STORYTELLERS GALA EXECUTIVE BACKGROUNDER
1 STORYTELLERS GALA Presented By New York Festivals TV & Film And Radio Awards
OUR STORY
What is the purpose of awards? They inspire, they encourage, they reward. They help build careers. They can change your life. They mark achievement. They focus attention on creativity. They reward passion, courage and intensity. There are no geographical boundaries for talent, innovation, or creativity so we have no boundaries in our entry process. Our entrants come from hundreds of production companies and networks around the globe and embody the wide spectrum of content being made today with categories recognizing and encouraging the next generation of storytellers and talent.
Since 1957, New York Festivals TV & Film Awards has honored content in all lengths and forms and today we celebrate the exceptional and innovative content being created on all continents and seen across all platforms from broadcast to streaming. Many awards competitions are national in scope or are by invitation-only or have other restrictions limiting eligibility. We are truly international in scope and believe that while trends come and go, excellence never goes out of style.
RADIO New York Festival’s Radio Awards submissions encompass digital content, podcasts and audiobooks, live events, dramas and documentaries, breaking news coverage, multi-genre music specials, sound art, and promos which engage the curiosity of audiences everywhere. Even as distribution platforms multiply across the airwave spectrum, one thing remains constant: the power of the individual voice. In our ever-changing world, radio is the original social media. There is a universal language of radio which connects us all – giving us the ability to meet directly in each other’s imagination and guided by the textures of sound to understand each other.
2 INAUGURAL STORYTELLERS GALA & NAB SHOW PARTNERSHIP
To honor the 2020 TV & Film and Radio medal and trophy winners, we are pleased to announce our inaugural Storytellers Gala will take place at NAB Show on April 21 in Las Vegas.
For the first time on the same stage New York Festivals will celebrate the content that impressed our grand jury panels this year. Compelling in subject matter, ambitious in scope, and off the charts in degree of difficulty, they flat out amaze.
This celebration marks the tenth year of NYF’s strategic partnership with NAB Show. Our attendees will have access to the multi-day event which is the world’s largest media entertainment marketplace. The awards gala will feature award winning guest presenters from around the globe and will bring a new level of prominence, interest, and recognition for all our participants which will continue in the year ahead.
The past ten years have been a decade of transformation on a global scale and NYF’s categories have kept pace with the current state of media, embracing changes in program areas, on-air talent, presentation areas, technology and craft achievement.
Our agenda is simple – to celebrate the achievements of the many talented men and women who make up the worldwide creative community.
3 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HONOREES
We made the decision to recognize some of the driving forces in the television and film industry – leaders with a body of work that has made a lasting impression. The 2020 recipient will be honored at the gala at the NAB Show on April 21st.
Legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles received In 2012, the recipient was Geoffrey Mason, one of sports our inaugural Television & Film Lifetime Achievement Award. television’s most accomplished executives, who has more Called “the greatest American cameraman” by Jean-Luc than 40 years of domestic and international production Godard, Albert, along with his brother David (1932-1987), is experience, including seven Olympic Games, six World Cups, recognized as a pioneer of direct cinema. and multiple America’s Cup races.
In 2013, Susan Zirinsky, then senior executive producer of the CBS News broadcast 48 HOURS, received the third Lifetime Achievement Award. Her extensive journalism career at CBS News has provided her with a front seat to some of the most iconic moments in TV news history – and by being named President of CBS News, she now has her own place in history.
4 David Mazza, Senior Vice President and CTO, NBC Sports Group, received the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. For four decades, Mazza’s technical work has spanned the worlds of sports, entertainment, and news. A veteran of over thirteen Olympic Games, he and his team were instrumental in the building of NBC Sports Group’s headquarters: a state-of-the-art International Broadcast Center.
Ken Aagaard, Executive Vice President, Innovation & New Technology, CBS Sports, received the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. With a media career spanning over four decades, including 18 Super Bowls, five World Series, and three Olympics, Aagaard is one of sports television’s most respected broadcast executives.
David Hill, legendary veteran sports executive, live event specialist and Father of FOX Sports, received the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. The consummate innovator, Hill influenced the medium via expanded use of technology. He also served as Senior Executive Vice President of 21st Century Fox, chairman of National Geographic Channels, executive producer at Fox for “American Idol” and produced the 88th Academy Awards telecast.
