BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT RETURNS TO CELEBRATE THE VIDEO CATEGORY IN PERSON AT 41ST ANNUAL BASE AWARDS
HMV, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK, SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO & STUDIOCANAL AMONG WORTHY WINNERS ON THE NIGHT
The Home Entertainment industry was reunited last night as colleagues and friends came together at Camden’s Roundhouse for the 2021 BASE Awards. 28 awards were handed out to distributors, retailers, media owners, individuals and suppliers from across the industry over the course of the evening.
The Awards saw more than 600 guests from 50 member and non-member bodies come together to celebrate the agility, creativity and success of the category in an unprecedented year dominated by lockdown disruption, all hosted by the BAFTA nominated actor and The Mash Report comedian Rachel Parris.
Surprise performances on the night included entertainment from the award-winning production company Twisted Time Machine, who showcased salutes to ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ in honour of The Walt Disney Company’s Title of the Year – Disc, and ‘Joker’ for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group’s award for Title of the Year – Digital. Additionally, tributes were paid to Universal Pictures UK and The Walt Disney Company for their Physical and Digital Distributor of the Year wins.
Guests paused to remember the much-loved Anne Miles, who sadly passed away last year, with Spirit Entertainment’s Robert Callow and former Abbey Home Media’s Emma Evans taking to the stage to lead a tribute to Miles’ 40-year career.
Elsewhere, a special Outstanding Achievement Award was given to HMV, celebrating 100 years of business this year. HMV Owner Doug Putman sent a special video message thanking all the distributors, suppliers and team members in the room.
Sony Pictures led the winners list this year, taking home an outstanding seven awards across the evening, with Universal Pictures UK securing five and StudioCanal snagging two. Physical Retailer of the Year went to Tesco, while Amazon Prime Video took home Digital Retailer of the Year and Retailer/Platform Initiative of the Year. OC also won the coveted External Team of the Year award.
2021 also saw the introduction of a new award to reflect changing consumer and category trends, rewarding innovation and risk-taking across the category. The inaugural winner of the Campaign of the Year: Reactive / Debut / Premiere (New Release) was Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, whose campaign for ‘Bloodshot’ was celebrated for embracing that truly innovative approach.
Finally, the return of the Category Hero Awards rounded off this year’s 41st event, acknowledging an exclusive group of individuals who deserve special recognition for their outstanding contribution to the visual category. Eight awards were given to: Alex Carter (OC Group), Bobby Dhani (Elevation), Ian Foster (International UPHE), Vicki Geddes (BASE, Industry Trust for IP Awareness and the DEGI), Wez Merchant (Strike Media), Doug Putman (HMV), Kristin Ryan (StudioCanal) and Katie Sharp (Tesco).
This year’s Awards were generously sponsored by: Action for Children, BBC Studios, Cinram Novum, Deluxe, FERO, Finest, Lionsgate UK, OC, Official Charts Company, The Raygun, Snakes and Ladders, StudioCanal, Universal Pictures UK, Visual Data, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and WEST10.
Special thanks to Entertainment Sponsor, Premier, our Pick and Mix Sponsor, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and finally our Awards Supporters, Birra Moretti, Carbon Quota, VDC Group and WLP.
The 2021 BASE Awards raised in excess of £4,920 for charity partner Action for Children, with contributions from every ticket sale going to protecting and supporting children and young people, further backed by a live pledge moment on the night.
