian
Will Roe – The Times and The Sunday Times
Best Sports Producer sponsored by In:Quality
GOLD – Abi Paterson – The Athletic
SILVER – Matt Tasker – Audio Always
BRONZE – Justin Dealey – BBC Three Counties Radio
Nominees
Adonis Pratsides – The Athletic
Katie Sayer – unusual/Pozzitive
Sarah Stolarz – Chalk + Blade
Best Sound Design Producer
GOLD – John Wakefield – Hat Trick
SILVER – Emma Barnaby – Freelance
BRONZE – Jack Suddaby – Beautiful Strangers
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Nicholas Alexander – Novel
Nominees
Jon Holmes & Tony Churnside – unusual
Jon Nicholls – Almost Tangible
AudioUK Award
Reform Radio
The Amazon Music & Wondery Grassroots Production Awards
GOLD – Made by Mortals – Armchair Adventures
SILVER – Transmission Roundhouse Podcast Academy
BRONZE – Jack Suddaby – Time & Again
Nominees
Behear
Multitrack
Prison Radio Association
The Sustainability Award
GOLD – Talia Randall – Blossom Trees & Burnt Out Cars
SILVER – Sarah Craig – Toughie
BRONZE – BCG & Lower Street – Climate Vision 2050
Nominees
Dirty Films & Story Hunter – Climate of Change Season 2
Eloise Stevens – Sustainability Acupuncture
Whistledown – Our Broken Planet
Publisher or Network of the Year sponsored by The Podcast Show
GOLD – Resonance
SILVER – Wondery
BRONZE – BBC Asian Network
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Podimo
Nominees
Audible
The Economist Podcasts
Producer of the Year sponsored by Audible
GOLD – Anishka Sharma
SILVER – Ruth Abrahams – The Guardian & Whistledown
BRONZE – Jack Suddaby – Beautiful Strangers
Nominees
Bea Duncan – Broccoli Productions
Katie Callin – Reduced Listening
Steven Rajam – Overcoat Media
Production Company of the Year sponsored by whynow Media
GOLD – Overcoat Media
SILVER – Prison Radio Association
BRONZE – Fresh Air
Nominees
Audible Studios UK
Reduced Listening
TellTale