5 Tony Petitti, Chief Operating Officer of Major League Greg MacGillivray, Chairman/Director of MacGillivray Baseball, received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement. Petitti Freeman Films, was the 2018 Lifetime Achievement recipient. served as President & Chief Executive Officer of MLB Greg has been producing and directing award-winning films Network (MLBN), where he oversaw all day-to-day operations, for more than 40 years. Since his first IMAX Theatre film “To until formally joining the Office of the Commissioner in 2014. Fly!” in 1976, Greg has shot more 70mm film than anyone in cinema history and is the first documentary filmmaker to reach the $1 billion benchmark in worldwide ticket sales.
Connor Schell, Executive Vice President, Content, ESPN, was the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Recipient. Overseeing all aspects of ESPN’s content creation across television, digital and print platforms, Connor is the executive producer and co-creator of the Emmy-, Oscar- and Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 documentary series and the Emmy-winning 30 for 30 Shorts digital series. He also served as a producer and executive producer of the company’s first Academy Award- winning film “O.J.: Made in America.”
6 UNDPI PARTNERSHIP
New York Festivals, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information, established the United Nations Awards in 1990 to honor programs that best exemplify the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The UN’s Global Goals are designed to inspire governments and individuals to take action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all with an emphasis on climate change and sustainability.
Nominated Finalists are judged by a panel convened by the United Nations to select Gold, Silver, and Bronze United Nations Awards.
2019 TV & FILM UNDPI WINNERS
Gold Employable Me (Northern Pictures)
Silver Hope & Fury MLK, The Movement and The Media (NBC News)
Bronze Displaced (Voice of America)
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Living in the Future’s Past (Rangeland Production) Years of Living Dangerously (Showtime) Life on Hold (Al Jazeera English) Racing Extinction (Discovery)
2019 RADIO UNDPI WINNERS
Gold The Sunday Edition, Just to Have Had You (CBC)
Silver The Impossible Dream Comes True (WSHU.org )
Bronze Dark Snow & Emma (RTE Radio 1)
PREVIOUS WINNERS
The Current: ISIS on your doorstep (CBC) Underground Trade (WGBH) Ebola: Winning the Battle in Sierra Leone (BBC) The Last Mile (SiriusXM)
7 ADVISORY BOARDS & GRAND JURIES
The prominent media executives who make up the members of the Advisory Boards are recognized for their expertise.
Our TV & Film Grand Jury panel is made up of over 200 directors, producers, journalists, writers, actors, creative directors, art directors, filmmakers, composers and programming executives who are all award-winners themselves. They are actively involved in what is being made today. The jury members come from over 35 countries and that mix of perspectives is one of the strengths of this jury process. We look for wide experience and demonstrated achievement in our jury members as a way of quantifying fairness in the selection process. Just under 40% of the Grand Jury members are women.
2020 TV & FILM ADVISORY BOARD
Phil Blundell Grand Trophy Winner Brian M. Lockhart Susan L. Sewell Executive Director Vice President & Executive Producer VP, Media Relations The Edge Picture Co Ltd, UK ESPN+, USA ABC, USA
Sammy Choi William McCullough Andrey Skvortsov Independent Producer, USA Vice President /Head of Content CEO Development, NFL Media, USA Mercator Group, Russia Marissa Flores Senior VP Katherine Meyer Debra Soon News & Public Affairs GMA Network Inc Katherine Meyer Media, USA Head, News and Premier, Philippines MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Singapore Susanne Mueller Robert E. Frye Head of Coproductions and Development Helfried Spitra Managing Director ZDF, Germany Head of Programme Management Whistling Communications, USA WDR, Germany Michael Pearce Alex Hahn Independent Producer, USA Giles Trendle Electronic Media Artist Managing Director Ludlow Arts, USA Regina Reyes Al Jazeera English, Qatar Senior VP, News & Current Affairs Ken Kerschbaumer ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.Philippines Peter C Vogel Editorial Director, CEO Vogel Audiovision GmBh & Sports Video Group, USA Becca Schader Co KG, Austria VP, Program Marketing and On-Air Promotion, HBO, USA
