POLAND WINS FIRST EMMY® EVER AT 35TH INTERNATIONAL EMMY AWARDS GALA

NEW YORK, November 19, 2007 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 35th International Emmy® Awards tonight at a star-studded Gala event held at the New York Hilton, hosted by award-winning stage and screen actor host Roger Bart, currently leading in Mel Brook’s new Broadway musical, Young Frankenstein.

A cast of international stars including Robert De Niro, Kristen Bell, Sam Waterston, Rob Morrow, Alan Cumming, Gloria Reuben, Eric Bogosian and Katrina Bowden presented the International Emmy® statue to the winners in front of an international audience of over 1,000 entertainment and media executives.

Live-action fairytale The Magic Tree made history in the Children & Young People category by garnering Poland’s first ever International Emmy® Award victory.

There was a tie in the Best Performance by an Actor with both British actor, Jim Broadbent winning for his performance as Stan McDermott in the drama series, The Street and Dutch actor, Pierre Bokma winning for his performance as Peter van der Laan in the television movie, The Chosen One. Best Performance by an Actress was won by French comedian Muriel Robin for her performance as Marie Besnard in Marie-Besnard The Poisoner.

In addition to the Best Actor category, British programs won in the Arts Programming, Comedy, Documentary, Drama Series, TV-Movie/Mini-Series and Non-Scripted Entertainment categories.

“We congratulate this year’s winners for their outstanding achievement. The International Academy is proud to be the preeminent platform for recognizing excellence in television programming and talent on a global scale,” said Academy President & CEO Bruce Paisner, also President of Hearst Entertainment.

The International Emmy® Founders Award was presented by Robert De Niro to Former Us Vice-President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Al Gore, for his role in launching cable/satellite channel Current TV and his ongoing effort to alert the world to one of the great challenges of our time, global warming.  The Directorate Award was presented by French film and television star Carole Bouquet to Patrick Le Lay, Chairman, TF1 Group for guiding the growth of the TF1 brand from a traditional commercial television broadcaster to a multi-media organization that is a pioneer in many of the emerging new digital platforms.

2007 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient and Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder and co-chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite television nonfiction network for young adults. Based on citizen journalism and viewer participation in shaping the news and information that is relevant to them. Al Gore also serves as chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing. He chairs the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit organization designed to help solve the climate crisis. Al Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982 and the U.S. Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the forty-fifth vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. During the Administration, Al Gore was a central member of President Clinton’s economic team. He is the author of the bestsellers Earth in the Balance and An Inconvenient Truth and is the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary

Patrick Le Lay has been the driving force behind TF!’s success for the last twenty years. TF1 is the leading French terrestrial television channel with a current average market share of 35 percent. In addition to over-the-air broadcasting TF1 owns several special interest channels distributed through cable and satellite services, including Eurosport, La Chaine Info (LCI, news), and Odyssee (documentaries), as well as home shopping, multimedia distribution, and licensing operations. In 1996 TF1 launched the satellite broadcasting service TPS (Television Par Satellite) and is currently one of the main promoters of HDTV in France.

The International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) Award was presented to the winning broadcaster from Thailand, National Broadcasting of Thailand, for its program From South to North, From East to West, Thailand ICDB-Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS by The Bold & The Beautiful actors Ashley Jones and Drew Tyler Bell. This special Award is co-presented by The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and UNICEF.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is the largest organization of global broadcasters, with over 500 members from nearly 70 countries and over 500 companies. The Academy was chartered with a mission to recognize excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States. The Academy is a unique, independent organization including the world’s leading entertainment and media decision makers who come together to exchange ideas, discuss common issues and promote new strategies for the future development of quality global television programming.

