THIRTEEN/WNET NEW YORK'S NATURE WINS PRESTIGIOUS GENESIS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING PBS DOCUMENTARY FOR CHIMPANZEES: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY, THE PREMIERE EPISODE OF NATURE'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
The winners of the 21st annual Genesis Awards were announced on March 27, 2007 at a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. The Genesis Awards are presented by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in honor of outstanding works in television, film and print media that raise public understanding of animal issues.
The 2007 Genesis Award for Outstanding PBS Documentary was awarded to the NATURE episode Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, a production of ArgoFilms and Thirteen/WNET New York. It marks the sixth time a NATURE program has taken home the award for Outstanding PBS Documentary, and the second Genesis Award for filmmaker Allison Argo, who wrote, directed, produced and narrated the film.
In its citation of Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, the HSUS commended the program "for a poignant study of how the space programs of the 1960s, medical research and life in entertainment have adversely impacted the lives of chimpanzees, man's closest living relative."
The full list of 2007 Genesis Award winners is available online at:
http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/_genesis_awards.html.
Now in its 25th anniversary season, NATURE has won nearly 400 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film community, parent groups, and environmental organizations, including eight Emmys, two Peabodys and the first award given to a television program by the Sierra Club.
NATURE video podcasts, available on iTunes and at NATURE Online (www.pbs.org/nature), range from two to 10 minutes in length and feature behind-the-scenes interviews with filmmakers and producers, program excerpts and outtakes.
To celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, NATURE Online launched a redesigned and expanded Web site. In addition to the weekly video podcasts, new features include a newsletter, streaming video clips, an RSS feed, user bulletin boards and polls, new teacher lesson plans, photo slideshows, and more.
Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History is produced by ArgoFilms and Thirteen/WNET New York. Award-winning filmmaker Allison Argo is producer, writer, director, and narrator. Previously for NATURE, Argo co-produced and directed Extraordinary Dogs (1997), and produced, wrote, directed and narrated Wisdom of the Wild (1999) and The Urban Elephant (2000), the latter winning Emmy awards for Outstanding Informational or Cultural Program and Outstanding Directing.
Major corporate support for NATURE is provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., and Ford. Additional support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nation's public television stations.
The series is closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and distributed with Descriptive Video Service (DVS) for the sight-impaired..............
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