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.
Liz Bales, Chief Executive, British Association for Screen Entertainment, said: “Being together to celebrate the category, the winners, and the work tonight was incredibly special. It was also a special moment to reflect on the legacy and life of home entertainment legend Anne Miles, surrounded by the industry we all love. I extend a huge thank you to all of the guests for coming out to join us, to our many sponsors who enable us to stage this special event and the BASE team for delivering such a memorable night. The ongoing strength of our industry is thanks to you all and I cannot wait to celebrate again next year.”
Robert Marsh, BASE Chair & Vice President Commercial (Home Entertainment), Sony Pictures Entertainment, said: “It was an unprecedented year, full of challenges that our amazing category rose to and met with creativity and resourcefulness. Congratulations to all the winners and huge thanks to the BASE team for organising such a fantastic event where old friends and new could get together and celebrate all of our achievements. I am immensely proud of the wonderfully talented Sony team who excelled in this most challenging year, what we achieved together as an industry, and the spirit of collaboration and support across content distributors and retailers, coming out of last year and into the future!”
The full list of BASE Awards winners:
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by The Official Charts Company
The Walt Disney Company
PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by The Official Charts Company
Universal Pictures UK
TITLE OF THE YEAR: DISC – Sponsored by The Official Charts Company
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – The Walt Disney Company
TITLE OF THE YEAR: DIGITAL – Sponsored by The Official Charts Company
Joker – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
PHYSICAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by Universal Pictures UK
Tesco
DIGITAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
Amazon Prime Video
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR – HIGH VALUE/PREMIUM RELEASE/4K (NEW RELEASE) – Sponsored by Visual Data
The Irishman (Criterion Collection Release) – Sony Pictures
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR – REACTIVE/DEBUT/PREMIERE (NEW RELEASE) – Sponsored by The Raygun
Bloodshot – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR TV – Sponsored by StudioCanal
The Crown: Season Three – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR SPECIAL INTEREST – Sponsored by Action For Children
Audrey – Universal Pictures Content Group & Les Misérables: The Staged Concert – Universal Pictures UK
EXTERNAL TEAM OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by BDSWest10
OC
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR FILM – UP TO £5M BOX OFFICE – Sponsored by Snakes & Ladders
Trolls World Tour – Universal Pictures UK
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR FILM – £5M – £9.99M BOX OFFICE – Sponsored by Cinram Novum
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon – StudioCanal
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR FILM – £10M – £19.99M BOX OFFICE – Sponsored by Deluxe
Bad Boys For Life – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR FILM – OVER £20M BOX OFFICE – Sponsored by Cinram Novum
Little Women – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
CREATIVE MARKETING INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by Lionsgate UK
March Movie Nights Made Easy – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RETAILER/PLATFORM INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR – Sponsored by The Walt Disney Company Ltd
Prime Video Cinema – Amazon Prime Video
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR CATALOGUE: SINGLE PRODUCT – Sponsored by FERO
Flash Gordon: 40th Anniversary Edition – StudioCanal
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR FOR CATALOGUE: MULTIPLE PRODUCT – Sponsored by Finest
Japanese Artwork Series – NBCUniversal
OUTSTANDING INNOVATION AWARD – Sponsored by OC
The Digital Messaging Playbook – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Sponsored by British Association for Screen Entertainment
HMV
CATEGORY HERO – Sponsored by BBC Studios
Alex Carter (CEO & Founder, OC Group)
Bobby Dhani (Head of Operations, Elevation Sales)
Ian Foster (MD, International UPHE)
Vicki Geddes (Commercial Manager, BASE, The Industry Trust & The Digital Entertainment Group International)
Wez Merchant (Founder & CEO, Strike Media)
Doug Putman (Putman Investments & Owner, HMV)
Kristin Ryan (Head of Marketing, Home Entertainment, StudioCanal)
Katie Sharp (Film and Music Buying Manager, Tesco)
