PALMA2026

For the female creator whose work across the qualifying year set the standard, in craft, in consistency, and in what it led other creators to attempt.

For the male creator whose work across the qualifying year set the standard, judged on the same criteria and to the same weighting as every other Creator PALMA.

For the trans creator whose work across the qualifying year set the standard. The category recognises the work, and it is judged against the same six criteria as every other Creator PALMA.

A genre PALMA. For the creator whose work in this category defined it across the qualifying year, judged on craft, consistency and the strength of the body of work like any other honour.

For the creator whose specialist work showed the clearest craft across the qualifying year: concept, production, presentation and an evident understanding of the audience it is made for.

For the creator whose costume and character work was the most accomplished across the qualifying year. This is a craft category: construction, styling, lighting, staging and the discipline of staying in character.

For the creator whose live work was the most accomplished across the qualifying year. Live is the hardest discipline in the industry because nothing can be fixed afterwards: the room, the pacing and the audience are handled once.

For the creator whose self-produced work was the strongest across the qualifying year: written, shot, performed, edited and released by the creator, usually alone.

For the creator who arrived with a point of view already formed. This is the category that most often predicts the rest of the Roll of Honour.