8 2020 TV & FILM GRAND JURY INCLUDES
Greg Beauchamp German Sela Bindery, USA Movistar+, Spain
Sharon Burden Jessica Soho Australian Communications and GMA Networks, Philippines Media Authority, Australia Sandy Stewart Matt Creasey Sharkwater Productions, Canada Endemol Shine International, USA Andre Takeda Grand Trophy Winner Peter den Hartogh The Walt Disney Company The Animation School, South Africa Latin America, Argentina
Marie Dours Gilad Tocatly Chabraque International, France Keshet-TV, Israel
Wolfgang Geier ORF, Austria
Melanie Haft nautilusfilm GmbH, Germany
Masakatsu Kasai Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, Japan
Heinrich Mayer-Moroni epo-film produktionsges.m.b.h, Austria
Alex McCall Glasgow Films, Scotland
Omer Meral Fox Networks Group Turkey, Turkey
Kyle Murdoch NHNZ, New Zealand
Akira Nishimura Fuji Television, Japan
Tracey O’Halloran Grand Trophy Winner Media Zoo, UK
Phil Rees Al Jazeera, Qatar
Sharon Roobol Al Jazeera Network, Malaysia
9 Our Radio Grand Jury is made up of over 130 directors, producers, journalists, writers, actors, creative directors, composers, on-air talent, and programming executives who are all award-winners themselves and who volunteer their time. They are actively involved in what is being made today. The 2019 Grand Jury members came from more than 25 countries and that mix of perspectives is one of the strengths of this jury process. 40% of the Grand Jury members were women.
2020 RADIO ADVISORY BOARD
John N. Catlett Peter Musngi Media Objectives International, USA Vice President, News & Sports, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, The Philippines Phil Critchlow Grand Trophy Winner Founder, TBI Media, UK Goetz Naleppa Götz Naleppa Audio Productions, Germany
Grand Trophy Winner Michael Freedman Leslie Peck School of Media and Public Affairs, Director, International Sales, Partnerships & Acquisitions, The George Washington University, English Radio, CBC Radio, Canada Professorial Lecturer, Journalism & Executive Producer, The Kalb Report, USA Todd Stack Vice President, Operations & Production/Talk Programming, Valerie Geller SiriusXM Satellite Radio, USA President, Geller Media International, USA
Mark Travis Grand Trophy Winner Michael Harrison Associate Director of Media Production, New York Editor & Publisher, Talkers Magazine, USA Philharmonic, USA
John MacCalman Broadcast Producer/Consultant, Scotland
10 2020 RADIO GRAND JURY INCLUDES
Linda Bellaner Des Shaw Swedish Radio, Sweden Zinc Media, United Kingdom
Harrish M. Bhatia Helen Shaw Grand Trophy Winner MyFM, India Athena Media, Ireland
Graelyn Brashear Gregory Sinclair Al Jazeera Network, USA Soulpepper, Canada
Paul Bushnell Craig N. Swagler Radio New Zealand, New Zealand CBS News Radio Network, USA
Diego Cannizzaro Grand Trophy Winner Andreas Viklund DMC Studio Argentina, Argentina Radiomakaren, Sweden
Jennie Cataldo BMP Audio, USA
Jack Chalmers HarperCollins Publishers, United Kingdom
Evelyn Doerr ARD, Germany
Will Jackson UK Independents Group, United Kingdom
Greg Kelly Grand Trophy Winner CBC Radio 1, Canada
Judith Kampfer Corporation for Independent Media, USA
Leslie Mullen NASA/JPL, USA
Oleg Medvedev FINAM FM Radio, Russia
Helen Quigley B7 Productions, United Kingdom
Indira Rangarajan Radio Mirchi, India
Nicolas Harry Salvarrey Radio Metro, Argentina
11 JUDGING & ENTRY PROCESS
New York Festivals uses a password-protected online platform for all categories its judging process. Our online entry process includes an upload protocol that accepts full-length program files.
Our online judging platform ensures that each entry receives the proper amount of time and attention, in an environment that is free from outside distractions, interferences and unsolicited opinions. Jurors abstain from scoring entries submitted by their own companies eliminating potential conflicts of interest.
The most common feedback from our judges is the unique opportunity of discovering programs, stories, and news coverage from around the world.
