2023 Rockie Awards Nominees & Grand Jury announced

We are pleased to announce the incredible programs selected for this year's top honours across four streams and 27 categories in BANFF's flagship competition recognizing excellence in global screen content. This year's field saw entries from more than 48 countries, with 29 countries represented amongst the nominees.

SEE THE FULL NOMINEE LIST AND SCREEN CLIPS FROM ALL NOMINATED SHOWS

MEET THE ESTEEMED INDUSTRY EXPERTS
WHO WILL DETERMINE THIS YEAR'S OVERALL BEST IN CLASS

The Rockies jury includes 150+ senior international industry professionals covering all major genres. The Grand Jury determines the coveted Grand Jury Prize, selected from the top-scoring programs across the entire field of nominees.

Thank you to our Grand Jury, and our entire international jury. Each juror brings deep industry insight and an eye for greatness to adjudicate the selection of this year's nominees, winners, special prizes and Grand Jury Prize," said Jenn Kuzmyk, Executive Director of the Banff World Media Festival. "The Rockie Awards represent the best content in the world. We're excited to once again be celebrating with a fully live and in-person awards ceremony in Banff during the festival."

OTHER HONOURS TO BE BESTOWED THIS YEAR:

Rogers' Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content
Thanks to Rogers' generous support year after year, $25,000 in cash will be awarded to the producer(s) of the top-scoring Canadian entry. Highlighting the best independently, Canadian-created entertainment content, this award serves to foster domestic talent and invest in future content development from independent producers.

Emerging Talent Prize
Awarded to the jury's highest-scoring short fiction series, non-fiction series or short film video submission that was not funded by a streamer or network.

Prix Francophone
Awarded to the jury's highest-scoring French-language video submission.

2023 ROCKIES HIGHLIGHTS:

Leading nominations by company:
‣ British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – 21 nominations
‣ FX Networks – 5 nominations
‣ National Geographic / Disney Branded Television – 5 nominations
‣ Warner Bros. Discovery – 5 nominations

Leading nominations by country:
‣ USA – 52 nominations
‣ UK – 41 nominations
‣ Canada – 37 nominations
‣ Germany – 8 nominations
‣ Australia – 6 nominations
‣ France – 6 nominations

+ Nominees from: Argentina / Austria / Belgium / Brazil / Chile / Czech Republic / Denmark / Finland / Israel / Italy / Japan / New Zealand / Norway / Poland / Portugal / Singapore / South Africa / South Korea / Spain / Sweden / Taiwan / The Netherlands / United Arab Emirates

SPOTLIGHT: Universal Studio Group presidents to outline vision at the Festival

Take the opportunity to hear directly from the presidents of Universal Television, Universal International Studios & UCP and Universal Television Alternative Studio as they outline their vision for 2023 and beyond, and share intel on how best to do business with them.

Universal Studio Group includes hit scripted television, unscripted premium docu-series, podcasts and graphic novels for multiple platforms. Collectively the studios produce over 3,000 hours of programming currently airing or streaming around the globe and own one of the largest libraries in the world with 130,000 episodes of television.

BANFF Spotlight are high-profile sessions that feature the mandates and strategies of top executives from leading global entertainment companies and organizations.

Leaders from Disney, Paramount Global, Crown Media, Blue Ant, Bell Media, APTN & more join BANFF's Content Advisory Board

We're proud to introduce this year's Content Advisory Board, an esteemed group of international industry leaders who will be working with our content team to help guide programming for the 44th edition of the Festival.

George Cheeks to keynote the 2023 Banff World Media Festival

First Summit Series Keynote speaker announced

President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS and Chief Content Officer, News and Sports for Paramount+ George Cheeks is confirmed to join the Festival's Summit Series, a premium keynote speaker lineup featuring the boldest voices and the world's most influential media leaders.

"George Cheeks has been an innovative business and creative force in the television industry for over thirty years," commented Kevin Beggs, Chair of the Board of Directors for BANFF and Chair & Chief Creative Officer of the Lionsgate Television Group. "We at the Banff World Media Festival are honored to have George give our keynote and share his views on the evolving industry."

George Cheeks oversees CBS-branded assets within Paramount Global, including the CBS Television Network, CBS Studios, CBS Stations, CBS Media Ventures, and more. As the Chief Content Officer, News and Sports for Paramount+, he is responsible for bringing CBS News and CBS Sports content to the streaming service, as well as for leading BET, Paramount Television Studios, and Paramount Global's free-to-air networks in the UK, Australia, Argentina, and Chile.

The BANFF Summit Series is a curated, future-focused lineup of keynote sessions that was launched in 2019 in honour of the festival's four-decade legacy. This powerful speaker roster features the global players who are shaping the future of the media industry. Past Summit Series speakers have included Bela Bajaria, Pearlena Igbokwe, Greg Berlanti, Ted Sarandos, Channing Dungey, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Paula Kerger, Sarah Barnett, Paul Feig, Kenan Thompson, Maverick Carter, David Linde, and Seth Meyers.