Post by -|E|- on Mar 26, 2007 21:59:17 GMT -5
News: Page (1) of 1 - 03/26/07
Honoring Work That Educates, Advocates And Empowers
By The Associated Press
animators.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=118470
(Multichannel News) _ In 1994, the Southern California chapter of the National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications introduced its Vision Awards to celebrate and honor outstanding achievements in original, multiethnic cable programming.
This year, a record 37 networks received nominations, for a total of 73 nods in 15 categories including three new programming areas ' animation, original movies and specials ' along with expanded categories for actor and actress in comedy and drama. The awards ceremony takes place March 27 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Though the Vision Awards were founded to recognize achievements in cable, their impact has extended well beyond the industry in the advancement of multicultural diversity, NAMIC president Kathy Johnson said.
"The purpose of the awards is to celebrate the good work cable is doing around the body of work of positive images of people of color, and encourage more multicultural productions," Johnson said. "Networks are contacting us early and are very excited about the awards, and the number of submissions is now more than 200."
Among the criteria for the nominees: Shows must have run within the past year and must all be original cable programming. Acting, writing, sensitivity and overall imagery are the four key areas of evaluation.
"Imagery and on-air content are very important, so we created a one-day Creative Summit of seminars as a companion piece to the Vision Awards in 2004. It addresses the creative and content development sides," she said. "Companies always tell us they are looking for talent in content development, and the images people see on TV are formed in people's minds for life."
Those images are in keeping with NAMIC's overall mission statement: to educate, advocate and empower multiethnic diversity in the communications industry.
The Legacy Award, which this year honors casting director and producer Robi Reed, is a prime example of the expanding honors and awards. The annual award is presented for a "trailblazing body of work that has made an indelible impact on the diversity landscape."
"We first implemented the Legacy Award in 2003 when it was awarded to Showtime for Resurrection Boulevard , which focused on a Hispanic family. Past winners have been Showtime, Suzanne de Passe, Sesame Street Workshop, Kyle Bowser, and this year Robi Reed," Johnson said.
This year, Showtime Networks led the field with nine nominations, followed by MTV Networks with eight, including Comedy Central, Logo, Nickelodeon, TV Land and VH1. Disney Channel, FX Networks and Turner Network Television each received six nods. HBO was recognized in the largest number of categories with four: children's, documentary, drama and original movie or special. FX Networks' The Shield was the top nominated program with four nods.
The key criteria for the programming awards, Johnson said, is the authenticity of portrayals. "That is a big piece of the criteria. It's important we're consistent with our message of diversity and that NAMIC is a resource for that."
NAMIC, which was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit trade association, today comprises nearly 2000 professionals in a nationwide network of chapters.