Reg Grundy Award 2025

Think you have Australia's next great Entertainment or Factual TV show? AACTA Reg Grundy Award is your chance to win $50k to bring it to life

The AACTA Reg Grundy Award is back for its sixth year, offering a $50,000 prize to the individual or team with the best pitch for a new unscripted television format. The largest prize of its kind in the world, the Reg Grundy Award is presented by the Australian Academy in partnership with Grundy Media to champion bold new ideas and fast-track the development of original screen entertainment.

Australian unscripted formats continue to make waves internationally. Sydney-based Northern Pictures recently won two Creative Arts Emmys for season three of Love on the Spectrum, bringing its total to seven Primetime Emmy Awards, the most ever won by an Australian company.

This initiative honours Reg Grundy, a pioneer of television whose entrepreneurial vision reshaped the industry. His creations and adaptations include Sale of the Century, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, The Price is Right and Perfect Match, as well as long-running dramas Sons & Daughters, Prisoner and Neighbours, the latter becoming Australia’s longest-running drama and a launchpad for international stars including Russell Crowe, Margot Robbie and Liam Hemsworth.  

 Round 1 submissions are now open. Entrants must provide:

• Show title

• Logline (1–2 sentences: <100 words)

• A written synopsis of up to 1000 words

Applications close 5.00pm AEDT, Monday 3 November 2025.

The winner will be announced at the 2026 AACTA Awards Ceremony, alongside Australia’s top honours in film, television and storytelling.

For all enquiries please contact development@afi.org.au.

		WES DENING Wes Dening is the Head of Global Formats for Eureka Productions and serves as Executive Producer on a variety of US, Australian and international entertainment series including The Floor (Fox), Kpopped (AppleTV+), The Quiz with Balls! (Fox), Australian Idol (Seven) and previously on Holey Moley (ABC), Stars on Mars (Fox), The Mole (Netflix), Dating Around (Netflix), Full Bloom (HBO Max) and Crikey! It’s the Irwins (Discovery). Dening’s series have earned commercial and critical success including Rose D'or Award and TCA Award nominations, Realscreen, C21 Awards & TBI International Format Awards for Holey Moley & The Floor, DGA Nominations & C21 Format Awards for Full Bloom, a Critics Choice Award for Dating Around and Logie Award Nominations for Australian Idol. Dening joined Eureka Productions when it launched in 2016 and previously served as EVP of Development and Programming, overseeing the growth and execution of the company’s slate in the United States. During his time at Eureka, Dening has played a pivotal role in the development, sale and production of original content for all major broadcast networks, streamers and cable networks and has extensive experience growing and operating content businesses.  Dening also serves on Realscreen’s Pathway Mentorship Program and speaks on multiple media panels.
		PAUL HARDY A BBC-trained professional, Paul began his career in the UK before freelancing in London, New York, and Los Angeles as a showrunner. He now consults for Endemol Americas, bringing his expertise to a wide range of global formats. His impressive credits include Alone, 7 Year Switch, Bride and Prejudice, Beauty and the Geek, and Living with the Enemy. Paul has also worked on international formats such as Come Dine With Me, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, Popstars, Star Academy, Place in the Sun, and Watch What Happens Live.
		MARION FARRELLY Maz has been to more showbiz parties than Ryan Gosling’s jocks, down more red carpets than a Dyson vacuum, and worked with more A listers, than a Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon. She has created and been the boss, of some of most watched TV shows on earth, her content has amassed more than eight BILLION views, and she once broke X (Twitter).  Deliberately. Maz has worked alongside everyone from Beyonce, to King Charles, President Donald Trump to Snoop Dogg, Ed Sheeran to Elton John, Troye Sivan to Buzz Aldrin, Arnie to Mel B, and now she uses the intel and smarts she has stolen, sorry, borrowed, from these world leaders, cultural icons, and international superstars, to help big global brands like Spotify, Meta, TikTok, Vayner Media, Ogilvy, to name a few, be way more influential and utterly interesting - not because she is - if you were stuck in an elevator with her, you’d long to plummet to your own certain demise.
		IAN HOGG Ian Hogg is an awarded Media Industry Leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist with a Global Career spanning four continents across 25 years. Most recently, he led Fremantle as the Regional CEO for Australia and Asia Pacific and sat on the Global Operating Board. He is a passionate believer in idea generation and execution, storytelling, creatives, creativity, disruption and the power of media to deliver a narrative that can make a real difference in an industry that cannot, and will never, stand still.
		SHARON WHEELER Sharon Wheeler is an Award-winning Senior Entertainment Executive, who has created more than 30 original series and Executive Produced over 2,000 hours of unscripted programming. Her shows have been licensed and produced in dozens of territories. As founder and President of Wheeler/Sussman Productions based in Los Angeles, her hit original formats include: MTV’s SINGLED OUT, Fox’s EXTREME-DATING, THE LAST RESORT, TRIVIAL PURSUIT: AMERICA PLAYS, JUDGE ALEX and REUNION TOUR. As part of Reg Grundy’s U.S. production operations, she helped develop and adapt Grundy International Series for American audiences, including PRISONER: CELL BLOCK H, IT’S A KNOCKOUT, SCRABBLE, MANN O’ MANN and QUESTIONS POUR UN CHAMPION.

