Streamers dominate C21 Drama Awards

The growing influence of SVoD services in the global drama business shone through at the annual C21 International Drama Awards today, with global giant Netflix and Disney-owned US streamer Hulu sharing seven of the 11 prizes.

To watch the C21 International Drama Awards 2020, click here.

Hulu was involved in the winners of both Best English-Language Drama Series and Best Non-English-Language Drama.

Steamy romance series Normal People, produced by Element Pictures for Hulu and UK online channel BBC3, won the English-language award.

No Man’s Land, from Masha Productions, Spiro Films and Haut et Court TV for Franco-German cultural broadcaster Arte and Hulu, took the non-English-language prize. The show is distributed by Fremantle.

Both of the main talent prizes in the 2020 awards went to performers in Netflix series.

Best Individual Performance in a Comedy-Drama Series was won by Asa Butterfield for his portrayal of Otis Milburn in Sex Education, which is produced by Eleven Film for Netflix.

Best Individual Performance in a Drama Series was handed to Israeli actor Shira Haas for her role in Unorthodox, produced by Studio Airlift and RealFilm for the global streaming giant.

Unorthodox was also named Best Miniseries, while big-budget Netflix stablemate The Crown, from Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television, was named Best Returning Drama Series.

Feel Good, from Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for UK pubcaster Channel 4 and Netflix, was named Best Comedy-Drama Series.

Elsewhere, There She Goes, from Merman Television for BBC2 in the UK, was named Best Returning Comedy-Drama Series, while BBC1 and HBO’s I May Destroy You took the Best Casting prize.

The winner of the C21 Drama Series Script Competition was also announced during the event. Echtra is a supernatural drama from Archie Thomson that is set on an island off the west coast of Scotland.

The competition, which is produced in association with C21-backed development producer Studio21, Script Angel and WritersRoom.net, set out to find scripts for ‘post-Covid’ series in 2020.

C21’s editor in chief and managing director David Jenkinson said: “This year we had 327 entries from 11 countries representing the best scripted television from around the world. Thanks to everybody who entered and the judges who did an amazing job. We hope to be back next year at Content London 2021 in the flesh, in the meantime stay safe.”

The full list of award winners is:

Best Newform Drama Series
The Collapse
Produced by: ET BIM in coproduction with: Studio+, Canal+ and Synchrone Medias
For: Canal+ Creation Décalée
Distributed by: StudioCanal

Best TV Movie
Elizabeth is Missing
Produced by: STV Studios
For: BBC1
Distributed by: Sky Studios

Best Miniseries
Unorthodox
Produced by: Studio Airlift and RealFilm
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Best Comedy-Drama Series
Feel Good
Produced by: Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland
For: Channel 4 and Netflix
Distributed by: All3Media International

Best Returning Comedy-Drama Series
There She Goes
Produced by: Merman Television
For: BBC2
Distributed by:

Best Returning Drama Series
The Crown
Produced by: Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Best Casting of a Drama Series
I May Destroy You
Produced by: Various Artists and Falkna Productions
For: BBC1 and HBO
Distributed by: Warner Bros International Television Distribution, excluding the UK and Ireland, where the series is distributed by BBC Studios

Best Individual Performance in a Comedy-Drama Series
Asa Butterfield – Sex Education
Produced by: Eleven Film
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Best Individual Performance in a Drama Series
Shira Haas – Unorthodox
Produced by: Studio Airlift and RealFilm
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

Best Non-English-Language Drama
No Man’s Land
Produced by: Masha Productions, Spiro Films and Haut et Court TV. Coproduced by Arte France and Versus Production, in association with Hulu. Fremantle’s Christian Vesper is coproducer
For: Arte and Hulu
Distributed by: Fremantle

Best English-Language Drama Series
Normal People
Produced by: Element Pictures
For: BBC3 and Hulu
Distributed by: BBC Studios and Hulu

DQ Craft Award
The Third Day