About the awards
The CATs are back and still valuing television in ways that other award ceremonies often cannot. We want to showcase the whole of the amazingness that makes up what we watch on the box or on the laptop or smart phone, and that means looking for other things to celebrate. Last year we gave awards to clever production managers that kept their crews Covid safe, to programmes that kept us sane during the pandemic, to those that used Covid restrictions to emphasise the drama of their stories, and to aspiring TV makers who managed to use the restrictions in clever ways.
This year we’re looking at other aspects in television to celebrate.
This incorporates inclusive production practices in TV, programmes that engage audiences with climate change, the outliers of TV, new TV ideas developed by schools and colleges, and TV productions made by university students.
To find out more and to nominate a production, please see tabs below.
Most inclusive production practices
The television industry is riddled with issues of exclusion. Anyone who isn’t male, middle-class, able-bodied and white has a hard time either trying to find a first job or stay within the industry. But many production companies are trying to change, bringing better and best practice into their projects. This award, developed in collaboration with SMTJ (Share My Telly Job), celebrates those productions for their efforts in trying to change and improve the industry. Please vote to show where working in TV is getting better!
In order to nominate a production, please scan the QR code or put the number into Vevox App.
Programmes that engaged audiences with climate change
There is no question that climate change is one of the big problems facing humanity. This award celebrates those productions that have drawn attention to climate change in ways that audiences found helpful and engaging. We are asking audiences to nominate any programmes they found helpful.
In order to nominate a programme for its ability to engage you with climate change, please scan the QR code or put the number into Vevox App.
The outliers of television
Television is so many things nowadays that it is sometimes difficult to know what to call TV. In this award we want to celebrate the more unusual, the thing that made us reassess what television might be, but that also showed us the potential for a ‘better television’. This could be online television channels, programmes that have been forgotten but were excellent, or similar outliers of TV.
In order to nominate a different kind of television, please scan the QR code or put the number into Vevox App.
Local community climate action documentary by school or college
Local community groups are often engaged in climate action without shouting about it: they may do litter picks, or plant trees and flowers, or use recycled material to build new things. It’s time we celebrated them, and who better to do this than those who live in these communities across the UK: school and college students. We invite school and college students to nominate their short (ca 5-minute) documentary productions about local community groups.
To nominate a programme for its ability to engage viewers with climate change, please scan the QR code or put the number into Vevox App.
TV productions by University students
We are again honoured to be able to work with the Production Guild to judge the best of the TV work developed in different universities. We are particularly interested in productions that offer something different and are perhaps themselves part of the outliers of TV.
To nominate your production, please scan the QR code or put the number into Vevox App.