Banff World Media Festival

Founded in 1979, the Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is concerned with world television and digital content and its creation and development, and is owned and operated by Brunico Communications.^[2]

Banff World Media Festival
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Inaugurated	1979 (1979) as the Banff World Television Festival[1]
Organised by	Brunico Communications
Website	https://banffmediafestival.playbackonline.ca/

As well as honouring excellence in international television, professionals from around the world participate in seminars, master classes, and pitching opportunities. Film directors, screenwriters, and producers from PBS, BBC, NHK, Arte, Channel 4, ABC, Sony Pictures, HBO, CBC, NFB, SBS, and many other broadcasters and production companies attend the annual event.^[3]

The festival provides a global platform for industry members to discuss and debate, and explore current issues, challenges and trends.^[4]

The Rockie Awards

The festival features an international program competition, the Banff Rockie Awards. Past winners include PBS for The Hobart Shakespeareans and No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, ICP for Aaron Cohen's Debt, BBC and HBO for The Children of Beslan, NHK for Children Full of Life, BBC and WGBH for Bleak House, and Arte for Fellini: I'm a Born Liar.

The awards ceremony also bestows the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award. Past recipients of the award include John Cleese, Dame Edna, Bob Newhart, Martin Short, Tracey Ullman, Kelsey Grammer, Ricky Gervais, Craig Ferguson, Shane Smith, Brent Butt, and Suroosh Alvi. Jan Randall was music director and Composer for the awards from 1995 to 2007.

The Rockies Program Competition

The Rockie Awards is Banff’s program celebrating television and digital content from around the world. Television and digital programs are considered for a Rockie Award, presented at a ceremony each year at Banff. With participation from more than 40 countries annually, including an industry jury of more than 350 professionals working in entertainment and media around the world, the Rockie Awards is one of the world’s largest program competitions of its kind.^{[citation needed]}

The Rockies Special Achievement Awards

Each year, prolific members of the media and entertainment industry are recognized for their accomplishments in the past year via the Special Achievement Awards, given out at the Rockie Awards Gala. These are given out at the discretion of the Banff Foundation Board.

Past Special Achievement Award Winners

Company of Distinction

2013	CBS
2014	Lionsgate
2015	A+E Networks
2016	HBO
2017	ABC Television Group
2018	NBC Universal

The Impact Award presented by The Hollywood Reporter

2013	Julia Louis-Dreyfus
2017	Anthony Anderson for Black-ish
2018	The Good Doctor
2019	Justin Simien
2021	ARRAY
2022	Bela Bajaria
2023	Fenton Bailey + Randy Barbato for World of Wonder

Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award

1992	John Candy (Inaugural)
1993	Winston Rekert & Danny Virtue
1994	Eugene Levy
1995	Tantoo Cardinal
1996	Steve Smith
1997	Barry Humphries
1998	Bob Newhart
1999	Martin Short
2000	Tracey Ullman
2001	Kelsey Grammer
2002	John Cleese
2003	Rick Mercer
2006	Guy A. Lepage
2008	Brent Butt
2009	Mark McKinney
2010	Ricky Gervais
2011	James Burrows
2012	Chuck Lorre
2013	Craig Ferguson
2014	Nathan Lane
2015	Kathryn Hahn
2016	Russell Peters
2018	Sean Hayes
2019	Bill Hader
2021	Kenan Thompson
2022	Ana Gasteyer
2023	Craig Robinson

Award of Excellence in Digital Innovation

2011	Netflix
2012	Google
2013	Vice Media
2014	Electus
2015	Amazon Studios

Lifetime Achievement Award

1988	Jeremy Isaacs
1998	John Mortimer
2001	Rock Demers
2002	Bernard Pivot
2003	David Attenborough
2004	James Burrows
2005	Peter McGhee
2006	Sheila Nevins
2009	Trina McQueen
2010	William Shatner
2011	Ed Asner
2012	Larry King
2013	Christine Baranski
2014	Dan Rather

Award of Excellence

1982	Norman Campbell
1983	Gregory Peck
1984	Dinah Shore
1985	Laurence Olivier
1986	Lorne Green
1987	Ed Asner
1988	Peter Ustinov
1989	David Suzuki
1990	Bea Arthur
1991	Walter Cronkite
1992	Barbara Frum
1993	Peter Jennings
1994	William Shatner
1995	Frédéric Back
1996	Steven Bochco
1997	Diane English
1998	Don Hewitt
1999	David E. Kelley
2000	Dick Wolf
2001	Norman Jewison
2002	Gary David Goldberg
2003	David Chase
2004	Gordon Pinsent
2006	David Shore
2007	Carol Mendelsohn
2008	Sofia Milos
2009	Victor Garber
2010	Nigel Lythgoe
2011	Eugene Levy
2014	Henry Winkler
2015	Katheryn Winnick
2017	Kenny Ortega
2018	Jeremy Podeswa
2019	Paul Feig
2023	Sharon Horgan

Canadian Award of Distinction

2006	Paul Haggis
2007	Colm Feore
2008	Kim Cattrall
2009	Paul Gross
2010	Eric McCormack
2011	Howie Mandel
2012	Jeanne Beker
2013	Will Arnett
2014	Alan Thicke
2015	Gerry Dee
2016	Jay Baruchel
2017	Just For Laughs
2018	Sheila Hockin
2019	Kristin Kreuk
2020	Baroness von Sketch Show
2021	Simu Liu
2022	Jean-Marc Vallee

Showrunner of the Year

2014	Clyde Phillios
2015	Jill Soloway
2016	Damon Lindelof
2017	John Ridley
2018	Moira Walley-Beckett
2019	Jed Mercurio
2022	Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson

Program of the Year

2013	NCIS
2014	Nashville
2016	Making a Murderer
2017	The Handmaid's Tale
2018	This is Us
2019	Surviving R. Kelly
2021	It's a Sin
2022	Sort Of
2023	The Last of Us

Buffalo Rock Award

2023

Star Trek

Creative Voice Award

2022	Rose Matafeo
2023	Jennifer Podemski

See also

• Television portal

• Festivals in Alberta
• List of television festivals

References

1. Barry Turner, ed. (2008). "Festivals". The Screenwriter's Handbook. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 267. ISBN 978-0312379544. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
2. "Popular TV shows trace origins back to Banff". Rocky Mountain Outlook, June 22, 2017.
3. "CBC Executives at Banff" The Star
4. ARTE Magazine, Issue 39, 23 November 2006, p. 30.

External links

• Official website