The Caucus 32nd Annual Awards_wrap-up

For Producers, Writers & Directors
An Alliance of Television & New Media Content Creators
NEWS RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Holly Wallace FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 310.990.2467, hollywallace1@gmail.com ‘The Good Wife’ Producers Michelle and Robert King, ‘Game of Thrones’ Director Alex Graves, and ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Writer Jenji Kohan Named 2014 Honors Award Winners by The Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors The Caucus Foundation announced Ryan Moody of UCLA and Ko-­‐Rely Pi of Columbia University as Gold Circle Award Winners; Chapman University Received the Television and New Media Award LOS ANGELES – Michelle and Robert King (The Good Wife) were awarded the 2014 Caucus Honors for Producer and Alex Graves (Game of Thrones) won the Caucus Honors for Director at The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors 32nd Annual Awards honoring outstanding creative television and new media, held December 11, at the Skirball Cultural Center, announced Norman S. Powell, Chair of The Caucus, and Chuck Fries, President of the Foundation. Host Fred Willard (Modern Family) presented the Producer Honors Award to M ichelle King (Robert was filming in New York). “The path of producing is putting together a great team,” said King in h er acceptance speech. “We’re lucky to have an amazing, talented cast led by Julianna Margulies, a room full of some of the smartest writers in the business, a terrific roster of directors like Rosemary Rodriguez, and a fantastic hardworking crew. Thank you so much for honoring the 22 episodes a year of fabulousness.” Alex Graves received the Director Honors Award from Charles Floyd Johnson ( NCIS) and told a story describing a somewhat typical day of shooting Game of Thrones in Morocco, with dragons firebombing a p laza, a huge performance by Emilia Clarke dressed as Khaleesi on horseback, and 8,000 Unsullied soldiers marching against the perfect seven minutes of sunset. “We h ad nine minutes to d o the seven minute sunset shot, and we went out and got it,” said Graves. “The thing about it is, whether it’s the cast of 40 major characters and crew of a couple hundred in Croatia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Africa, and now Spain, the one word you never hear on that show is ‘can’t’.” Jenji Kohan was unable to attend the gala and was later awarded the Caucus Honors for Writer. On her definition of showrunner on Orange Is the New Black, the most-­‐watched original series on Netflix, Kohan said in an NPR interview, “I run the writer’s room, I have final cut in the editing room. I approve all the casting, wardrobe, sets…. One of my great skills is hiring people who are really good at their jobs and for the most part letting them do them.” Producer Vin Di Bona was presented with the Caucus Lifetime Achievement Award by Robert Papazian, the 2013 Lifetime Achievement honoree; Sony Pictures President S teve Mosko was named Executive of the Year, accepted by his son Matt; p roducer-­‐director Lee Miller was honored with the Caucus Chair’s Award by Norman S. Powell; producer Scott Carrey received the Caucus Distinguished Service Award from Sharon Arnett; and Variety Co-­‐Editor-­‐in-­‐Chief Andrew Wallenstein was given the Caucus Journalism Award by his colleague Claudia Eller. The Caucus Foundation’s Gold Circle Awards were presented to two student filmmaker grant recipients, Ryan Moody of UCLA took the F irst Place prize of a $60,000 Panasonic camera package for his film Obituaries, and Ko-­‐Rely Pi of Columbia University won the Second Place award of a $20,000 Illuminate post-­‐production package for Pitter Patter Goes My Heart. David Weddle presented the inaugural Television and New Media Award to Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts for the television pilot Sharp Left Turn, accepted by Associate Producer Jacob Moncrief. -­‐more-­‐ THE CAUCUS SUPPORTS EXCELLENCE IN TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA
A significant portion of the proceeds from the dinner will benefit The Caucus Foundation, which has provided grants and awards of $1.3 million to 138 worthy students to complete their film, television or new media projects. “These awards are a representation of the 41 years that The Caucus has worked to elevate the quality and diversity of television and to protect the creative freedom of the television and new media creative community,” said Fries. “The Caucus has been in the forefront of supporting aspiring filmmakers and education in the growth of digital, mobile and the vast expansion of technology through industry-­‐wide panels and mentorship programs.” Among the other nominees in the Producer category were Mara Brock Akil, Noah Hawley, Callie Khouri, Nic Pizzolatto, and Matthew Weiner. Writer nominees were Alan Ball, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, Kevin Williamson, and Shonda Rhimes. Director nominees were Alan Carter, Ryan Murphy, Tyler Perry, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Daniel Sackheim. Presenters included TV personality Tanya Hart, writer-­‐director Shilpi Roy, and veteran TV producers Dennis Doty and Syd Vinnedge; entertainment by the Chris Hardin Band. Event Chairman Chuck Fries, Vice Chairs and Producers Lee Miller and Vin Di Bona, Consultants Dennis Doty and Norman S. Powell, Talent Producer Barry Greenberg and Written by Todd Thicke. Wine sponsored by Mis En Bouteille Wine Company. The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors 2014 Award Recipients Producer Honors