Media Contacts:

Eva Obadia, Director Marketing & PR               
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences       
eva.obadia@iemmys.tv                      
T: 212-489-6969                       
F: 212-489-6557

Matt Biscuitti
The Lippin Group
matt@lippingroup.com
T: 212-986-7080

2007 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® AWARD WINNERS

ARTS PROGRAMMING
Simon Schama’s Power of Art: Bernini
British Broadcasting Corporation / WNET / Thirteen
United Kingdom
Executive Producer: Basil Comely
Producer: Clare Beavan
Director: Clare Beavan
Writer: Simon Schama
Nominees:     Simon Schama (Presenter)
Clare Beavan (Producer, Director)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s marble sculpture, the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, shows a nun in the state of orgasmic bliss accompanied by a lambent angel. Much like the artist himself, the sculpture raised great controversy in the Vatican. Simon Schama tells the story of the most renowned and notorious sculptor of 17th century Rome and his ability to depict movement in a way never before attempted in stone.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR – TIE
Pierre Bokma
as Peter van der Laan
The Chosen One
VPRO Television / IdtV Film BV
The Netherlands
Set in the Dutch Bible Belt, two deeply-religious brothers, Johan and Peter van der Laan, start a software company in a chicken shed. Within a few years, the enterprise grows into a worldwide business with a billion-dollar profit and thousands of employees. But on the day of flotation on the New York Stock Exchange, the enterprise takes a turn for the worst. A young financial director gets involved with Johan’s daughter, creating an inextricable jumble of business interests, family issues and religion; threatening the whole empire to collapse like a house of cards.

AND

Jim Broadbent
as Stan McDermott
The Street
Granada Television for BBC One
United Kingdom
Accepting: Ken Horn (Producer, The Street)
The Street is a gritty but warm drama set in the North of England with each episode concentrating on a different house in a community. This episode tells the story of Stan McDermott, a dedicated warehouse foreman who is devastated that his retirement is quickly approaching. To make matters worse, unless he dies before his 65th birthday, his pension is worth next to nothing. Seeing no other way out, Stan attempts suicide but fails miserably. After a stint at a mental hospital, Stan discovers the true meaning of life despite its injustices and tribulations.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Muriel Robin
as Marie Besnard
Marie Besnard – The Poisoner
Ramona / RTBF / To Do Today Productions
France
Marie Besnard – The Poisoner follows the incredible true story of the infamous “black widow” serial killer. In the wake of swelling rumors in the small French town of Loudun after World War II, Marie Besnard is accused of poisoning her husband and eleven other members of her family. Simone, a young radio reporter originally from Loudun, hears about the accusations against one of the small town’s wealthy inhabitants and decides to cover the story. The “trial of the century” begins as Marie pleads her innocence.

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
The Magic Tree
TVP SA
Poland
Executive Producer: JJoooo
Director: Andrzej Maleska
Writer: Andrzej Maleska
Principal Cast: Filip Fabis, Mateusz Chorowski, Arek Glensk
Nominees:     Andrzej Maleska (Director)
Hanna Probulska-Dzisiów (Editor)
Somewhere in Europe, there grew a huge tree – a magic tree. One day, it was cut down and its wood was used to make many things: a sledge, furniture, and toys, among others. Each object retained some of the magic power. The day the objects were sent to stores, amazing things started to happen. Each episode tells a separate story of events caused by different objects made out of the Magic Tree.

COMEDY
Little Britain Abroad
BBC Comedy / Little Britain Productions
United Kingdom
Executive Producer: Jon Plowman
Producer: Geoff Posner
Director: Matt Lipsey
Writers: Matt Lucas, David Walliams
Principal Cast: Matt Lucas, David Walliams
Nominees: Jon Plowman (Executive Producer)
Little Britain is going abroad! Lou and Andy head off to Disneyland but end up on a desert island; Bubbles De Vere tries out a Swiss boutique; mental health patient Anne meets the Pope; Marjorie visits an American Fat Fighters group; Dafydd Thomas is off to a Greek island gay resort; and Vicki Pollard is being held in a Thai jail. And what is going on between the Prime Minister and the American President?!

