HBO Garners 10 NAMIC Vision Awards Nominations To Top All Networks And Distributors Vying For Honors In Television Programming Diversity

LOS ANGELES, March 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - The National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), has announced the nominees for the 2014 NAMIC Vision Awards.  Now celebrating the 20^th anniversary, the Vision Awards recognize multiethnic and cross-cultural television programming that depicts the lives, spirit and contributions of people of color and best reflects the diversity of the global viewing audience.

The 2014 NAMIC Vision Award nominees were announced in conjunction with the VIP Reception for the Walter Kaitz Foundation's 5^th Annual Hollywood Creative Forum. The VIP Reception was hosted by Creative Artists Agency.  James Lesure, co-star of TBS's "Men at Work" and Danielle Vega, co-star of the Hulu original series, "East Los High" were on-hand to announce the nominations. 

"For two decades, through the Vision Awards, NAMIC has sustained a platform for fostering diversity and inclusion in the content arena by recognizing networks, talent and other entities committed to advancing diversity across all digital platforms," said Alicin Williamson, interim executive leader of NAMIC and principal, The Raben Group. "As we reflect on the 20^th anniversary, NAMIC would like to thank all those within the industry that have supported this awards initiative over the past 20 years."

HBO garnered 10 nominations to lead all contenders vying for this year's NAMIC Vision Awards.  A total of 30 networks generated 66 nominations for awards presented in the 17 categories: Animation; Awards & Honors; 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.  Original programs having aired from November 1, 2012 to November 10, 2013 were eligible for consideration. 

Nick@Nite's "Instant Mom" was this year's top nominated program, earning three nominations.  The original series garnered Best Performance - Comedy nods for co-stars, Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Michael Boatman with the third nomination received in the Comedy category. Best Performance - Comedy nominees also include China Anne McClain for Disney Channel's "A.N.T. Farm" and James Lesure received a nomination for TBS' "Men at Work."  In addition to "Instant Mom," nominated programs rounding out the Comedy category include: Lifetime's "Devious Maids," TV One's "The Rickey Smiley Show" and Universal Television's "The Mindy Project." 

HBO dominated the Best Performance - Drama category with nominations for "Treme's" Khandi Alexander and nods for "Boardwalk Empire's" Michael Kenneth Williams and Jeffery Wright.  "Treme" was also nominated for Drama alongside History's "The Bible" and the ABC primetime series, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal."  OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network also showed dominance in the Reality category earning nominations for "Raising Whitley," "Six Little McGhees" and "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's."  BET Networks also received a nod for Reality. ESPN received three of the four nominations in the Sports category for its original programs, "Richie Parker: Drive," "Sapelo Island," and E:60/ESPN's "Tony Gonzalez All-In." Rounding out the Sports category is Al Jazeera America's "America Tonight: Fists of Fury."

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.

Winning programs will be showcased online via the 2014 NAMIC Vision Awards Winners Gallery.  Starting in mid-April, :60 second clips of the winning entries in each of the 17 categories may be viewed at http://www.namic.com. 

A complete list of 2014 NAMIC Vision Awards nominees follows.  For more information, visit www.namic.com or contact Sandra Girado, senior director of Meetings and Events, at  NAMIC National, 212-594-5985.

2014 NAMIC Vision Awards Nominees

ANIMATION
Doc McStuffins - Disney Junior
NFL Rush Zone - NickToons
The Legend of Korra - Nickelodeon

AWARDS & HONORS
2013 HALO Awards - Nickelodeon
Centric Presents Soul Train Awards 2012 - Centric TV/BET Networks

BEST PERFORMANCE - COMEDY
Michael Boatman: Instant Mom - Nick@Nite
Tia Mowry-Hardrict: Instant Mom - Nick@Nite
James Lesure: Men at Work - TBS
China Anne McClain: A.N.T. Farm - Disney Channel

BEST PERFORMANCE - DRAMA
Khandi Alexander: Treme - HBO
Sarayu Rao: Monday Mornings - TNT
Michael Kenneth Williams: Boardwalk Empire - HBO
Jeffrey Wright: Boardwalk Empire - HBO

CHILDREN'S
A.N.T. Farm - Disney Channel
Bobby McFerrin: A YoungArts Masterclass - HBO
Wynton Marsalis: A YoungArts Masterclass - HBO
Dora the Explorer - Nick Jr.

COMEDY
Devious Maids - Lifetime
Instant Mom - Nick@Nite
The Rickey Smiley Show - TV One
The Mindy Project - Universal Television

DIGITAL MEDIA - SHORT FORM
East Los High - Hulu
Larry Hernandez: El Presidente - mun2
It's Kymplicated! - NickMom
World According to Michael - TV One

DOCUMENTARY
Fault Lines: America's Infant Mortality Crisis - Al Jazeera America
Girl Rising - CNN
Great Expectations: A Black in America Special - CNN
Valentine Road - HBO

DRAMA
Grey's Anatomy - ABC
Scandal - ABC
The Bible - History
Treme - HBO

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Historias Detras del Diamente: Yasiel Puig - Time Warner Cable Deportes
Huesos Que Hablan - Discovery en Espanol
Trata de Mujeres: De Tenancingo a Nueva York - Discovery en Espanol
Triquis - ESPN Deportes

LIFESTYLE
CNN Special Projects: Small Business Success - HLN
Cooking Channel's Road Trip with G. Garvin - Scripps Networks Interactive
Inside Africa: Lalibela: Rooted in Faith - CNN
Leading Women: Helene Gayle, CEO CARE USA - CNN

NEWS / INFORMATIONAL
America Tonight: Gangs of Chicago - Al Jazeera America
America Tonight: The Other America - Al Jazeera America
mun2 News Special: Hecho en America - mun2
Super Soul Sunday - OWN/Harpo Studios

ORIGINAL MOVIE OR SPECIAL
Being Mary Jane (Two Hour Movie Pilot) - BET Networks
CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story - VH1
CNN Special Projects: Power of She - HLN
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight - HBO
Twist of Faith - Lifetime

REALITY
Raising Whitley - OWN
Six Little McGhees - OWN
Sunday Best - BET Networks
Welcome to Sweetie Pie's - OWN

REALITY - SOCIAL ISSUES
Iyanla: Fix My Life - OWN/Harpo Studios
NBA TV's Open Court: Basketball & Society - NBA Digital
Urban Dove Team - ESPN
Vice - Killer Kids - HBO

SPORTS
America Tonight: Fists of Fury - Al Jazeera America
Richie Parker: Drive - ESPN
Sapelo Island - ESPN
Tony Gonzalez All-In - E:60/ESPN

VARIETY / TALK SHOW
12 Years A Slave: A TV One Special with Cathy Hughes - TV One
Oprah's Lifeclass - OWN/Harpo Studios
Oprah's Next Chapter - OWN/Harpo Studios
Real Time with Bill Maher - HBO

NOMINATIONS BY NETWORK/DISTRIBUTOR

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 2,200 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
310-882-5498 (office) / 310-902-8617 (cell)
[email protected]

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SOURCE NAMIC