The Telly Awards opened its annual call for entries, and this edition unveils the new suite of Immersive & Mixed Reality categories, which embrace media from Virtual Reality, 360 video, and AR.

The 41st Telly Awards introduces new categories that signal the continued growth in creative approaches to the rising digital video production, storytelling, and distribution landscape. It’s not just about introducing new categories within the areas already covered, it is also about showing commitment to the creative expansion that technology has brought to the industry. To that end, The Telly Awards has unveiled its new suite of Immersive & Mixed Reality categories, which includes media from Virtual Reality, 360 video, and Augmented Reality.

https://youtu.be/o8k9GXbF0gs

Over the last few years, The Telly Awards has seen and been inspired by, more and more boundary-pushing work from the VR community. With this increase and evolution, this season we are announcing a dedicated suite of categories across Immersive & Mixed Reality, including: Use of AR, Use of Volumetric Capture, Animation, Branded Content, Non-Scripted / Documentary. Along with new Social Impact categories, the awards will also introduce an expansion of its Diversity & Inclusion categories.

The global message of the award

This year, the 41st edition of the Tellys is rolling out an all-new campaign dubbed “Telly Award Winners Tell Great Stories”, which celebrates the award’s origins in local and regional commercials, as well as their inclusive, platform-agnostic theme and message. Ever-changing and adapting to the evolution of the industry, The Telly Awards have taken that very message and gone global, recognizing the democratization of who is able to make work.

“For this season, due to the explosion of work made for all screens all around the world, we want to ensure that entrants all over the globe understand that we are eagerly inviting entries from all territories, whether English speaking or English-subtitled work. We’re making a concentrated effort to look for work beyond the US,” says Tellys Managing Director Sabrina Dridje.“We also want to highlight that all types of creators, from editors and directors to animators and those producing content on new platforms, are vital parts of the storytelling process. They can all tell great stories and so all have the potential to win.”

From animation to documentary

“Telly Award Winners Tell Great Stories” will be anchored and amplified by the second installment of the Telly Awards’ video and film screening series. Reflecting the global message of the award, the screenings will not only take place in major U.S. markets such as New York (November 7th at Kickstarter HQ), Los Angeles, and Las Vegas (April 2020), but in prime international capitals including Toronto (November 13th), Berlin, London, and Amsterdam (Spring 2020).

With Storyhunter as its media partner once again, The Telly Awards’ 45-minute “Film and Video Night” screening program will feature a range of content across branded, animation, and short-form documentaries from notable companies including RadicalMedia, Droga5, Great Big Story, Stash Magazine, WeTransfer, Passion Pictures, CultureLabel, Hickies, and Square. This includes a piece directed by Academy Award nominee Mike Mills and a Telly Award-winning piece narrated by Academy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actress Emma Thompson.

Deadline is December 6th

Telly Awards entries will be evaluated by members of The Award Judging Council drawn from a diverse mix of advertising, media, tech, and video industry leaders. Among this year’s first-time judges are Annie Granatstein from The Washington Post, Joanna Popper from HP, Andrew Wareham from Taxi, and David Weinstein from Complex Networks. The Telly Awards also announced expanded partnerships with industry leaders NAB, Stash Magazine, and StudioDaily, as well as new partnerships with Social Media Week and Catalyst Content Festival.

Founded in 1979 to honor commercials made for cable and local TV, The Telly Awards has continually refreshed its categories to honor the evolving, broad range of work being made — including branded content, social video, and animation — working with industry experts to identify categories where new platforms play an increasingly important role in the ways stories are being told.

As a result, last year, The Telly Awards received over 12,000 entries – a 10% increase from the previous year – from top video content producers including Viacom, Google, Condé Nast, CBS Interactive, and Verizon.

To enter work in The 41th Annual Telly Awards, visit www.tellyawards.com. The deadline for early entries is December 6th, 2019. Winners will be announced on May 20, 2020.