PROGRAMS FROM GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS & THE UNITED KINGDOM WIN INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL EMMY® AWARDS

Brian Robbins Founder & CEO, AwesomenessTV Receives Pioneer Prize

MIPTV-Cannes, April 13, 2015 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced tonight the winners of the International Digital Emmy® Awards. The Winners came from Germany (Fiction), The Netherlands (Non-Fiction) and the United Kingdom (Children & Young People) and the Pioneer Prize was presented to Brian Robbins, Founder & CEO AwesomenessTV. The awards were attended by over 300 international executives from the television, broadband, and mobile industries, and sponsored by the Bell Fund of Canada.

“The Academy started presenting these Emmys ten years ago and the reach and relevance of digital entertainment and information has exploded across that decade,” said Bruce L. Paisner, President & CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “This year’s Emmy winners demonstrate yet again the unique power and versatility of storytelling through interactive enhancements.”

The winners are:

Dina Foxx – Tödlicher Kontakt (Dina Foxx – Deadly Contact) (ZDF / UFA / Exozet) a dramatic crime story that tackles relevant contemporary topics and turns transmedia entertainment into a fluid experience, won the Fiction category.

Reverse the Odds, (Maverick Television / Chunk / Channel 4 / Cancer Research UK), a live fundraising show packed with stars and inspirational stories to raise awareness about cancer amongst youth, won the Children & Young People category.

Last Hijack Interactive (Submarine Channel / Razor Film / ZDF / IKON) an online transmedia experience that allows you to explore the hijacking of a ship in Somalia, won the Non-Fiction category. Complete information on the winners follows this release.

THE 2015 INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL EMMY® AWARDS WINNERS

DIGITAL PROGRAM: NON-FICTION

Last Hijack Interactive
Submarine Channel / Razor Film / ZDF / IKON
Netherlands

Femke Wolting, Director
Tommy Pallotta, Director
Jamal Osman, Research & Interviews
Mirka Duijn, Interactive Director

Last Hijack Interactive is an online transmedia experience that allows you to explore the hijacking of a ship in Somalia. Exploring both sides of the story, Last Hijack Interactive allows you to uncover the complex realities behind piracy in Somalia though the eyes of a pirate and a captain, an advocate and a journalist, a parent and a wife. Combining live-action video and animation, the interactive experience gives the user the opportunity to navigate the real stories of these people, building to the hijack itself and the resulting aftermath. What are the causes and consequences of piracy? And what is the impact of piracy in Somalia and in Western countries? Together with a use of data visualization, Last Hijack Interactive provides a glimpse into the murky world of hijackings in Somalia.

DIGITAL PROGRAM: CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

Reverse the Odds
Maverick Television / Chunk / Channel 4 / Cancer Research UK
United Kingdom

Claire McArdle, Executive Producer
Alex Hryniewicz, Producer
Donnie Kerrigan, Game Lead
Colin MacDonald, Commissioning Editor

In October 2014, Channel 4 teamed up with Cancer Research UK for Stand Up 2 Cancer – a live fundraising show packed with stars and inspirational stories. We wanted younger viewers to be able to donate time instead of money, so we created a companion mobile game – “Reverse the Odds.” It features a race of fun characters – The Odds . Players help them to transform their world from a drab wasteland into a colourful wonderland. In the game, players see real images of cancer cells from patients, just like researchers analyse in the lab, and answer simple questions about what cells they see, how many there are and how bright they are glowing. This information is key for researchers who use it to reveal clues about cancer – how it behaves and ultimately achieve better treatments for patients. We partnered with youth YouTube channel DailyMix to bring the fight against cancer to an audience of younger players, working with YouTube stars – Joe Sugg and Jim Chapman – to enthuse their followers with challenges around the game. Young people became citizen scientists – helping researchers get through massive datasets.

