Downton Abbey Writer and Creator Julian Fellowes to receive 2015 International Emmy® Founders Award at International Emmy® Gala in New York, on November 23

New York, March 30, 2015 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will present the 2015 International Emmy® Founders Award to Julian Fellowes, the writer and creator of Downton Abbey, one of the most acclaimed, widely watched and best reviewed television series in the history of the medium. Academy President & CEO, Bruce L. Paisner, announced today that Fellowes will accept the Award at the 43rd International Emmy® Awards Gala, on Monday, November 23, 2015, in New York City.
 
An Oscar-winning screenwriter, Julian Fellowes began his career as an actor. He grew up in England, attended Cambridge University, then drama school and worked on stage with several repertory companies. He subsequently appeared in over 40 films and TV shows, while at the same time writing screenplays for such movies as Vanity Fair, Separate Lies- and Gosford Park-for which he took home an Oscar. He is also responsible for writing international bestseller, Snobs. Fellowes turned this passion for writing into a second career.
 
“People everywhere know, follow and are passionate about Downton Abbey, and the Academy is thrilled to honor its writer and creator Julian Fellowes,” said Paisner. “Julian has brought a career’s worth of experience and ideas to this landmark television series and we look forwarding to welcoming him and members of the Downton Abbey cast at our Gala.”
 
Julian Fellowes comments: “This is an extraordinary honour, both for me and for the  Downton team and I can only say that I feel simultaneously unworthy and very, very grateful.  It is a significant high point of my career.  Thank you.”   
 
Set in an Edwardian country house in the early 20th Century, Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family who own the house and the servants who work for them. Winner of over 40 national and international awards, Downton Abbey’s notable accolades include Best Mini-Series at the Golden Globe Awards, Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Outstanding Mini-Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards. The show has even made it in to the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest critical review ratings for a TV show. Fellowes other recent television writing credits include Titanic and The Young Victoria.
 
Julian Fellowes is also set to write a new series, The Gilded Age, a sweeping fictional epic of the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s for NBCUniversal. Carnival Films, a British subsidiary of NBCUniversal International Television Production produces Downton Abbey.

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 60 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 US primetime programming produced 50% or more in non-English languages, with a new category added to the 2014 International Emmy® Awards competition.
 
 
About Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes, actor, writer, director, producer, was educated at Ampleforth, Magdalene College, Cambridge and The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. As an actor, he is probably best known for the BBC series, Aristocrats, and for his portrayal of the incorrigible Lord Kilwillie in the BBC’s popular Sunday night series, Monarch of the Glen. As a writer for television, he produced the scripts of Little Lord Fauntleroy (winner of an International Emmy, 1995) and The Prince and the Pauper(nominated for a Bafta, 1997) which he also produced. His first script for the cinema was Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman, which won him several prizes, including the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Julian wrote the screenplay of The Young Victoria, released in 2009 and was a writer on The Tourist, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. His television series, Downton Abbey, with Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville, had a tremendously successful launch in the autumn of 2010, followed by an equally well received second, third and fourth series. In 2011, the show won six Emmys in Los Angeles, including Best Writer and Best Mini Series, as well as a Golden Globe, the Producer’s Guild Award and the prize for Best Drama at the National Television Awards. It was nominated for sixteen Emmys for the second season, and this year was nominated for twelve. Among the wins was the SAG Award for Ensemble, a timely recognition of the wonderful cast. He is working on various projects at the moment. He is already writing the sixth series of Downton Abbey, which goes out in the UK in September 2015, and a stage version of The Wind in the Willows will be produced in 2015, as well as a three part mini-series of his own book, Snobs. He has completed an adaptation of The Chaperone which will star Elizabeth McGovern and Simon Curtis will direct. Julian has also written the ‘book’ for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, School of Rock, which will open in New York later this year.

About Carnival Films
Carnival Films is a division of NBC Universal International TV Production and is the UK’s largest drama specialist. The company is responsible for the global TV sensation Downton Abbey, winner of three Golden Globes and eleven Primetime Emmy awards, including Best Mini-series. It is the most nominated non-US show in the history of the Emmys with a total of 51 nominations and is now in 250 territories worldwide. Among numerous national and international awards, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards and three National Television Awards, the show has even garnered a Guinness World Record for highest critical ratings for a TV show. Downton Abbey is executive produced by Carnival’s Managing Director Gareth Neame, who sold the production company to NBCU in 2008.  
 
Founded in 1978, Carnival has produced many hundreds of hours of popular drama both in the UK and US, including primetime series such as Poirot, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel, Jeeves & Wooster, Rosemary & Thyme, As If, Dracula and The Philanthropist, as well as award-winning mini-series such as C4’s iconic Traffik, David Hare’s Worricker Trilogy (Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield), The 7:39 by David Nicholls, William Boyd’s BAFTA award winning Best Serial Any Human Heart, The Old Curiosity Shop and Enid starring Helena Bonham-Carter. Peter Morgan’s The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies broadcast on ITV at the end of 2014 to critical acclaim. Carnival’s latest series The Last Kingdom is in production for BBC2 and BBC America, and the sixth season of Downton Abbey will go in to production in early 2015. Carnival co-produced Royal Television Society award winning drama The Hollow Crown, a screen version of Shakespeare’s history plays (with Neal Street productions) and the sequel The War of the Roses is currently in production, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Judi Dench.
  
