Supporting TV to shine at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards

It was our absolute pleasure for Sargent-Disc (a Cast & Crew company) to be Headline Sponsor of the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards, which took place on Thursday 25 August at a glittering ceremony hosted by writer and comedian Sophie Ducker.

A total of 20 awards were presented on the night including the prestigious Channel of the Year title, which went to Channel 4 whose Director of Content Ian Katz was on hand to receive the Award from Jury president Sue Vertue. Other winners in the most sought-after categories included Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s company Merman (Motherland, This Way Up) which was named Production Company of the Year, whilst Firecrest Films (Michael Palin’s Travel of a Lifetime, Life: Behind Bars) received the Small Indie of the Year Award.

Sargent-Disc’s Sarah McKenzie, Business Development had the honour of presenting the Best Drama award to the team behind hit drama The Responder starring Michael Freeman, made by Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC One. Best International drama went to Pachinko, representing the first win at the awards for Apple TV+. Netflix’s Sex Education took home the Best Comedy Series award whilst the TV Moment of the Year Award went to See Saw Films / Netflix’s Heartstopper for Charlie and Nick’s First Kiss.

We were particularly delighted to celebrate the first ever recipient of Edinburgh’s new Climate Impact Award. The prize went to Channel 4 documentary Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant, by Rumpus Media, and it was a fantastic moment to see this important new category introduced at the first Edinburgh TV Awards following the critical signing of the Climate Content Pledge at Cop26 last year.

The awards topped off an exceptionally well-attended Festival, where the return to an in-person, live event for the first time since 2019 was resoundingly welcomed by industry. The atmosphere buzzed throughout three days of packed-out events.

Ahead of the festival, Sargent-Disc Director Laurence Sargent reflected in this Broadcast article on Edinburgh’s significance in the UK TV industry calendar, celebrating its reputation for “providing a platform for challenging issues to be explored and important conversations to be had.”

This year was no exception, with broadcaster Emily Maitlis’ McTaggart Memorial Lecture, ‘Boiling Frog: Why We Have to Stop Normalising the Absurd’, provoking powerful discussion around news and impartiality. In it, Maitlis warned against the rise of populism and highlighted the role that reporters and broadcasters should play “to hold power to account without fear or favour.”

Elsewhere, Rose Ayling-Ellis’ powerful Alternative MacTaggart Lecture saw the deaf actress, BSL campaigner and Strictly Come Dancing winner urge the TV world to “be braver and have the courage to make changes”, such as bringing deaf consultants in to work with writing teams. Stressing the important difference between representation and access, she urged the industry to think about both in her impactful speech, which provided valuable insight into the stark realities of life as a Deaf person working in television.

For more information about the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards sponsored by Sargent Disc (a Cast & Crew Company), click here.

 
 
Full list of winners

Best Comedy Series – Sex Education, Eleven Film for Netflix
Best Documentary – The Return: Life After ISIS, Alba Sotorra Productions and MetFilm for Sky Documentaries
Best Drama – The Responder, Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC1
Best Entertainment Series – The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan, Expectation and MoMo G for Channel 4
Best International Drama – Pachinko, Media Res / Blue Marble Pictures in association with Apple for Apple TV+
Best On Demand Service – BBC iPlayer
Best Popular Factual Series – Uprising, Rogan Productions, Lammas Park and Turbine Studios for BBC1
Best TV Actor – Comedy – Daisy Haggard in Back To Life
Best TV Actor – Drama – Jodie Comer in Help
Best TV Presenter – AJ Odudu & Mo Gilligan for The Big Breakfast
Breakthrough Talent – Actor – Danielle Macdonald
Breakthrough Talent – Presenter – Munya Chawawa
Channel of the Year – Channel 4
Climate Impact Award – Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant, Rumpus Media for Channel 4
Production Company of the Year – Merman Television
Small Indie of the Year – Firecrest Films
Global Success Award – ITV Studios
Variety Outstanding Achievement Award – Diane Morgan
TV Moment of the Year – Heartstopper: Charlie and Nick’s First Kiss, See Saw Films for Netflix
Ones to Watch / Random Acts Live Pitch – Alex Rodrigues, Thanks Boss.

Sargent-Disc Announces Cast & Crew Headline Sponsorship of the Edinburgh TV Festival Awards
Thursday 25 August 2022

Cast & Crew is very proud to be the headline sponsor of the prestigious Edinburgh TV Festival Awards 2022 – returning in person after two years.

“These awards showcase outstanding talent, creativity and the breadth of programming from broadcasters, streamers and production companies alike. We are delighted to support this celebration of their fantastic work,” – Dr Laurence Sargent, Co-Head of International, Cast & Crew

The sixteen 2022 Awards category nominations showcase an extraordinarily diverse slate of productions including Squid Game, Top Boy, Succession, the Mare of Easttown, Gogglebox, Uprising, Horrible Histories’ Precious Planet and Motherland. Their success is in no small part due to the performances of actors and presenters such as Letitia Wright, Stephen Graham, Rose Mataf, and Professor Benhamin Zephaniah to name just a few.

Sue Vertue, CEO, Hartswood Films (Sherlock) – this year’s jury President says, “I know how hard it has been to film during these last few Covid years, but even with that, our amazing TV industry has gone full throttle delivering some of the most creative, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining shows I have seen in a long time.”

