Interactive Media Juried Winners Announced

The Television Academy announced four Interactive Media juried award winners for the 68th Emmy Awards at last night's Interactive Media Peer Group (IMPG) Nominee Reception and Celebration of Excellence. The juried awards will be presented during this year's first Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Saturday, September 10 at the Microsoft Theater.

"This year's juried winners reflect the groundbreaking work being performed by our members, in areas ranging from virtual reality to multi-screen experiences," said Seth Shapiro and Marc Johnson, co-governors of the Interactive Media Peer Group. "We are thrilled at the quality of this year's submissions, which have set a new bar for excellence at the frontiers of television."

This year's juried winners include:
 
Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media

Multiplatform Storytelling
Archer Scavenger Hunt • FX Networks • FX Productions
Tim Farrell, Transmedia Lead
Mark Paterson, Transmedia Director
Bryan Fordney, Technical Director

Original Interactive Program
Henry • Oculus Platform • Oculus Story Studio
Oculus Story Studio

Social TV Experience
@midnight with Chris Hardwick • Comedy Central • Comedy Central, Funny or Die, Nerdist Industries, Serious Business, Aloha Productions, Garant Lennon Productions, Brillstein Entertainment Partners
Chris Hardwick, Executive Producer/Host
Jack Martin, Executive Producer
Joe Farrell, Executive Producer
Christopher D'Elia, Producer
Serious Business

User Experience And Visual Design
Cartoon Network App Experience • Cartoon Network • Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network

Juried categories require all entrants to be screened by a panel of professionals in the peer group, with the possibility of one, more than one or no entry being awarded an Emmy. As a consequence, there are no nominees, but instead a one-step evaluation and voting procedure. Deliberations include an open discussion of each entrant's work, with a thorough review of the merits of awarding the Emmy. At the conclusion of each deliberation, the jury considers the question, "Is this entry worthy of an Emmy Award – yea or nay?" Only those with unanimous approval win.

In addition, the IMPG announced the 2016 Lucy Hood Digerati Award recipient, Rob Hayes. Bestowed by the IMPG's Governors, The Digerati Award was created in 2012 by the IMPG to honor individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the interactive and digital media communities, and to the Peer Group itself. In 2014, the Award was renamed the Lucy Hood Digerati Award, in memory of late Television Academy President Lucy Hood, a trailblazer in the intersection of television and digital.

Hayes serves as Executive Vice President Digital, NBC Entertainment, and is responsible for the operations and P&L for NBC Entertainment's digital initiatives including broadband, mobile and VOD. Responsibilities include overall day-to-day management of NBC network's digital business development and strategy, product, technology, production, editorial, multi-platform content creation, digital marketing, social and creative. Hayes oversees the network's management on 3rd parties including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Instagram among others. NBC properties include The Voice, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, SNL, The Blacklist, etc.

Prior to NBC, Hayes was the COO for JayZ's YouTube Channels; "Life & Times", and "Uno, Dos, Tres." While at Showtime Networks Inc., he oversaw all things digital, developing robust multi-platform identities for such programs as Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Californication and The Tudors. Under Hayes' leadership, Showtime broke new ground in developing a digital business strategy that included the first distribution deals for premium television with iTunes, Amazon and Netflix, among others. During his tenure, the cable network enjoyed its greatest growth from 12 million to more than 18 million subscribers.

Under his leadership, NBC won an Emmy in 2014 for Outstanding Interactive Program for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Hayes himself has received numerous industry awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for Showtime Sports Interactive, iMedia Visionary Marketer of the Year Award, and CTAM and Promax Awards. His speaking engagements include CNBC, NPR, NAMIC, Consumer Electronic Show (CES), Jupiter Media Metrix, Promax/BDA, Digital Hollywood and Streaming Media West.

The 2016 Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be executive-produced by Bob Bain over two nights and an edited version will be broadcast Saturday, September 17 at 8pm ET/PT and 10:30pm ET/PT on FXX.

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Contact:
Jim Yeager
Breakwhitelight (for The Television Academy)
jim@breakwhitelight.com
818-264-6812