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SA made First Day honoured with second Emmy Award nomination

12 December 2022
First Day’s SA producers Kirsty Stark and Kate Butler, and writer/director Julie Kalceff, at the Children’s and Family Emmys in Los Angeles.

The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) congratulates the entire team behind ground-breaking South Australian made and SAFC supported children’s series First Day on its nomination for Outstanding Young Teen Series at the inaugural Children’s and Family Emmy Awards.

First Day‘s South Australian producers Kirsty Stark of Epic Films and Kate Butler of KOJO Studios, and writer/director Julie Kalceff attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles today, where the four-part Hulu and ABC series faced strong competition from US shows, with Netflix’s Heartstopper ultimately winning the category.

The Emmy nomination is the latest prestigious international accolade for the critically acclaimed series, which won an International Kids Emmy® Award for Best Live Action Series for its premiere season in 2021, and scored a 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award nomination for Best Children’s Program.

The series has also been nominated for a 2023 Kidscreen Award for Best Live Action Series: Tweens/Teens Programming, which will be announced in February 2023.

First Day Season 2 stars Evie Macdonald as transgender student Hannah Bradford and follows her experiences in her second year at Hillview High School. The four-part series was filmed in South Australia with investment from Hulu, Screen Australia, the SAFC and the ABC.

SAFC CEO Kate Croser said “Congratulations to South Australian producers Kirsty Stark of Epic Films and Kate Butler of KOJO Studios and all the First Day creatives, cast and crew on achieving yet another prestigious accolade for this South Australian made show that is delighting audiences all over the world. The SAFC is so proud to have supported this ground-breaking and multi award-winning children’s series which continues to highlight and advance diversity and inclusivity both on and off screen.”

First Day has been awarded multiple international accolades since its 2020 premiere including a 2021 GLAAD Media Award (Children and Youth) which honour media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBTQIA+ community, and the 2021 Kidscreen Award for Best Live-Action Series. In 2020, First Day won its category at the prestigious 59th Rose d’Or Awards, voted on by over 80 international judges, First Prize in the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival Live Action Television Category, the ATOM Award for Best Children’s Television Program and was a Finalist in the in the Primary Division of The Japan Prize. The series has also been nominated for multiple AACTA Awards (Australian Academy Awards) including Best Children’s Program in both 2021 and 2022.

The series has been picked up around the world including the US (Hulu), UK (CBBC), Canada (CBBC), Japan (NHK), France (France Télévisions and Okoo), Finland (YLE), Norway (NRK), Sweden (SVT), Denmark, Israel (Hot TV), New Zealand (TVNV), Taiwan (MOMOKIDS), Ireland, South Africa and Brazil.

First Day is an Epic Films production in association with KOJO Studios for Hulu. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Developed with the assistance of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.

Both seasons of First Day are available for streaming now on ABC iview in Australia and on Hulu in the US.

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