ESPN, Lifetime, OWN And Showtime Top Winners Of NAMIC Vision Awards Honoring Achievements In Original Programming Diversity

NEW YORK, May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) today announced the winners of the 2015 NAMIC Vision Awards.  Presented in partnership with NAMIC - Southern California, the awards honor original, multiethnic and multicultural television programming that depicts the lives, spirit and contributions of people of color and best reflects the diversity of the viewing audience.  Winners will be showcased online via the 2015 NAMIC Vision Awards Winners Gallery. The awards gallery featuring :60 second clips of the winning programs in each of the 16 categories can be viewed by visiting http://namicvisionawards.com.

A total of 27 networks and producers/distributors competed for awards in 16 programming categories: Animation; Children's; Comedy; Documentary; Drama; Foreign Language; Lifestyle; News/Informational; Original Movie or Special; Reality; Reality – Social Issues; Sports; Variety/Talk Show; Best Performance – Comedy; Best Performance – Drama; and Digital Media (Short Form).  ESPN, Lifetime, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and Showtime Networks Inc. each garnered wins in two categories to lead all networks.

Showtime Network's original series, "Masters of Sex" was this year's Drama category winner.  Best Performance – Drama was awarded to actor Michael Kenneth Williams for his role in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."  Lifetime's "Devious Maids" was the winner in the Comedy category with actors Raúl Castillo and Don Cheadle tying for the win in Best Performance – Comedy.  Castillo was recognized for HBO's "Raúl Castillo: Looking" and Cheadle for Showtime Network's "House of Lies." Notably, the Original Movie or Special category also resulted in a tie with wins garnered by CNN's "Documented" and Lifetime's "The Trip to Bountiful."

"Congratulations are extended to all of the 2015 NAMIC Vision Award winners," said Raquel Williams, president, NAMIC – Southern California and director, Distribution, Crown Media Family Networks.  "Since the awards' inception in 1994, NAMIC – Southern California in collaboration with NAMIC National has remained committed to this initiative with the shared goal of fostering programming diversity.  As the creation of multiethnic and culturally relevant content expands, we look forward to continuing the legacy of recognizing those within our industry for their achievements in advancing diversity across all digital platforms."

The NAMIC Vision Awards competition extends eligibility to national broadcast and cable networks; local affiliates; local origination programs from cable operators; and VOD content produced for digital platforms.  Entries were judged by a distinguished panel of entertainment industry executives.  Judging is focused on overall imagery (creative merit, originality, and presentation quality), sensitivity (the consideration given to cultural nuances), writing (the depiction of issues relevant to people of color) and the quality of acting in the performance categories.

For more information or to view the 2015 NAMIC Vision Awards Winners Gallery, visit http://namicvisionawards.com.

The complete winners list for the 2015 NAMIC Vision Awards is as follows:

ANIMATION                                                                                                  
Doc McStuffins – Disney Junior                               

BEST PERFORMANCE – COMEDY           (Tie)              
Raúl Castillo - Raúl Castillo: Looking – HBO
Don Cheadle - House of Lies – Showtime Networks Inc.                

BEST PERFORMANCE – DRAMA            
Michael Kenneth Williams - Boardwalk Empire – HBO

CHILDREN'S
Nick News with Linda Ellerbee – Nickelodeon

COMEDY
Devious Maids – Lifetime

DIGITAL MEDIA – SHORT FORM
Music Choice Chronicles Fat Joe – Music Choice

DOCUMENTARY                             
Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop – VH1

DRAMA         
Masters of Sex – Showtime Networks Inc.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
MTV Agents of Change, Making the Switch – Viacom International Media Networks                    

LIFESTYLE                                                                                       
Rev Run's Sunday Suppers – Cooking Channel                  

NEWS / INFORMATIONAL                                                                         
Oprah's Master Class: Cicely Tyson – OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network           

ORIGINAL MOVIE OR SPECIAL (Tie)                                                       
Documented – CNN
The Trip to Bountiful – Lifetime          

REALITY                               
Welcome to Los Vargas – NBC Universo

REALITY – SOCIAL ISSUES
Helping in Haiti – ESPN

SPORTS
Marquis Goodwin: The Blueprint – E:60/ESPN

VARIETY / TALK SHOW
Oprah Prime: Pharrell Williams – OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

ABOUT NAMIC
NAMIC (National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications) is the premier organization focusing on multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. Founded in 1980 as a non-profit trade association, today NAMIC comprises 2,300 professionals belonging to a network of 16 chapters nationwide. Through initiatives that focus on education, advocacy and empowerment, NAMIC champions equity and inclusion in the workforce, with special attention given to ensuring that the leadership cadres of our nation's communications industry giants reflect the multi-ethnic richness of the populations they serve. For more information, please visit www.namic.com and stay connected to NAMIC on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT : 
Charmaine Chapman
BTB Communications Group
310-882-5498 (office) / 310-256-7470 (cell)
[email protected]

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