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
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Inaugurated1979 (1979) as the Banff World Television Festival[1]
Organised byBrunico Communications
Websitehttps://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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  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.
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