New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Announces 2020 Winners

Al Jazeera English Earns Broadcaster of the Year, The Edge Picture Company is Production Company of the Year; Grands go to: Fleabag - Series 2, Very Ralph, Okavango - River of Dreams and Apollo: Missions to the Moon

New York Festivals® Television & Film Awards announced the 2020 Storytellers Gala award-winners. This year leading-edge entertainment from 50+ countries around the globe was honored.

A global crisis could not prevent the dedicated TV & Film Awards Grand Jury from their commitment to judging world-class work. Award winners were compelling in subject matter, ambitious in scope, off the charts in degree of difficulty, resulting in content that impressed judges from around the world. Entries represent innovative content from storytellers from around the world including entertainment, documentaries, journalism, sports, promos, and corporate image films. To view the 2020 winner’s gallery, please visit: HERE.

“We at New York Festivals also wanted to honor our commitment to honor the men and women of the creative community around the world whose work so impressed the Grand Juries this year by keeping to the original date of the storytellers gala even though we are all at home,”  said Rose Anderson, VP/Executive Director of New York Festivals. 

“Fleabag – Series 2” Craft - Best Writing (Two Brothers Pictures/BBC Three/ Amazon Prime Video) was honored with the Grand for their multi award-winning dark comedy series written and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The series also earned Gold World Medals for Best Performance by an Actress, Best Performance by an Actor, and Comedy.

“Very Ralph” Craft - Best Original Music/Lyrics (Brian Keane Music, Inc./HBO) Multi-award-winning composer Brian Keane received the Grand for composing the original music for the first documentary portrait of fashion icon Ralph Lauren.

“I am humbled by finding out that my music score for "Very Ralph”, a Susan Lacy directed, Pentimento Films, wonderfully made documentary for HBO about the life of fashion icon, Ralph Lauren, won a grand award in the New York Festival Awards. I have won various awards for music including a Grammy, and several Emmy Awards, and have scored literally dozens of Emmy, Peabody, and Oscar winning films, but I never have received a New York Festival grand award for music. Thank you so much!” –Brian Keane, Composer, Brian Keane Music, Inc.

“Okavango - River of Dreams” Documentary - Nature & Wildlife (Terra Mater Factual Studios GmbH), was recognized for their Grand award-winning documentary that tells the story of the Okavango river in Botswana in Southern Africa while exploring the wildlife and landscapes along the river's path.

“Apollo: Missions to the Moon” Documentary - Science & Technology (1895 Films/National Geographic) The Grand award-winning documentary recounts the key moments of NASA’s Apollo space program and America’s goal to land on the Moon before 1970 through TV coverage, radio broadcasts, home movies, NASA film, and never before heard Mission Control audio.

“The New York Festivals is one of the finest awards in our industry.  We know that to be selected as Grand winner for our National Geographic film, Apollo: Missions to the Moon, brings with it recognition and validation from our peers that we are doing a good job telling stories that matter. We are so grateful for this tremendous honor.”—Tom Jennings, Executive Producer, 1895 Films

To view the 2020 TV & Film Awards winner’s gallery, visit: HERE.

For the fourth consecutive year, Al Jazeera English’s news analysis and investigative programming earned the network the prestigious title of Broadcaster of the Year. The network’s award-winning entries explored a robust number of global topics and garnered an impressive number of medals for their programming including Al Jazeera Investigations, Witness, 101 East, Fault Lines, The Big Picture and Earthrise.

“We are honoured to be recognised again for the quality of our content,” said Giles Trendle, Managing Director of Al Jazeera English. “Our journalists and filmmakers come from all corners of the globe and go out of their way to provide coverage that is grounded in impartial reporting and inspired storytelling. I believe our audiences appreciate our coverage of international issues and universal themes which offers a truly global perspective that, in times such as these, is an important affirmation of the inter-connectedness of our lives on this planet.”

This is the 14^th year consecutive year that The Edge Picture Company UK earned the prestigious title of Production Company of the Year.