BRAINS ON TAP!: - CraigSmith, Kate Armon

Brains on Tap! is a travelling trivia show that hits the road to find Australia’s sharpest minds and the most interesting locals. Each week, the hosts arrive in a new town where teams face off in a battle of brains, banter, and bragging rights, all for a place in the Spectacular Grand Final. Part quiz, part travel adventure, and full of heart, Brains on Tap! is smart, feel-good entertainment for the whole family.

Return to Sender - Lisa Rufus

In this factual, unscripted television series, a team of warm and inquisitive hosts explore the fascinating world of Australia’s undelivered mail, following lost letters, mystery parcels, and forgotten packages as efforts are made to reunite them with their intended recipients. Alongside these real-world investigations, the series celebrates the history and culture of letter writing, with plans to launch school-based pen-pal programs that encourage new generations to connect through the written word. Blending history, heart, and human curiosity, it reveals how every forgotten letter carries a story waiting to be delivered.

The Quick Flip: - Natalie Archer

One woman. One room. Five days.

The Quick Flip follows designer and presenter Natalie Archer as she proves you don’t need a huge budget or big crew to create something beautiful. With around $3,000, clever up cycling, and a little help from homeowners, she transforms everyday Australian spaces, empowering people to believe that if she can do it, maybe they can too.

Elephants:  Thomas Hyland

In a world of deepening culture wars, Elephants takes the format of couples counselling and applies it to conflict resolution. Each week strangers from opposite sides of today’s most polarising issues meet a counsellor for an intimate therapy session that peels back hardened positions to reveal the human stories beneath.

BRAINS ON TAP!: - CraigSmith, Kate Armon

Brains on Tap! is a travelling trivia show that hits the road to find Australia’s sharpest minds and the most interesting locals. Each week, the hosts arrive in a new town where teams face off in a battle of brains, banter, and bragging rights, all for a place in the Spectacular Grand Final. Part quiz, part travel adventure, and full of heart, Brains on Tap! is smart, feel-good entertainment for the whole family.

A Little Help: Pia Miranda, Nicholas Verso

Two people, both unlucky in love, from opposites sides of life, have to help each other find a lasting relationship.

A Little Help is a heart-warming factual-entertainment series created by Pia Miranda and Nicholas Verso that blends the emotional honesty of Love on the Spectrum with the playful structure of Married at First Sight.

The series is hosted and narrated by Pia (Looking for Alibrandi, winner of Australian Survivor), whose empathy, wit, and curiosity make her the perfect guide through the chaos of modern love as we explore the question - Can you trust your heart to someone else?

Monday 29th September – Entries open. Round one starts.
Submit the following to enter:

• Your show’s title
• A logline (up to 50 words)
• A synopsis (up 1000 words)

See this video for some advice from Australia’s leading television entertainment professionals! 

Monday 3rd November – Round 1 Entries Close

Entries close 5.00pm AEDT on Monday, 3 November 2025.

Tuesday 4th November – Top 10 first round finalists confirmed – Round 2 starts

In the second round, we’ll be asking our top 10 entrants to send us a video of them pitching their idea (up to 3 minutes in length), a pitch deck - which is a presentation of up to 4 pages/slides in length that expands upon the idea and provides more detail and reference, and a one minute video describing themselves. See the video below for advice from Australia’s leading television entertainment professionals on creating a pitch deck.

Wednesday 19th November – Round 2 Close

Round 2 close 5.00pm AEDT on Wednesday, 19 November 2025.

Wednesday 26th November – Top 5 finalists confirmed

Week commencing Monday 1st December – Individual one on one meetings

Our top 5 finalists will have a chance to pitch their idea directly to each of our judges privately and receive constructive feedback and advice. See the video below for advice on how to pitch!

Wednesday 10th December – The AACTA Reg Grundy Award Final meeting

Our top 5 finalists will have another chance to pitch – this time to the entire judging panel – and the person who has pitched the best idea will walk away with the $50,000 prize and a chance to see their idea become a reality.

6 February 2026– Recipient announced at the 2026 AACTA Awards
AACTA Reg Grundy Award recipient is announced to the world!