Award Winner Michelle & Robert King (The Good Wife) Writer Honors Award Winner Jenji Kohan (Orange Is the New Black) Director Honors Award Winner Alex Graves (Game of Thrones) Caucus Lifetime Achievement Award Vin Di Bona, CEO, Vin Di Bona Productions Foundation and Chairman, FishBowl Worldwide Media Caucus Executive of the Year Award Steve Mosko, President, Sony Pictures Television Caucus Chair's Award Lee Miller, President, Lee Miller Productions and Treasurer of The Caucus Caucus Distinguished Service Award Scott Carrey, Digital Media/Technology Specialist and New Media Chair of The Caucus The Caucus Journalism Award Andrew Wallenstein, Co-­‐Editor-­‐in-­‐Chief, Variety 2014 Caucus Gold Circle Awards: First Place Winner Ryan Moody, UCLA, for Obituaries Second Place Winner Ko-­‐Rely Pi, Columbia University, for Pitter Patter Goes My Heart 2014 Caucus Television and New Media Award Chapman University -­‐ Dodge College of Film and Media Arts for the television pilot Sharp Left Turn -­‐more-­‐ About the 2014 Caucus Award Recipients Husband-­‐and-­‐wife Michelle and Robert King are the co-­‐creators and executive producers of the electrifying political drama, The Good Wife. The show has received widespread critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including five Emmys, and the 2014 Television Critics Association award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. Writer and producer Jenji Kohan is best known as the creator of the acclaimed comedy-­‐drama series Orange Is the New Black for Netflix and Weeds for Showtime. She has received nine Emmy nominations, winning one as supervising producer of the comedy series Tracey Take On…. In 2006, she received a Writer’s Guild Award of America award for Episodic Comedy for Weeds: You Can’t Miss the Bear (2005). Emmy and Humanitas award winner Alex Graves is a producer and director for film and television. He has helmed some of the most gripping dramas on television including The West Wing, The Newsroom and the dark and brilliant Game of Thrones. Nominated with awards recognizing directing, writing, cast, visual effects or overall quality, Game of Thrones has received 42 Emmy Award nominations, including four consecutive Outstanding Drama Series nominations, with ten wins. As president of Sony Pictures Television, Steve Mosko oversees all television operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) worldwide. An SPE executive for more than two decades, Mosko leads the largest independent television studio, a company that ranks as a leader in the production and distribution of programming around the world. Mosko also oversees pay cable, video-­‐on-­‐demand, pay per view, digital networks, advertiser sales, and the studio’s international networks. Under Mosko’s direction, SPT programming has been awarded the industry’s top honors including Primetime and Daytime Emmys, Golden Globe Awards, and Peabody awards, among others. A pioneer in comedic reality programming and a 35-­‐year entertainment industry veteran, Peabody and four time Emmy Award-­‐winning executive producer Vin Di Bona is CEO of Vin Di Bona Productions and Chairman of FishBowl Worldwide Media. He is the creator of America’s Funniest Home Videos, the longest-­‐running primetime entertainment show on ABC, currently in its 25th year on the air. Not only credited with bringing the reality genre to network broadcasting, 25 years later, it is evident that Di Bona also set the stage for today’s universal YouTube culture by creating an appetite and platform for user-­‐generated content. Di Bona has produced and directed television movies, broadcast and cable series and network specials including Entertainment Tonight, MacGyver, Trump Unauthorized, Sherman Oaks, For the Love of Nancy and most recently Upload with Shaquille O’Neal and Tone It Up. Lee Miller is president of Lee Miller Productions and treasurer of The Caucus. Miller has produced and directed more than 2,000 hours of diverse television programming, including film dramas, variety specials and series, situation comedies, news documentaries, medical television, and live event specials such as the Tony Awards, the Emmys, Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies and People’s Choice Awards. Boasting a unique hybrid of business, technological and creative expertise, Scott Carrey has been intrinsically involved in entertainment and technology-­‐based businesses for more than 20 years and is considered a leading expert in digital workflows. His vast experience has overlapped many types of projects from traditional film and television productions, to new media and special venue applications. Carrey serves as The Caucus New Media Chair. Andrew Wallenstein is co-­‐editor-­‐in-­‐chief, digital, of Variety.com and Variety magazine. He has been with the publication since 2011, where he oversees coverage of the entertainment industry, with a focus on technology. He was at The Hollywood Reporter from 2002-­‐10, where he held various top posts including editor of THR.com. Wallenstein has been an on-­‐air contributor for NPR’s All Things Considered for nearly a decade and also hosted the TV Guide Channel’s Square Off, in 2006-­‐07. The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors is an alliance of television and new media content creators that strives to elevate program quality in television and new media by promoting and protecting the artistic, intellectual and economic rights of producers, writers & directors. www.Caucus.org Media images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/acxej1kk6vv3owb/AACMIkitrNbzNFRw8uINeIrNa?dl=0 Photos © Steve Cohen