Taking place on Thursday 25th August, the Awards will be hosted by stand-up comedian and award winning writer, Sophie Ducker.

Established in 1976, the Edinburgh International TV Festival is famous for its relevant, provocative and entertaining programme which attracts 2000 industry professionals from across the globe. The 2022 festival will run from Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 August, and will include keynotes, debates and masterclass events alongside a wide range of networking opportunities.

Members of the Sargent-Disc team will be in attendance at the Festival – please contact us at marketing@sargent-disc.com to arrange a meeting.
 

Sargent-Disc’s Digital Payroll Workflow Masterclass

Sargent-Disc, a Cast & Crew company presents:

The Digital Payroll Workflow Masterclass Wednesday 26th January and on Wednesday 16th February at 10.00

The Digital Payroll Workflow Masterclass is for Financial Controllers, Production Accountants, Payroll Accountants, Line Producers, Production Managers, along with the finance and production office teams working with them on production.

Sargent Disc’s Digital Payroll Workflow is designed to provide a digital production payroll service – specifically for the entertainment industries in the UK and Ireland.

Before COVID-19, efficiency and sustainability were the predominant reasons for productions going paperless. As expected, the pandemic has accelerated the demand for reliable online systems, with productions needing to reduce the handling of physical documentation to ensure a safer working environment for crew, artists, and other employees.

Covering every step of the payroll process, Sargent-Disc’s Digital Payroll Workflow is a safe, efficient, and comprehensive solution for production accountants wherever they find themselves working. Easy to use, the solution can be tailored to meet the needs of each production—regardless of type or size. It consists of three elements powered by the CrewStart™, Payroll, and Payslips applications within Sargent Disc’s Digital Production Office®.

The Masterclass will take you through the process from start to finish – including:
• Start forms and contracting
• Time and attendance
• Hot costs
• Calculation and approval of timesheets
• Creation of secure payroll worksheets
• Payroll reports
• Online payslips
• Secure auto enrolment notices

Speakers include:

Dr. Laurence Sargent – Co-Head of International at Cast & Crew and Director Sargent-Disc
Laurence is Co-Head of International, Cast & Crew and a Director of Sargent-Disc. Founded in 1986, Sargent-Disc is now a Cast & Crew company and is the UK’s leading supplier of integrated payroll, residual, accounting and software services for the film and television production industries.

Jade Riley – Product Trainer, Sargent-Disc
Jade has worked across Sargent-Disc departments, recently moving from her role within the Production Accounting team to become Sargent-Disc’s Product Trainer. She is familiar with the range of the Sargent-Disc’s Digital Production Office® software applications and helps productions and their personnel to use them with confidence.

To register your Masterclass place on either Wednesday 26 January or Wednesday 16 February please email marketing@sargent-disc.com specifying the date most convenient for you.

For more information about Sargent-Disc’s Digital Payroll Workflow download our brochure

Tell Me More About… CrewStart™ Timesheets and Time Reports

Welcome to the first in our ‘Tell Me More About’ series, where we take a closer look at the different tools in Sargent-Disc’s Digital Production Office® suite of applications. In this instalment, we’re exploring Timesheets and Time Reports within CrewStart™, Sargent-Disc’s designed to help production teams automate the processing of contracts, start forms, daily rate vouchers and timesheets.

Continue reading

Sargent-Disc’s Digital Payroll Workflow

Our Digital Production Office® end-to-end digital payroll workflow has been designed to allow safe and efficient remote working for production and accounts teams. It includes CrewStart™ start forms, contracts and timesheets, secure payroll messaging and reporting, and online payslips accessible by employees. .

Due to the pandemic increasing the need to minimise paper usage, we are asking all of our clients to use CrewStart™, our digital onboarding platform. Integrated with Sargent-Disc’s payroll, CrewStart™ improves accuracy and streamlines the payroll process, allowing digital approval and signing of contracts and other start paperwork. Other features include hot costing and electronic timesheets that save you time and provide real time visibility of labour costs.

Onboarding

With CrewStart™, onboarding crew has never been easier. Use existing production start paperwork and contracts to streamline the process, from initial invitation and completion through to final approval and signing. Crew need only complete their data once; it can then be re-used when completing another start form.

Hot costing

CrewStart™ allows you to easily track the time and attendance of crew and ensure they’re paid accurately. Hot costs can be tracked in real time giving accounts teams an accurate view of labour spend, even when operating under complex union rules such as the Pact/Bectu Feature Film Agreement.

Timesheets

At the end of each week, CrewStart™ can batch generate timesheets and send them digitally for completion and signing via an approval chain specific to each department. From the moment a batch is created, your payroll worksheet is available, saving days of work previously spent breaking out timecards manually.

Payroll and Auto Enrolment

Integration with Sargent-Disc’s payroll systems ensures an accuratey and efficient payroll process. All crew payroll data and reports are instantly available via the web and the iOS and Android Payroll applications.

Payslips and Notices

With a single login, your crew can view their payroll record online or via the Payslip app. Payslips, Auto Enrolment and other notices are published securely each time a payment is made and a full payment history is available for each crew member and artist to run on demand.

Production workflows

CrewStart™ has a range of templates that can be adapted to meet your requirements. to easily circulate any other documents or data to different departments for approval.

With our end-to-end digital workflow you can onboard and pay crew safely, securely, efficiently and sustainably. For further information or an online demo of CrewStart™, contact marketing@sargent-disc.com.