NBC SPORTS WINS THREE CINE GOLDEN EAGLE AWARDS
Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony,
“50-1: The Story of Mine that Bird” & Winter Classic Promotional Spot Win Prestigious Award
NEW YORK – December 21, 2009 - NBC Sports was recognized with three CINE Golden Eagle Awards for the Fall, 2009 competition for its production of the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (Art, Leisure and Lifestyle category), “50-1: The Story of Mine that Bird” (Art, Leisure and Lifestyle category) and the 2009 Winter Classic promotional TV spot (Commercials/on-air programming category). The CINE Golden Eagle Award is widely recognized as a symbol of excellence in professional, independent and student filmmaking for over 50 years. Winners of the CINE competitions are chosen through a tiered jury system, based on criteria reflecting storytelling, production value, artistry, purpose and overall excellence.
NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, executive produced by Dick Ebersol, produced by David Neal and directed by Bucky Gunts was the most viewed Opening Ceremony for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics with nearly 70 million total viewers. Acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou directed the Ceremony at the “Bird’s Nest,” which featured a cast of 15,000. NBC Sports’ coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony also won three Primetime Emmy Awards and a prestigious Peabody Award.
For the first time ever, NBC Sports collaborated with the National Hockey League to create a tune-in marketing campaign to promote the 2009 NHL Winter Classic game on New Year’s Day at Wrigley Field. The TV spot, backed by the singing of the late, legendary baseball broadcaster Harry Caray and his iconic version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” helped bring instant recognition of this event to the average fan and positioned the Winter Classic as a new tradition and experience for all sports fans. The 2009 broadcast was the most viewed regular season hockey game in 34 years, with an average of more than 4.4 million Americans tuning in to see the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-4. The 2009 Winter Classic promotional spot was also honored with a Sports Emmy Award in the category for Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement: Episodic.
The feature “50-1: The Story of Mine that Bird,” that aired during NBC Sports’ Preakness broadcast, executive produced by Dick Ebersol and produced by Rob Hyland looked back at how Mine That Bird, the undersized gelding first purchased for $9,500 defeated a field of highly touted million-dollar thoroughbreds. The feature told the story of the horse’s unlikely connections — three horsemen from New Mexico — to the jockey, Calvin Borel, who guided the colt to victory, only to leave to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. Sam Flood is the coordinating producer for NBC Sports and produced the Preakness broadcast.
Since its founding in 1957, CINE has been dedicated to discovering, rewarding, educating and supporting established and emerging talent in film and video. Among great talents whose first films were awarded CINE Golden Eagles are Steven Speilberg, Ken Burns and Ron Howard and filmmakers such as Robert Zemeckis, Mike Nichols and Martin Scorcese.
A full list of all the Fall 2009 CINE Golden Eagle award winners can be found at www.cine.org.
Recent Comments