Inaugural Natpe Honors Awards Gala to launch at 2025 conference in Miami

NATPE Global, North America’s premier content marketplace, is proud to unveil the NATPE Honors Awards Gala, a new celebration recognizing trailblazing individuals whose creativity and visionary leadership are reshaping the entertainment industry. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning Entertainment Tonight anchor Nischelle Turner, the gala will take place on February 5th, 2025, as part of the NATPE Global conference at the InterContinental Miami.

“Following in the footsteps of the longstanding Brandon Tartikoff Awards, the NATPE Honors were created to celebrate the people who are pushing boundaries,” says Mary Maddever, NATPE Executive Content Director and EVP Realscreen. “Each year, we’ll recognize individuals who not only challenge the status quo but also inspire change through their creative work and business leadership.”

“The NATPE Honors is a celebration of the extraordinary talent and leadership driving our industry forward,” said NATPE Global Executive Director Claire MacDonald. “These recipients inspire us with their bold ideas and unwavering commitment to excellence, and we’re thrilled to celebrate their contributions at our inaugural gala in Miami.”

The inaugural NATPE Honors awardees include:

North Star Award: Recognizes career achievements of individuals whose strong leadership has had a bar-raising impact, providing guidance as the industry navigates change.

• PAUL BUCCIERI (President & Chairman, A+E Networks Group) – Celebrated for evolving A+E’s position as the home of premium cable channels to a global content powerhouse and digital ecosystem, ready for the new economics of the TV market.
• LUIS FERNÁNDEZ (Chairman, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises) – Honored for transforming Spanish-language television with groundbreaking programming and expanding Telemundo’s reach through innovative storytelling and news initiatives.

Shift Disturber Award: Honors individuals whose bold ideas and leadership are driving transformative change.

• KELLY DAY (Vice President International, Prime Video) – Recognized for her visionary leadership at Prime Video, scaling its global footprint while maintaining local relevance and advancing new content and monetization strategies.
• SHONDALAND / Betsy Beers – The creative powerhouse of Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers redefined television storytelling, raising the bar and expectations with complex female protagonists, inclusive casting and reimagining the period drama with hits like Bridgerton. Shondaland Creative Partner and Executive Producer Betsy Beers will be inducted and accepting the award.

New Establishment Award: Celebrates emerging leaders whose new ideas and creative endeavors are shaking things up and charting a new path.

• BRIAN TANNENBAUM (Head of Originals, Roku Media) – Recognized for playing a vital role in establishing Roku as a major player in AVOD with an engaging and strategic lineup of originals, sports, and Spanish-language content.

Cause + Action Award: Celebrates a purpose-led champion of change for their social good impact.

• RI-KARLO HANDY (CEO & Founder, Handy Foundation) – Recognized for his commitment to opening doors to create greater diversity and inclusion within the industry through The Handy Foundation. By rallying partners to create tangible pathways through training, mentorship and career opportunities, his efforts have not only changed individual lives but enriched the industry with fresh perspectives and voices that might have otherwise gone unheard.

The NATPE Honors Awards Gala will become an annual tradition, celebrating the most visionary leaders in entertainment and media.

Media cartographer Evan Shapiro to keynote at NATPE Global

Hear how shifts in media consumption will impact the future of TV as media cartographer and provocateur Evan Shapiro maps out a data-informed action plan for surviving the audience attention war.

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YouTube is a top global platform in audience viewing time including on CTV, and the platform continues to evolve how content is consumed and created. In this keynote presentation, Fede Goldenberg will unlock the “best practices” playbook for creators and media companies who are using the platform as a powerful ally for direct-to-consumer audience-building, content and channel monetization strategies.

Goldenberg will share innovative approaches to realizing cross-platform and multi-format potential, as well as how to build & distribute IP that resonates on the most-watched streaming platform.

