Ellie Awards 2026 – Entries are now open!

Ellie Awards

Entries for the 2026 Australian Screen Editors Ellie Awards, Technical Excellence Award, Emerging Editor Awards, and Accreditation are now open.

The Ellie Awards celebrate excellence in the craft of screen editing across a wide range of genres and formats, recognising the vital role editors play in shaping story, performance, and pacing.

The Technical Excellence Award acknowledges the outstanding work of Assistant Editors, Post Supervisors, VFX Editors, Online Editors, and Colourists. Entries are assessed on a challenge faced during production and the solution developed, with judging based on innovation, difficulty, and efficiency.

The Emerging Editor Awards recognise outstanding new talent within our membership. Two awards are presented: one for a student editor and one for an early-career editor.

ASE Accreditation recognises editors who demonstrate a high level of craft, creativity, and professional achievement. Accredited Editors are entitled to use the post-nominal letters ASE after their name in screen credits, professional profiles, and communications.

Changes to the 2026 Awards

This year includes several changes to both the award categories and accreditation guidelines. These updates reflect changing demand, simplify category definitions, broaden opportunities for recognition, and streamline the accreditation process for both applicants and assessors.

New Category: News or Current Affairs Segment

We are excited to introduce a new category: News or Current Affairs Segment.

This category recognises a large part of our membership that was previously grouped within News and Current Affairs (now renamed Current Affairs Program). While segment editors were technically eligible under the previous structure, the vastly different production conditions, runtimes, and turnaround expectations made meaningful comparison difficult.

To better reflect the realities of this work, editors may submit up to three segments from the same program, provided the combined runtime does not exceed 15 minutes. This ensures editors working on longer individual stories do not unintentionally dominate the category.

Scripted Hour and Scripted Half Hour

The former Drama and Comedy categories have been replaced by Scripted Hour and Scripted Half Hour.

While comedy presents distinct editorial challenges, there is often significant overlap between comedy and drama, making classification increasingly subjective. Series frequently occupy both spaces. Bump, for example, was nominated in the Drama category in 2021 and the Comedy category in 2022.

Separating these categories by duration provides a clearer and more consistent basis for judging. The pacing, structure and storytelling demands of a half-hour program are different in a way that is clearer and more consistently applicable.

Other Category Updates

  • Trailers and Promos has been updated to explicitly clarify that Sports Packages are eligible for entry.
  • Children’s Entertainment has had references to broadcast removed, reflecting the fact that children’s content is now frequently released online.
  • The Music Video category has been retired. Entry numbers have consistently been among the lowest across all categories, and the decision was made to focus ASE’s limited resources elsewhere. Editors working in music videos are encouraged to enter their work in the Open Category.

Accreditation Changes

Several changes have also been made to the Accreditation process:

  • The number of works required for submission has been reduced.
  • The Professional Statement has been removed from the assessment criteria and will now serve as supporting information for the Accreditation Committee.
  • The former Consistency criterion has been replaced with Career, allowing assessors to better consider the breadth, impact, and recognition of an applicant’s professional body of work.

We encourage all entrants and applicants to carefully review the relevant guidelines before submitting.

Good luck to everyone entering, and remember that entries close Sunday 9th August 2026. There is an Early Bird discount that saves you some money while helping us out so don’t delay!