“We are simply stunned to receive this incredible news!  Winning ‘Production Company of the Year’ for 14 years in a row is something that we could never have believed was possible, so to have achieved this unique milestone makes us feel both proud and humbled.  Ultimately the credit has to go to our wonderful clients for continuing to trust us to produce such creative films and for all the incredibly talented people in our production teams whose skills ensure that our films are executed to perfection.”—Phil Blundell, Owner and Executive Producer, The Edge Picture Company, Ltd.

The National Press Club was honored with the 2020 York Festivals® Storytellers Gala Lifetime Achievement Award. The National Press Club, since 1908, has been recognized as the World’s Leading Professional Organization for Journalists™.

Annually New York Festivals, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, selects entries that exemplify the aims and ideas of the United Nations and honors them with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UNDGC) awards. 2020 UNDGC winners include: “Tipping Point” (CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd) was honored with the Gold UNDGC Award; “Old People's Home For 4 Year Olds” (Endemol Shine Australia, ABC) earned the Silver Award; and The Nonfiction: Monk and Vulnerable Souls, (Fuji Television Network) was awarded the Bronze UNDGC Award. To view the complete list of 2020 award-winning entries, please visit: HERE.

Gold winning Documentaries dominated this year including “Gretchen Carlson: Breaking the Silence” (Lifetime), Surviving R. Kelly” (Lifetime), “American Swamp” (MSNBC),“The Big Picture - The World According to AI” (Al Jazeera English), “Yohji Yamamoto: Rebel in Black” (NHK), “Britain’s Viking Graveyard” (Windfall Films, NOVA) Rebellion! Stonewall“ (MSNBC), “The Face of a Stranger” (CBC/Radio-Canada (émission DÉCOUVERTE),  “Masterpiece: Turner” (POSVIDEO), “The Last Igloo” (Swan Films, BBC Four), “180 Days / 180 Jours” (Avanti Groupe), ”GloboNews Documentário: Allies” (Globo News) and “Borneo - Earth´s Ancient Eden “ (Terra Mater Factual Studios GmbH).

Entertainment engaged viewers. Gold World Medalist include: “Shakira in Concert: El Dorado World Tour” (Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC “Bauhaus - A New Era” (ZDF German Television), “Secret in the Mountain” (ORF / ZDF / ARTE (Mona Film / Hager Moss Film), “My Greatest Dishes” (Sidney Street/Food Network UK), and “No Te Puedes Esconder” (Telemundo  International Studios).

Top scoring Sports content earned Gold: “30 for 30 42 to 1”(ESPN Films) “E:60 "2-Player” (ESPN) “Football is US: The College Game” (ESPN, “Saturdays in the South: A History of SEC” (ESPN), “Patricio Manuel: A Fighter's Chance” (CBS Sports Network), “MLB Now” (MLB Network), “Rugby World Cup 2019 Campaign” (beIN SPORTS Asia) and “Blink of an Eye” (Taublieb Films). Silver World Medalists include: “Brick by Brick: Inside Access with the San Francisco 49ers” (San Francisco 49ers) and Football is US: The College Game (ESPN).

Promos engaged viewers, entries achieving Gold include: “Climate Change The Facts” (BBC Studios), “Tragedies Special” (The Walt Disney Company Europe & Africa),”Winter Solstice Special” (AMC Networks International Southern Europe), “Sounds of Future Ocean” (The Walt Disney Company Latin America) and “Monday Night Football Open” (ESPN).

Corporate and Brand Image Films were honored with Gold trophies companies include: The Edge Picture Company, The Walt Disney Company Latin America, The Walt Disney Company Europe, and Africa, MerchantCantos, Sonova AG, Causal Films, Quite Frankly Productions and Plastic Pictures.

New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Grand Jury honored content creators across all platforms and in all genres and awarded in total 122 Gold World Medals, 136 Silver World Medals and 142 Bronze World Medals.

New York Festivals 2020 Storytellers Gala Television & Film Awards winner’s montages will be available for viewing on the TV & Film Awards website HERE. To view this 2020’s winner’s gallery, please visit HERE.