Taut mystery drama The Gone and the local adaptation of the moving and groundbreaking social experiment The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes have both been named winners at this year’s New Zealand Television Awards.
The Gone took home a total of five awards including best drama, best cinematography (drama/comedy drama), best original score, best costume design and best makeup design. The deftly crafted, character-driven drama launched earlier this year on TVNZ, with 1.17 million New Zealanders tuning into at least one episode across its acclaimed run – nearly 25% of the entire population. The series recently launched on RTÉ in Ireland, where the premiere episode attracted a 30.2% share, 330,000 viewers for RTÉ (Ireland) – more than double the broadcaster’s main competitor. The Gone is produced by Kingfisher Films & Keeper Pictures in association with Southern Light Films for TVNZ (New Zealand) and RTÉ Ireland.
The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes has won best format reality series at the New Zealand Television Awards. The series premiered on TVNZ this June to stellar ratings – increasing the broadcaster’s average audience in its time slot for the four weeks prior. Over the course of the series, almost a quarter of the AP5+ population (24.7%) tuned in to watch the show – which achieved a combined share of 31.4% of all viewers.
The social experiment is a local adaptation of the Grierson Award-winning format The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, originally produced by CPL Productions for Channel 4 in the UK. The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes New Zealand is produced by Great Southern TV for TVNZ; the format is distributed globally by Red Arrow Studios International.
Double Parked star Antonia Prebble also landed the best actress award for her role in the hilarious relationship comedy drama. Double Parked is produced by Kevin & Co for Warner Bros Discovery (NZ).
The New Zealand Television Awards recognises excellence in television and honours the special skills and unique talents of the companies and individuals who create, produce, and perform in television programmes in New Zealand.