DreamWorks’ Academy Award-nominated animated feature How to Train Your Dragon, HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, and syndicated TV’s The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil are among 48 nominees in 17 categories in line for The Humane Society of the United States' 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards.
The winners will be announced at a star-studded gala ceremony on Saturday, March 19, 2011, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif.
Honoring outstanding reporting and creative portrayals of animal protection issues in the news and entertainment media, The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards nominations span an eclectic array of works from film, TV and print.
ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s TODAY, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, HLN’s Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, CBS’ The Early Show and CBS News Sunday Morning, and the syndicated Inside Edition are among the strong field of contenders in the various TV news categories, which continue to be a constant and powerful voice for the animals.
In the world of reality and TV documentary, Animal Planet snags four nominations with Fatal Attractions, Blood Dolphins, Last Chance Highway, and It’s Me or the Dog, while TIME, National Geographic Magazine, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and Condè Nast Traveler are recognized in 5 print categories.
“Media attention to animal protection issues has come a long way since The Genesis Awards was launched twenty-five years ago,” says Beverly Kaskey, senior director of the Hollywood office of The HSUS and executive producer of The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards. “The fact that True Blood, a show about vampires, can illustrate the cruelty of dog fighting is a sure sign that a consciousness about animal concerns is permeating popular entertainment and culture like never before.”
The HSUS will also recognize Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis with The Genesis Awards’ most prestigious honor, The Wyler Award, for her work in raising awareness of the plight of orphaned African elephants.
The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards will pay tribute to the best in past and present media coverage and celebrate the progress made on behalf of all animals over the past twenty five years. The event will air as a one-hour TV Special on Animal Planet early Spring.
