Whistledown named Indie of Year at RPAs

Whistledown Productions has won the Gold award for Indie of the Year at the 2012 Radio Production Awards, announced tonight in central London.

Whistledown’s Rose de Larrabeiti was also named Best Newcomer, while there were also two awards for Wise Buddah Creative’s Rebecca Maxted who won Producer of the Year as well as Best Documentary/Feature Maker.

The RPAs are now in their third year and are run by The Radio Academy and the Radio Independents Group (RIG).

Judges highlighted Whisteldown’s ‘ level of creative excellence, business challenges and the growth of the company during the last year.’

Managing Director of Whistledown David Prest told RadioToday.co.uk: “Wow .. what can we say but a big thank you to the Radio Academy and Radio Independents Group. We’re proud of all our producers, presenters, reporters, and everyone who helps get the stories out. Independent radio production is in a good place at a tricky time for the broadcasting business. We’ve tried to be bold, honest about what we do, and to stand up for our journalism … and it’s a great feeling to be honoured for just doing what we do.”

Jon Holmes, who hosted the evening’s awards, picked up the prize for Best Entertainment Producer for his work with Unusual Productions.

Chair of The Radio Production Awards, Mark Story said: “Congratulations to all winners. The standard of nominations this year has been extremely high and it was a tough job for the judges to select the overall winners. The calibre of entries demonstrates the breadth of talent across the industry. It’s important to highlight the creative drive behind programming and output and award those who have produced exceptional work.”

Radio Production Awards 2012 – Winners

Best Documentary/Feature Maker (sponsored by Radio Times)
Rebecca Maxted – Wise Buddah Creative

Best Entertainment Producer
Jon Holmes – Unusual Productions

Best Music Entertainment Producer
Sue Clark – Sue Clark Productions

Best Live Music Producer/Engineer (sponsored by Champion Accountants)
Russell Finch – Somethin’ Else

Best Online Creator
Mark Newman – Flaps Podcast

Best Multi Platform Creator
Heather Davies – Trevor Dann’s Company & Unusual Productions

Best Drama/Readings Producer (sponsored by Allan Chapman James Ltd)
Rosalind Ayres – Jarvis & Ayres Productions

Best Newcomer (sponsored by Resonance 104.4FM)
Rose de Larrabeiti – Whistledown Productions

Best Creative (sponsored by Creative Skillset)
Jonathan Young – talkSPORT (UTV Radio)

Best Sound Designer
Mark Pittam – TBI Media

Producer of the Year
Rebecca Maxted – Wise Buddah Creative

Indie of the Year
Bronze – TBI Media
Silver – Somethin’ Else
Gold – Whistledown Productions