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  

Brian Robbins, Founder & CEO of AwesomenessTV to Receive Pioneer Prize at International Digital Emmy® Awards @MIPTV 2015

New York, March 5, 2015 – Brian Robbins, the American TV, film and digital media producer behind AwesomenessTV, a multi-platform media company serving the global teen audience and one of the most subscribed to teen destinations on YouTube, is set to receive the 2015 Pioneer Prize at the International Digital Emmy® Awards. He will accept the prize on Monday, April 13th at MIPTV.
 
After producing numerous popular and critically acclaimed television hits aimed at teens and young audiences for WB, Nickelodeon and Disney, Robbins decided to focus on digital media with the creation of the AwesomenessTV YouTube channel. Launched in July 2012, AwesomenessTV quickly became the fastest growing teen and tween destination on YouTube, accumulating over seven billion views worldwide. AwesomenessTV was acquired by Dreamworks Animation in May 2013 and Hearst acquired a 25% interest in December 2014. Continuing to operate independently with Robbins at its helm, the fast growing company has expanded into film and television production, consumer products, music and publishing. It also produces DreamWorksTV.
 
“Brian Robbins is a force to reckon with- a multi-talented producer and entrepreneur who has harnessed his unique know-how of the teen audience to create, at record speed, a global multi-platform media company that keeps on reinventing how content is being produced, distributed and watched,” said International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences President & CEO, Bruce Paisner. “We look forward to recognizing his innovative contributions to the field of digital entertainment with our 2015 Pioneer Prize.”
 
“Awesome is the best way to describe being honored for something that I love doing. I’ve been producing content for teen and tween audiences my entire life but digital media has enabled me to connect with them in ways unimaginable a few short years ago,” said Robbins, CEO and Founder AwesomenessTV. “Not only can we deliver content when and where teens want to access it, but we are now able to reach a global audience day and date.”
 
In addition to the Pioneer Prize, the International Academy will present 3 International Digital Emmy Awards for Digital Program: Children & Young People; Digital Program: Fiction and Digital Program: Non-Fiction.  

As in previous years, the International Digital Emmy Awards, sponsored by the Bell Fund will bring together over 200 international executives across the entertainment, mobile and Internet industries at an exclusive ceremony, on the opening night of MIPTV 2015.
 
Robbins will also be part of MIPTV’s Digital Fronts with a presentation on April 15.

About Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins is one of the entertainment industry’s most prolific producers of television, film and digital media. As founder of AwesomenessTV, which launched in July 2012, he helms one of the fastest growing teen and tween destinations on YouTube. The AwesomenessTV banner includes AwesomenessTV, a channel featuring scripted and reality series and the ATV Network, a community-based MCN focused on discovering and supporting the next generation of YouTube stars, with over 90,000 channels of teen content creators who have accumulated over seven billion views. The channel has expanded off YouTube to produce and distribute the AwesomenessTV series and Terry the Tomboy movie with Nickelodeon, Richie Rich on Netflix and the feature films Expelled and Mindless Behavior: All Around The World. AwesomenessTV was acquired by DreamWorks Animation in May of 2013 and is now a majority-owned subsidiary that continues to operate independently. Hearst Corporation has a 25% interest. Robbins also oversees the DreamWorksTV YouTube channel, which offers original animated and live-action programming. As the co-founder of Tollin/Robbins Productions and the founder and president of Varsity Pictures, Robbins is best known for executive producing numerous popular and critical television hits aimed at teens and young audiences, including the long-running CW series Smallville and One Tree Hill, Disney Channel’s Sonny With a Chance and So Random, Nickelodeon’s All That and Kenan and Kel, and Spike TV’s Blue Mountain State. Robbins was also the producing force behind the popular WB series What I Like About You and HBO’s Arli$$.In features, Robbins has directed and/or produced films such as Disney’s Wild Hogs and Shaggy Dog, Paramount’s Coach Carter, Hardball and Varsity Blues, DreamWorks’ Norbit and A Thousand Words and Sony’s Radio. Prior to AwesomenessTV, Robbins financed, produced and distributed the feature film FRED: The Movie, based on teenager Lucas Cruikshank’s record-breaking series of FRED videos on YouTube, and also produced its sequels, Night of the Living FRED and Fred 3: Camp Fred, as well as the ensuing television series FRED The Show that aired on Nickelodeon. All three films, as well as FRED The Show, debuted to record audiences amongst both teens and tweens. Robbins won a Directors Guild Award, a Peabody Award, and has been nominated for the Emmy Award.
 
 
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® Awardsat 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 2014.
 

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

Visit us at MIPTV Booth P-1N61

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