Screen Music Awards Return for 2022

Screen Music Awards hosts Akina Edmonds
Courtesy of APRA AMCOS

The Screen Music Awards will be back in-person this year, taking place in Melbourne/ Naarm on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Event organisers have revealed that comedian, actor and writer Anne Edmonds will co-host the event alongside singer and actor Akina Edmonds.

Akina Edmonds was announced as co-host last year, and was originally meant to be joined by Nakkiah Lui and Uncle Jack Charles, however Charles passed away earlier this month, aged 79.

The event will present 13 awards across categories including Best Music for a Documentary, Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie, Best Music for a Short Film and Best Television Theme.

Submissions are now closed and nominees will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 13.

The nominees and winners of 10 of the 13 awards will be determined by a panel of respected screen composers. The winners of Most Performed Screen Composer (Australia) and Most Performed Screen Composer (Overseas) will be determined by royalty earnings.

The Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award, meanwhile, will be determined by APRA’s board of directors.

During the awards at the Forum Melbourne, Jessica Wells, the event’s musical director, will lead interpretations of the four nominees for Feature Film Score of the Year.

APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston emphasised that the celebrations going live for the first time since 2019 would add to the spirit of the event.

“It will be truly wonderful to gather once again in Melbourne and honour the extraordinary soundscape Australian screen composers give to films, television series, advertisements and documentaries with the orchestra performing those nominated soundtracks in the beautiful Forum Melbourne,” Ormston said.

He added there was a greater sense of purpose this time.

“This year, we will also celebrate an extraordinary year of advocacy with APRA AMCOS and the AGSC fighting hard for new legislation that will see a significant boost to local screen production to enhance the livelihoods of screen composers.”

The 2021 Screen Music Awards were delayed due to the pandemic, and winners were unveiled without the platform of a physical event. You can read about last year’s winners here.