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WAWA’s Woman of the Year to be announced at NATPE Global

NATPE Global and Worldwide Audiovisual Women's Association (WAWA) are thrilled to announce that WAWA’s Woman of the Year Awards will move to NATPE Global in 2025. The prestigious award will be presented on Thursday, February 6th at the InterContinental Miami.

In addition to the awards presentation, WAWA will have a prominent pavilion on the NATPE Global market floor from February 5-7 and will also present a spotlight on participating companies. During the member presentations, companies will showcase content dubbed in English, offering non-Spanish-speaking buyers a unique opportunity to discover fresh and compelling content.

“NATPE Global provides the perfect backdrop to recognize our Woman of the Year,” said Roxana Rotundo, Chair of the WAWA Board of Directors. “WAWA’s Woman of the Year was started in Miami in 2017 by Liliam Hernández and Cecilia Gómez de la Torre, and is now returning to its original home. Last year, we hosted a fantastic event at the inaugural NATPE Global, led by Claire Macdonald. Claire is an executive who truly understands our association’s mission and responsibility, and collaborating with NATPE will be instrumental in making this upcoming celebration of our Woman of the Year a remarkable occasion.”

“NATPE is honored that WAWA will crown the Woman of the Year during a special awards presentation,” said Claire Macdonald, NATPE’s Executive Director. “This organization, built on collaboration and action, has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception. There is a certain grit and can-do attitude within this group that is refreshing and makes WAWA such a fabulous partner.”

Launched in 2017, the Woman of the Year Award honors an individual who exemplifies leadership, ethics, diversity and commitment - core values of the organization. WAWA aims to foster a more inclusive industry across all sectors of the audiovisual world. The awards, previously held at MIPCancun, will return to Miami, where they were originally hosted. Past recipients include notable leaders such as Blanca Ponce, Analida Lopez, Cecilia Galeano, Cynthia Hudson, Giselle Gonzalez, Carmen Larios, Selina Nederhand and Fidela Navarro.

This marks a deepening of the partnership between NATPE Global and WAWA, following the multi-faceted collaboration at the 2024 edition of NATPE Global. Previously, the two organizations successfully hosted the Wonder Women Mentorship program, which provided a dozen female students from Florida International University’s audiovisual programs with mentorship opportunities. The program, spearheaded by Maggie Salas-Amaro Castellon, Director of Canela Kids, saw WAWA managing recruitment and program oversight. Each mentee received complimentary access to NATPE Global, furthering WAWA’s commitment to nurturing future female leaders in the industry.

Roku Media's David Eilenberg and WBD's Jason Sarlanis to headline industry-shaping keynotes at Realscreen Summit and NATPE Global

Roku Media’s Head of Content David Eilenberg will deliver the keynote address on the crossover day – Wednesday February 5 – to a joint audience of NATPE Global and Realscreen Summit delegates. Eilenberg’s keynote marks the first time a NATPE keynote will have full participation from the Realscreen Summit audience, and his session will outline Roku Media's strategic priorities for success in an ever-shifting media landscape. Eilenberg will share his thoughts on the evolution of Roku Media’s content strategy, innovative approaches in working with brands, exciting collaborations that are expanding Roku Media’s offering, and his take on data-driven developments in tech that will drive entertainment media forward in the years to come.

Realscreen Summit will open on Monday, February 3 with a keynote address from Jason Sarlanis, President of TNT, TBS, truTV, ID, and HLN, Linear and Streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery. Sarlanis, who oversees programming development for some of the most popular networks in the unscripted world—including ID's true crime hits that stream on Max and discovery+—will share his insights on the evolving landscape of unscripted programming. In his keynote interview, Sarlanis will discuss the challenges and opportunities in the industry today, how to create buzzworthy content, and where he sees growth in an unpredictable market.

Throughout the week spanning NATPE Global and Realscreen Summit, the agenda centers on bringing the Future of Media into sharper focus – what to expect in 2030. That lens will inform the events' signature formats, from Realscreen's 30 Minutes With Programmers series to NATPE's Streaming+ strand.

