Sony Pictures received its award for work on SVOD & Transactional Optimisation. Sky Store was presented ‘Digital Retailer of the Year’
for a sector buoyed by the growth of in-home viewing during recent years. Paramount Pictures took home the ‘Title of the Year’ for 2022 with ‘Top Gun Maverick’, with more than 350,000 units sold on physical and 1.5 million units on EST and TVOD in the UK.

Six hundred industry folk gathered for the 43rd annual BASE Awards at Camden’s Roundhouse last week to celebrate the commercial and creative achievements of a sector that was worth £4.43 billion in the UK last year. During the course of the night, 37 awards were presented.

Lionsgate UK took home ‘Independent Label of the Year – Digital’. BBC Studios secured ‘Independent Label of the Year – Physical’. The ‘BASE & hmv Fan Choice Award’, celebrating a pivotal moment in visual entertainment for 2022 (across all channels, including theatrical and linear TV) was won by Netflix for the climax of ‘Stranger Things Season 4’, when Max Escapes Vecna, soundtracked by the Kate Bush song ‘Running Up That Hill’.

The popular ‘Category Hero Awards’ returned this year, allowing the 600-person crowd to celebrate the stand-out individuals in the industry. The introduction of the ‘BASE Awards Champion Category Hero’ award prompted a standing ovation for retiring industry veteran Tim Friend, of Spark Agency.

Liz Bales, Chief Executive at British Association for Screen Entertainment, comments: “Each year, the BASE Awards are the moment when the whole of the UK home entertainment industry gets the chance to celebrate together. There has been so much change, growth, challenge and transformation recently, but some things remain: the importance of visual entertainment, giving fans the films and shows they love, and working as a community to always move forwards.

“Congratulations to all the winners, and a huge thanks to the BASE team, and our sponsors and partners, who ensure it is such an important night in the entertainment calendar. In a year of growth, with so many new partners and players alongside us, and with us on our journey, the breadth of winners perfectly demonstrates BASE as champions of all Home Entertainment.”

The 2023 BASE Awards were sponsored by: Action for Children, BB Media, BBC Studios, BDSWest10, BIFA, Carbon Quota, Discussing Film, Fero, Frontline, hmv, Huckleberry Recruitment, JustWatch Media, Lionsgate, OC, Official Charts Company, Paramount Pictures, Premier, Silk Factory, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Spark, Spirit Entertainment, StudioCanal, The Walt Disney Company, VDC, Warner Bros. Discovery, and White Label.

Here is the full list of BASE Awards Winners:

• Agency of the Year (sponsored by BDSWest10). Winner: Silk Factory.

• Audience Engagement Initiative of the Year (sponsored by Sony Pictures). Winner: The World of Batman, Warner Bros. Discovery & Apple TV.

• BASE & hmv Fan Choice Award (sponsored by hmv). Winner: Stranger Things Season 4: Max Escapes Vecna, Netflix.

• Best in Class - Bonus Features. Winner: The Queen of Spades, Studiocanal.

• Best in Class - Insights (Sponsored by Spirit Entertainment). Winner: Connected Devices Market Analysis & Insights - Looper Insights.

• Best in Class - Packaging & Artwork (Sponsored by Spirit Entertainment). Winner: Three Colours Trilogy: A Curzon Collection, Curzon Film & Wim Wenders Stiftung.

• Best in Class - Social/PR (sponsored by Just Watch Media). Winner: Pink Flamingos: 50th Anniversary, DnA PR & The Criterion Collection & Sony Pictures.

• Best in Class - Video Asset (sponsored by White Label). Winner: The Devil's Hour - Teaser and Trailers, Once Upon A Time & Amazon Prime Video.

• Campaign of the Year for Catalogue (Sponsored by Crunchyroll). Winner: The Film Vault Range, Universal Pictures & Warner Bros. Discovery.

• Campaign of the Year for Film - Up to £15m Box Office (sponsored by FERO). Winner: M3GAN (Universal Pictures).

• Campaign of the Year for Film - Over £15m Box Office (sponsored by FERO). Winner: The Batman (Warner Bros. Discovery).

• Campaign of the Year - Independent Film (sponsored by BIFA). Winner: Lionesses: How Football Came Home, Altitude Film Entertainment.

• Campaign of the Year for Specialist (sponsored by BBC Studios).

• Winner: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Universal Pictures Content Group.

• Campaign of the Year for TV (sponsored by OC). Winner: Chucky: Season 1 - Universal Pictures.

• Commercial Initiative of the Year (sponsored by Lionsgate UK). Winner: SVOD & Transactional Optimisation - Sony Pictures.

• Creative Initiative of the Year (sponsored by Lionsgate UK). Winner: Wednesday for Outernet, Spark & Netflix.

• 2022 Distributor of the Year (sponsored by OCC). Winner: Warner Bros. Discovery.

• Hidden Gem (sponsored by Discussing Film). Winner: Aftersun, MUBI.

• 2022 Independent Label of the Year - Digital (sponsored by OCC). Winner: Lionsgate UK.

• 2022 Independent Label of the Year - Physical (sponsored by OCC). Winner: BBC Studios.

• 2022 Physical Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by Paramount Pictures). Winner: hmv.

• 2022 Digital Retailer of the Year (Sponsored by StudioCanal). Winner: Sky Store.

• Script to Screen - in its inaugural year - (sponsored by Action for Children). Winner: Spitfire Over Berlin, Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.

• Social Impact (sponsored by Silk Factory). Winner: Subject & the Human Impact of Documentary Filmmaking – Dogwoof.

• 2022 Title of the Year (sponsored by OCC). Winner: Top Gun: Maverick

Photo: Celebrating the BASE awards.