AFTRA to Celebrate the “American Scene” National American Scene Awards®

CALL FOR ENTRIES for Productions that Depict True Diversity

DEADLINE is May 20, 2011

Los Angeles (March 29, 2011) – The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO – a national union of more than 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters and recording artists – has issued a Call for Entries for its biennial American Scene Awards®, a national competition that recognizes excellence in the employment and portrayal of women, minorities, seniors, people with disabilities and the LGBT community in a positive, balanced and realistic manner. Celebrating its 16th year, the awards are presented by the AFTRA National Equal Employment Opportunities Committee and will take place at the union’s National Convention in Seattle on July 22, 2011.

"Since 1937, AFTRA members have exhibited a proud and solid commitment to supporting diversity in action, not just in words,” explains AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. “We believe that entertainment and news media have a responsibility to accurately and positively reflect America’s diversity. Our judges look for evidence across the broad spectrum of media in which AFTRA members work for programming and employment that illustrate the participation of the varied types of people in our society. Through these awards, AFTRA members honor producers and programmers who support our commitment to an honest portrayal of the American Scene in all of its breathtaking diversity.”

Entries can be submitted in one of several categories including Reality/Competition Programs, Daytime Drama, Television or Radio Entertainment Programming, Sound Recordings, Diversity of Television or Radio On-Air News Talent (the “Belva Davis Award”) and New Media. Additionally, the American Scene “Crystal” Award, the competition’s highest honor, is given to a producer or production that best represents the overall goals and ideals for which these awards were first envisioned in 1985.

The Call for Entries invites submissions for programming that has been produced under an AFTRA contract and which has been produced or originally aired no earlier than summer of 2009. Entries can be submitted to any AFTRA Local office, or directly to the National Office: American Scene Awards®, AFTRA, 5757 Wilshire Boulevard, 9th Floor; Los Angeles, CA 90036. Deadline for entries is May 20.

Past American Scene Award® winners include:

American Idol

Randy Jackson presents America’s Best Dance Crew

Sesame Street, Children’s Television Workshop

HawthoRNe, Sony Pictures Television

ABC Entertainment Television Group; 2005 Crystal Award Winner

CBS Entertainment Television; 2003 Crystal Award Winner

As The World Turns, Telenext Media, Inc.

Passions, NBC/Universal Studios

The Young and The Restless, Sony Pictures Television/CBS

Jim Ed Norman, Warner Bros. Records/Nashville

WUSA9, Washington, DC

ABC7/WLS-TV, Chicago

KCBS/KCAL, Los Angeles

KTTV-Fox11, Los Angeles

KRON-TV, San Francisco

WNYC Radio, New York

Someone You Should Know, Harry Porterfield, ABC7, Chicago

Chicago Tonight; WTTW-TV, Chicago

WFLD-TV/Fox, Chicago, for The Experiment

We Shall Remain; American Experience, WGBH Educational Foundation

Unshackled!, a Chicago-based, weekly half-hour radio drama heard around the world

AIDS: Africa & America, from Segment Two on KTVU-TV in Oakland, CA;

Here’s To Life , Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV

Northwest Jazz , Producer Kay D. Ray

About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, are the people who entertain and inform America. In 32 Locals across the country, AFTRA members work as actors, broadcasters, singers, dancers, announcers, hosts, comedians, disc jockeys, and other performers across the media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, music videos, commercials, audio books, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, the Internet and other digital media. The 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters, and recording artists of AFTRA are working together to protect and improve their jobs, lives, and communities in the 21st century. From new art forms to new technology, AFTRA members embrace change in their work and craft to enhance American culture and society.