Have a jaw-dropping format idea? All you need is a bit of Formagination!

Formagination, an international TV format competition that introduced the world to hits like Sex Tape, Date in Reverse, and Marry Me Now, is back for its 12th edition!

The finalists will get a complimentary pass to Realscreen Summit and NATPE Global to pitch their ideas as well as guidance from Armoza Formats' development team in preparation for the competition.

If you're tired of watching the same old shows on TV and have a fresh idea that turns TV formats on their heads, send it to us today! The competition is open to ANYONE with a format idea.

Full details about the competition, including eligibility criteria and submission requirements, can be found here. Deadline for entries is Sunday, September 29, 2024.

NATPE boards Realscreen's DIALOG Mentorship Program

Realscreen‘s DIALOG Mentorship Program, a transformative initiative designed to foster connections for mid-level executives who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color across unscripted programming and production, is expanding its scope in its fourth year by partnering with NATPE and broadening the program to encompass the scripted side of the industry as well.

The program will identify up to 10 exceptional executives chosen from the DIALOG candidate submission pool, and pair them with senior-level mentors who will share their experience to assist mentees in achieving the next echelon of their career goals .

Mentors confirmed to be part of the 2024/2025 program so far include: Grace Moss — VP, DE&I Pipeline Programs, Warner Bros. Discovery; Brie Miranda Bryant — SVP, unscripted development & programming, Lifetime; Robyn Lattaker Johnson — agent, media consultant; Ryann Lauckner — chief strategy & operating officer, Fulwell73; Bree Frank — SVP, physical production, Evolution Media / founder, Hue You Know; David Cornwall — managing director, Scorpion TV; and J.C. Mills — president & head of content, Cineflix Productions. More mentors will be confirmed soon.

Realscreen and NATPE Global are also happy to welcome back founding partners A+E Networks and Warner Bros. Discovery as supporters of the DIALOG program.

The call for submissions is now open. To learn more about the DIALOG Mentorship Program, timelines and submission requirements, visit the official DIALOG website here.

NATPE Global & Realscreen Summit co-locating to Miami in 2025

The industry has spoken and Brunico Communications, parent company of NATPE Global and Realscreen Summit, is responding to the strong market appetite for an all-encompassing must-attend event that kicks off 2025 and brings together these two leading conferences in a single destination.

The 2025 editions of Realscreen Summit, the largest and most influential global unscripted industry gathering, and NATPE Global, North America’s premier content marketplace, will co-locate at the InterContinental Miami hotel.

Spanning the week of February 3-7, each event will retain its own discrete agenda and programs while providing attendees the option to seamlessly participate in both markets. Realscreen Summit will kick off the week, followed by NATPE Global, with a mid-week crossover day bridging the two events.

The co-location is designed to provide unmatched production and distribution dealmaking opportunities to attendees of both events, make attendance and exhibition more efficient, and allow delegates to conduct a broader range of business in one trip. Realscreen Summit brings the most important unscripted producers and buyers from the development side of the business, while NATPE brings significant breadth and strength across all genres as well as markets such as LatAm and Europe.

"In this challenging climate, clients and buyers alike have asked for a single market that meets the full scope of their business needs across their organizations. In response, we’re creating the most comprehensive North American-based content market available and an unbeatable value proposition.”

Russell Goldstein
President & CEO
Brunico Communications

Maddever adds, “Realscreen is known for its unparalleled curated networking and pitch experiences, which align perfectly with NATPE’s focus on creating a vital cross-industry space for cultivating domestic and international business relationships.”

“Our stakeholders are looking for the most efficient and cost-effective way to conduct business,” says Macdonald. “This provides an exceptional forum to maximize commercial opportunities on both the finished sales and commissioning ends of the spectrum.”

The first NATPE x Realscreen collaboration kicks off in June at NATPE Budapest, with a Realscreen-branded format track as part of the agenda.