by FilmInk Staff
The ABC series now holds 15 award honours and festival selections from the Venice TV Awards to the NHK Japan Prize
Tales from Outer Suburbia, the magical animated series inspired by Shaun Tan’s book of the same name, was the biggest winner at the 2026 Screen Music Awards in Brisbane on 28 October, with composers Josh Hogan and Ned Beckley winning all four categories in which the series was nominated.
The series won Best Music for Children’s Programming, Best Opening Title Television Theme, Best Soundtrack Album, and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for “Nothing Stays the Same”, which Joni Hogan performed live with the awards orchestra. Four awards to one composing team in a single night is understood to be a first for the awards. The Screen Music Awards are presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers and cover 16 categories across film, television, games and advertising.
The result caps a year of international recognition for the series. After premiering at Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2025, the series has been selected for prestigious festivals around the world, including Prix Jeunesse International in Munich, MOVE Summit Scotland, and the recent Taiwan International Children’s Film Festival. The show has also been honoured at numerous awards including the Australian Screen Editors (ASE) Awards, Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards, International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR, Venice TV Awards, NHK Japan Prize, Australian Effects & Animation Festival (AEAF) Awards, and Asian Academy Creative Awards.
Produced by Highly Spirited and Flying Bark Productions in association with Siamese, the series is directed by Noel Cleary with Shaun Tan acting as Creative Director, and uses premium CG animation to create a handcrafted, stop-motion feel. It premiered on ABC iview on 1 January 2026 and on BYUtv in the United States on 7 January. International sales are handled by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).
The score was composed and produced by Hogan and Beckley at Envelope Audio in Fremantle, with vocals by Joni Hogan and sound design by Tom Allum. An official soundtrack album was released in January and is available on all platforms.
“Shaun’s note to us was ‘the weirder, the better’, and Noel and the producers held that line through the whole production,” said Josh Hogan. “A children’s series that trusts its audience with strangeness and quiet is rare, and the music could only be as brave as the show let it be.”
Noel Cleary, Series Director added, “The score is beautifully haunting, wonderful and hopeful all at once. It holds the quiet magic of the series and helps the audience feel the emotion beneath every moment.”
Shaun Tan, Author and Creative Director said, “The soundtrack captures the essence of what I was trying to explore in the illustrations – the magic hidden in everyday suburban life. It’s wonderful to see how the same story can be told in different forms: first as a book, then a television series, and now through music.”
Listen to the soundtrack HERE