Each entry is judged on its own merits, not in competition with others in the same category. Each entry is, in effect, in competition with itself. Finalist selection is based on cumulative scores from the Grand Jury panels. All Finalists move to a second round of judging to determine award status.
In each of our rounds of judging, the Grand Jury panelists review and score entries based on industry-accepted standards of excellence using a scale of 1 to 10 for the following set of criteria: Production Values, Creativity, Content Presentation, Direction, Writing, Achievement of Purpose and Audience Suitability.
Based on the second-round scores from the Grand Jury panelists, winners receive one of the following: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Finalist Certificate. The highest scoring entries receive the Grand Trophy honoring “Best in Show.” There is also a Broadcaster of the Year, a Production Company of the Year, and a Program Promotion Team of the Year.
12 2019 TV & FILM GALA HIGHLIGHTS
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
Al Jazeera English
PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
The Edge Picture Company
PROGRAM PROMOTION TEAM OF THE YEAR
FOX Networks Group Latin America
GRAND TROPHY WINNERS
30 for 30 (ESPN Films)
Momentum Generation (HBO/All Rise Films)
Mr. Renton (Media Zoo)
Peaky Blinders (Caryn Mandabach Productions & Tiger Aspect Productions)
Who? (Fox Networks Group Latin America)
2019 WINNERS INCLUDED
1895 Films Channel One Russia
ABS-CBN CNN
Antena3 Corus
Arte CRTVE
BBC DW-TV
CBC December Media
CBS Discovery Networks
CGTN Disney
Channel NewsAsia Dragonfly Film and Television
13 Endemol National Geographic TV Showtime
ESPN NBCUniversal Sky TV
FOX NHK Smithsonian Channel
France 3 NHNZ South Pacific Pictures
GLOBO TV NOVA-WGBH SP Televisão, S.A.
GMA OPIUM effect Starhub
Interspot Film Quite Frankly Productions Starz
KBS RT Terra Mater Studios
Lionsgate RTE Ti22 Films
Northern Pictures Radio-Canada TV Asahi
MacGillivray Freeman Films Radio Free Asia TVB
MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation) Radio TV Hong Kong TVP SA
Measat Broadcast S4C Voice of America
MediaCorp SBS WDR
MLB Network Seven Network Australia ZDF
2019 RADIO GALA HIGHLIGHTS
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
RTE Radio Ireland
PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Almost Tangible
14 GRAND TROPHY WINNERS
Macbeth (Almost Tangible UK) 30 for 30 Podcasts (ESPN)
2019 WINNERS INCLUDED
2SER 107.3 Corporation For Independent Media Radio Metro S.A
ABC Australia ESPN Radio Radio Mitre
Athena Media Forces Radio BFBS Radio New Zealand
B7 Productions Ltd HarperCollins Publishers Radio Television Hong Kong
BBC Intelligence Squared US Reliance Broadcast Network
Bafflegab Productions KBS RTÉ
Bioneers Magnum Opus Broadcasting SiriusXM
BMP Audio National Press Club Journalism Institute Swedish Radio
CBA New York Philharmonic Swedish Educational Broadcasting
CBC ORF TBI Media
CBS Penguin Random House UK Audio WNYC
ClubFM Radio City 91.1 Westwood One News
15 Rose manages all facets of NYF’s TV & Film Awards and Radio Awards, overseeing the strategy to expand their footprint, assembling advisory boards and award-winning grand jury members from the international media communities, and initiating marketing and media partnerships. Since joining NYF in 2009, Rose has transformed the competitions to reflect today’s global content by being responsive to current world-wide creative trends and by recognizing innovation and excellence in all areas of production, storytelling and performance.
Rose, an Emmy Award winning producer and member of the DGA, is the former Director of the Sports Emmy Awards and Director of Production for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She contributes the experience and understanding that only an accomplished network producer can deliver. Past production experience includes five Olympic Games for ABC, NBC and CBS. Her extensive background in TV includes news, sports, arts, and entertainment programming for ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and ESPN.
ROSE ANDERSON Vice President & Executive Director NYF TV & Film Awards and NYF Radio Awards
260 West 39th Street, New York, NY 10018 USA, Tel: 212-643-4800, Fax: 212-643-0170 New York Festivals International Award Competitions
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