DOCUMENTARY
Stephen Fry – The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
IWC Media / BBC Scotland
United Kingdom
Executive Producers: Alan Clements, Charlotte Moore, Andrea Miller
Producer: Ross Wilson
Director: Ross Wilson
Nominees: Stephen Fry (Presenter)
Ross Wilson (Producer/Director)
Stephen Fry explores the world of manic depression, a mental illness which affects four million people in the UK alone, including Stephen. It is a greatly misunderstood condition driving sufferers to extreme highs and suicidal lows. In a world where the medication is as feared as the illness itself, Stephen talks openly about the path he chose and speaks to celebrities who owe their life and career to medication. He also interviews the family of one girl who committed suicide rather than take medication.

DRAMA SERIES
The Street
Granada Television for BBC One
United Kingdom
Executive Producer: Sita Williams
Producer: Ken Horn
Directors: David Blair, Terry McDonough
Writers: Jimmy McGovern, Marc Pye, Alan Field, James Quirk, Arthur Ellison
Principal Cast: Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent, Lee Ingleby, Timothy Spall, Neil Dudgeon, Sue Johnston, Christine Bottomley, Jody Latham
Nominees:     Sita Williams (Executive Producer)
Roxy Spencer (Script Executive)
Set in Northern England, each episode concentrates on a different house on the street. Every story is unique, but linked by community and an indomitable sense of humor. There’s poverty, crime, drugs and violence, but there’s also laughter and love. There are mothers and daughters; fathers and sons, and a husband and wife falling in love all over again after forty years. These are love stories as unexpected, messy and exuberant as real life.

NON-SCRIPTED ENTERTAINMENT
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
BBC Entertainment
United Kingdom
Executive Producers: Martin Scott, Bea Ballard, Ruth Wrigley, Suzy Lamb
Producers: Deborah Sargeant, Mel Balac
Writer: Rob Colley
Principal Cast: Graham Norton, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Zoë Tyler, John Barrowman, David Ian
Accepting: John Plowman Executive Producer: Jon Plowman
Graham Norton hosts the search for a new Maria Von Trapp to star in the West End production of The Sound of Music. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber sets out on the unenviable task of trying to fill the wimple of Julie Andrews. Who could possibly be a nun in training, a governess, a will-o’-the wisp and a singing sensation? But in a twist, rather than pick their new leading lady themselves, the panel and Lloyd Webber let the viewers select the winner.

TV MOVIE/MINI-SERIES
Death of a President
Borough Films for MORE4
United Kingdom
Executive Producer: Robin Gutch
Producers: Gabriel Range, Simon Finch, Ed Guiney
Director: Gabriel Range
Writers: Gabriel Range, Simon Finch
Principal Cast: Michael Reilly Burke, M. Neko Parham, Malik Bader, Hend Ayoub, Becky-Ann Baker, Chavez Ravine, Robert Mangiardi, Brian Boland, James Urbaniak, Jay Patterson, Christian Stolte, Patricia Buckley, Jay Whittaker, Seena Jon
Nominee: Gabriel Range (Producer, Director, Writer)
Simon Finch (Producer, Writer)
Set in the near future, this drama uses archive footage and documentary techniques to imagine the assassination of George W. Bush. It is October 2007 and Bush is gunned down by a sniper after a speech in Chicago. While a nation mourns, the hunt for his killer swings into action and the investigation soon focuses on a Syrian-born man, Jamal Abu Zikri. Death of a President explores the administration’s responses to 9/11 and is inspired by real-life experiences of those caught up in the events.

THE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY OF BROADCASTING AWARD
Each year, The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and UNICEF co-present a special award to the broadcaster who embraces the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting initiative and whose programming best captures the spirit of the ICDB. Although not an International Emmy®, this special initiative is a great honor and prestigious recognition for the work of youth around the world who write, report, produce and present programs that express their thoughts on the issues that affect them. The theme for this year’s ICDB was “Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS”.

National Broadcasting of Thailand – Thailand
Written entirely by children, National Broadcasting of Thailand’s “From South to North, From East to West, Thailand ICDB-Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS” incorporated numerous dramas, musical numbers and interviews. The dramas included stories about friends who don’t believe in condoms, poor conditions leading to HIV/AIDS infection and being careful about love. The youth production teams were also interviewed about their experiences.