The Screen Music Awards are returning to Melbourne to celebrate the industry’s best in screen music composition. The night will feature 13 distinct awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award.
The event, which is run annually by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), will take place this year on 9 November 2023 at the Forum Melbourne.
Hosting the awards for the first time is comedian, actor, writer, and improviser Susie Youssef. A television and theatre all-rounder, on stage Susie most recently played Trinculo in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Tempest. On screen, Susie most recently appeared as the mayor on the hit series Deadloch.
Read: Deadloch review: McCartney and McLennan look to kill it in Prime crime comedy
The ceremony will feature interpretations of the four Feature Film Score of the Year nominations performed live by the Screen Awards orchestra, led by the event’s brand-new Musical Director Erkki Veltheim.
Panels of widely respected Australian screen composers will determine four nominees for 10 categories. Every category is judged subjectively on artistic merit, barring the winners of Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas, which are decided through analysis of performance activity reflected by royalty earnings.
The Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award (as determined by the APRA Board of Directors) will be announced prior to the awards. Previous recipients include Martin Armiger, Robert Connolly, Nerida Tyson-Chew, and the 2022 recipient Nigel Westlake.
Please see complete list of categories below.
2023 Screen Music Awards Categories
- Best Music for an Advertisement
- Best Music for Children’s Programming
- Best Music for a Documentary
- Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie
- Best Music for a Short Film
- Best Music for a Television Series or Serial
- Best Television Theme
- Best Original Song Composed for the Screen
- Best Soundtrack Album
- Feature Film Score of the Year
- Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia*
- Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas*
- Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen^
* Determined by statistical analysis
^ Awarded at the discretion of the APRA Board of Directors
The 2023 Australian Screen Music Awards will take place on 9 November at Forum Melbourne. The nominees for the 2023 Screen Music Awards will be announced on Thursday 5 October.
