1965-66: New Zealand Television Workshop
According to Clive Court's website he founded the New Zealand Television Workshop and initiated New Zealand's National TV Awards,in order to promote training for New Zealand domestic production. The awards were presented in association with Reckitt Colman (NZ) Llt. The results I've listed here were found in New Zealand Television: The First 25 Years In 2007 I exchanged e-mails with Clive. He confirmed that the original media release announcing the introduction of the Awards was made in August 1963. The original group involved in Wellington was James Wallace, Harry Sharp, Terry Browne, and Clice Close (James, Terry and Clive were working for NZBC Radio at the time). They invited all the TV critics on the daily papers throughout NZ to send in their recommendations for the categories, If they felt the standard of production was not good enough, they allowed No Award. This happend once in the first two years. The designer of the award trophy was Greer Twiss The first awards ceremony was a simple affair at a restaurant in Auckland. The Workshop paid Clive's air fare and accommodation in Auckland to speak at the first awards presentation, And a little later that speech was printed in full on the editorial page of The Stage and Television Today---the British industry weekly. The second was more elaborate and broadcast from 365 in Auckland, Clive missed that one because he had moved to Brisbane, just before A History of Mystery--an hour long show he had written and cast--was broadcast nationally. He never did see that show). There was one "No Award" in 1965. Most of the Workshop's lifespan was quite well documented in the national and local media, so as the NZ publications from the sixties go online Clive hopes that more of this information can be accessed.