William Shatner to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award At BANFF / nextMEDIA 2010

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor to share career highlights in Special Master Class’.

Banff, AB – The Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA are pleased to announce that William Shatner will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Banff World Television Awards. The award winning actor will also be presenting a Master Class at this year’s highly anticipated event taking place June 13-16th at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta.

Best known for his epic role as “Captain James T. Kirk” in the television series ‘Star Trek’,  the Canadian born,  Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter, recording artist, and author’s career has spanned over 50 years.  Shatner’s career highlights include such television successes as his title role in the network hit series ‘T.J. Hooker’ and most recently his starring role in ABC's ‘Boston Legal’ which garnered him Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his larger-than-life character “Denny Crane”.

Shatner’s Master Class session will be held on Tuesday, June 15th from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. where he will talk about his illustrious career, his recent bold move into the social media age, and his recently announced CBS comedy project based on the irreverent ‘Shit My Dad Says’.

"William Shatner is one of the most celebrated pop-culture icons in the 21st century and we are delighted to be honouring his career achievements at Banff," says Peter Vamos, Executive Director of the Banff World Television Festival. "His ability to keep pace with the times, leverage the latest industry and technology trends, and inject humour every step of the way, have been the keys to an unbelievably successful, decades-long career. To stay on top throughout it all, particularly in such a tough, evolving industry, is truly inspiring."

This year’s Banff World Television Festival announced a strategic partnership that will combine nextMEDIA and the Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) into a joint event at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel on June 13–16th, 2010.

During the enhanced four-day event in Banff, some of the biggest international names in broadcasting, television production, distribution and digital media will come together to experience industry insight, learn, strategize and network with the media community. Over 1500 delegates are expected to attend

Delegates will have the opportunity to build the indispensable relationships required to succeed in the international marketplace through shared BANFF and nextMEDIA networking, social events, and our prestigious awards ceremonies. Delegates can continue to expect the high-quality programming, ground-breaking speakers, high level participants, facilitated networking sessions and new initiatives dedicated to generating business opportunities and building relationships that continue to make Banff the most important event in the world that is specifically dedicated to media content production and development.
 

Ricky Gervais to be Awarded Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award at BANFF / nextMEDIA 2010

British comedian and recent Golden Globe host to participate in tell-all interview about his career and success 

Banff, AB – The Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA are delighted to announce that Ricky Gervais will be presented with the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award, at this year’s event taking place June 13-16 at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. The award acknowledges outstanding comedic performances – prominent comedic actors who have received this prestigious award include John Cleese, Bob Newhart and Kelsey Grammer.

In addition to being recognized for comedic excellence, Gervais will also chart his career and success to date, in an interview, which delegates can attend.
Over a 10-year period Ricky Gervais has become the most influential British comedian since Charlie Chaplin. He is an award-winning stand up and his tour ‘FAME’ became the fastest selling UK stand up show in history, selling an untouchable 100,000 tickets in 9 minutes.

Named one of the 100 Most Influential People In The World by Time Magazine, one place behind Nelson Mandela, Ricky has also won two Emmys and three Golden Globes. ‘The Office’ is the most successful British comedy of all time being shown in over 90 countries with seven remakes.
"This is probably the greatest honour of my career. Only the Nobel Peace Prize can top this, but I will only accept that in person if the ceremony is held somewhere as beautiful as Banff. I think they Fedex, luckily," says Ricky.

“We could think of no one funny man so deserving of this prestigious award this year, than Ricky Gervais. The Office is the most critically acclaimed sitcom of all time and Gervais’ worldwide influence in the comedy industry is unparalleled,” says Peter Vamos, Executive Director of the Banff World Television Festival.
This year’s Banff World Television Festival announced an innovative strategic partnership that will combine nextMEDIA and the Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) into a joint event at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel on June 13–16, 2010.

Combining nextMEDIA and BANFF is a response to delegate feedback on the emerging opportunities between television and digital media platforms. During the enhanced four-day event in Banff, some of the biggest names in broadcasting, television production, distribution and digital media from North America will come together to experience industry insight and the synergy connecting the media community. Over 1500 delegates are expected to attend.