DIGITAL PROGRAM: FICTION

Dina Foxx – Tödlicher Kontakt (Dina Foxx – Deadly Contact)
ZDF / UFA / Exozet
Germany

Max Zeitler, Director and Concept Coordinator
Kristian Costa-Zahn, Producer online
Leif Alexis, Producer TV and Webseries
Milena Bonse, Commissioning Editor

Dina Foxx – Deadly Contact is a dramatic crime story that tackles relevant contemporary topics (functional food, epigenetic) and turns transmedia entertainment into a fluid experience: On-demand, broadcast, and multi-device (Website and App). A two-part TV movie, a seven-episode webseries, a casualgame, interactive 360-degree videos and around 30 hours of engagement all enable viewers to access a different reality within the second movie. At the end of the first TV movie, main character Dina Foxx is seen running away from a mysterious persecutor and viewers receive a clear call to action: go online, to 1st : find out who’s chasing Dina (Webseries, woven into the plot of the second TV film), 2nd: help Kilian fight the epidemic (casualgame that is part of the story universe), and 3rd: join Jason in discovering the whole truth, by interactive 360-degree videos which contain vital clues. Each clue leads to a riddle that users must solve by finding fictitious websites, by scanning the movie and by employing their own deductive logic. If the viewer manages to solve all three online parts within one week, they will receive exclusive access to the movie before it is broadcast on TV.

About the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a membership based organization comprised of leading media and entertainment figures from over 50 countries and 500 companies from all sectors of television including internet, mobile and technology. The Academy’s yearly schedule of events includes the prestigious International Emmy® Awards and International Emmy® Kids Awards Ceremonies held in New York, The International Digital Emmy® Awards at MIPTV and a series of industry events such as Academy Day, The International Emmy® World Television Festival and Panels on substantive industry topics. The Academy was chartered with a mission to recognize excellence in television produced outside of the United States and it presents The International Emmy® Awards in the following twenty categories: Arts Programming; Best Performance by an Actress; Best Performance by an Actor; Current Affairs; Comedy; Digital Program: Children & Young People; Digital Program: Fiction; Digital Program: Non-Fiction; Documentary; Drama Series; Kids: Preschool; Kids: Animation; Kids: Factual; Kids: Non-Scripted Entertainment; Kids: Series; Kids: TV Movie/Mini-Series News; Non-Scripted Entertainment; Telenovela; TV Movie/Mini-Series. For more information go to www.iemmys.tv. The International Academy also recognizes Non-English Language US primetime programming with a new category added to the International Emmy® Awards competition in 2015.

About The Bell Fund
The Bell Fund provides grants to Canadian independent producers who develop and produce engaging, interactive cross-platform digital content for Canadian broadcasters to complement and enhance associated television programs. Since 1997, the Bell Fund has invested over $150M in over 1,500 Canadian digital media projects, television programs, development grants, co-productions and support for research and professional development. The Bell Fund also undertakes training, research, business development and promotion for the digital media industry. The Bell Fund receives annual contributions of approximately $14.5 M from Bell TV as part of its broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) contributions to the industry. In addition, the Development Program is supported by the interest generated by a $10M endowment, and contributions from Aliant. The Bell Fund is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, governed by an independent Board of Directors representing various sectors of the television and digital media industry.

About MIPTV
MIPTV is the world’s biggest TV and digital content market powering the unlimited potential of extraordinary stories. In April, professionals from across the TV and digital entertainment ecosystem gather in Cannes, France, to forge partnerships, seal distribution deals, network with their international executive peers, and attend high-level conferences and keynotes. MIPTV is also a key venue for early-stage development and financing deals, content acquisitions and programme sales. And with the MIP Digital Fronts- the premier global digital content market – empowering the new digital content era and bringing together the new online video ecosystem with the TV industry, MIPTV anticipates and shapes the future of entertainment. www.miptv.com

MEDIA CONTACTS

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Eva Obadia, Senior Director, Communications & Partnerships
Tel: +1-212-489-6969
eva.obadia@iemmys.tv

The Lippin Group
Don Ciaramella
Tel: +1-212-986-7080
don@lippingroup.com