Entry Opens For RTS Scotland Awards 2015

The Royal Television Society (RTS) has announced entries for the RTS Scotland Awards 2015 have now opened. The awards cover all forms of production in Scotland and aim to recognise and celebrate excellence and innovation across a range of genres and crafts.

A number of changes have been made to the judging criteria this year, including the introduction of three new award categories – for Television Director of the Year, On-Screen Personality of the Year and Best Documentary and Specialist Factual History Programme.

The award categories are:

Category 1: Factual
• Best Daytime
• Best Factual Entertainment & Features
• Best Documentary and Specialist Factual: History
• Best Documentary and Specialist Factual

Category 2: Drama
This award is for fiction or other narrative drama, including docu-drama and online.

Category 3: News and Current Affairs
• Best News Programme
• Best Current Affairs

Category 4: Sport
• Best Live Event
• Best Sports Programme

Category 5: Best Comedy
This award category is for a wide range of comedy programmes whose common aim is to make the audience laugh. This could include panel shows, chat shows, game shows, situation comedies, comedy dramas and sketch shows.

Category 6: Best Children's Programme
This category includes children's drama, comedy, factual, entertainment and animation programmes.

Category 7: Best Short Form Content
This category is designed to recognise excellence in the production of short form television content and the specialist skills required therein. Judges will consider any content shorter than five minutes duration.

Category 8: Animation and VFX
This category recognises professional excellence in the field of animation and visual effects.

Category 9: Student Television Award
Student Television Awards are made in January in the following categories; animation, entertainment, factual and fiction. An overall winner will be chosen.

Portfolio Awards
These categories celebrate professional excellence.

Category 10: On Screen Personality of the Year
This category is open to all television and video screen talent working across any and every genre and format.

Category 11: Television Journalist of the Year
This category is open to television and video web journalists working in news, current affairs, features and sport.

Category 12: Television Director of the Year
This category is open to all television and video directors working across any genre and format.

Category 13: Professional Excellence (Craft)
• Best Camera
• Best Sound
• Best Post production: Editing
• Best Post production: Graphics & Titling

Best Digital Innovation Award
This award is designed to celebrate the use of technology in an expanding and changing world reaching out to new communities of users and new, often interactive, ways of communicating using video and text. It is about the use of technology in the production process and honours the best in second screen, multi-screen, interactive, online and connected TV content, mobile content and games.

The RTS Scotland Award
The industry award is for the outstanding contribution to television in Scotland. Nominations are not required and the decision will be ratified by the RTS Scotland Committee.

April Chamberlain, Chair of Judges, RTS Scotland Awards, said: "It is my pleasure to announce that the 2015 RTS Scotland Awards are now open. This will be our third awards and we are looking forward to celebrating the many brilliant programmes that have been made, and the incredible talent working in the industry in Scotland."

The closing date for entries is Friday 12 February 2016.

All entries must have been aired on TV, distributed for non-broadcast or streamed online for the first time between January and December 2015. The Awards will be presented at the Oran Mor, Glasgow on 25 May 2016.

www.rts.org.uk

(JP/LM)