About Ricky Gervais
At the turn of this century, Ricky was preparing to star and direct a pilot he had written with Stephen Merchant for the BBC, called ‘The Office’. It went quite well and a series was commissioned. It first aired at 9.30pm on Monday 9 July 2001 on the BBC. The rest as they say is history. It is the most critically acclaimed sitcom of all time becoming the first British comedy to win a Golden Globe. In all, Ricky has won two Primetime Emmys, three Golden Globes and seven BAFTAs. The beginning of the next decade is looking good for the fat bloke from Reading too. He started the year as the first host of The Golden Globes since 1995, with an estimated world TV audience of 250 million. www.rickygervais.com

Banff 2010 Press Release

Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA announce a strategic partnership for synchronized all screen media conference in 2010.

Toronto, Canada – December 1, 2009 – The Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) and nextMEDIA are pleased to announce an innovative strategic partnership that will see these two popular industry events run concurrently from June 13 – 16, 2010 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff.

Banff Foundation Chair Michael Hennessy, BANFF Executive Director Peter Vamos, and nextMEDIA Executive Director Mark Greenspan made the announcement today at nextMEDIA-Toronto being held at the Design Exchange in Toronto.

According to Banff Foundation Chair Michael Hennessy, “the TV and internet community have spoken loud and clear, and we have responded to creating an event about the future of media content which takes full advantage of the value of the Banff World Television Festival, while creating significant opportunities for an expanding circle of stakeholders”. Added Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director, “Today’s media industry is all about multiple platforms and international collaboration, and this exciting collaboration confirms Banff as the place where international media executives can meet, be inspired and make content deals.”

The strategic partnership between BANFF and nextMEDIA is in response to delegate feedback concerning the emerging opportunities between television and digital media platforms. During the enhanced four day event, some of the biggest names in broadcasting, television production, distribution and digital media will come together in Banff to experience industry insight and the synergy connecting the media community.

“Considering we are at a tipping point in terms of re-making the media landscape, it’s imperative that trends, technologies and business models are well understood and effectively applied by every media professional,” says Mark Greenspan, nextMEDIA’s Executive Director. “nextMEDIA and the Banff World Television Festival running together creates a powerful new tool for the world’s media businesses to use to maximize their returns.”

Delegates will have the opportunity to build the indispensable relationships required to succeed in the international marketplace through shared BANFF and nextMEDIA networking, social events, and programs such as TV 360 and the Digital Hot List. In addition, Banff will play host to new and existing Canadian and international summits for industry organizations and policy makers. Delegates can continue to expect the high-quality programming, ground-breaking speakers, high level participants, facilitated networking sessions and new initiatives dedicated to generating business opportunities and building relationships that continue to make Banff the most important event in the world that is specifically dedicated to media content production and development.

About the Banff World Television Festival The 31st Banff World Television Festival will take place June 13-16, 2010 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Canada. International broadcasters, producers, writers, directors, distributors and industry executives from over 25 countries will be attending. A core feature of the festival is the prestigious Banff World Television Awards (“The Rockies”). In 2009, 130 programs from over 30 countries were chosen as finalists in 23 program categories.

About nextMEDIA nextMEDIA is a series of digital media conferences, products and programs. It has established itself as Canada’s leading platform for business development and training around the digital media ecosystem. nextMEDIA is owned and produced by Achilles Media Ltd. with the help and support of an international advisory board from the digital media industry. nextMEDIA Banff will take place concurrently with the Banff World Television Festival from June 13-16, 2010 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

About Achilles Media The Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA are produced by Achilles Media Ltd., an international business-to-business media and facilitation company serving the media and investment industries. Achilles Media communities include: History Makers: International Summit of History & Current Affairs Producers, nextMEDIA World events, Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) and the Canadian New Media Awards. For more information, visit http://www.achillesmedia.com.