On the Friday before the Oscars, the strategists behind many of the top campaigns gathered at the Beverly Hilton for the 54th annual ICG Publicist Awards. This year’s gathering included four special presentations: Jeffrey Katzenberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Denzel Washington and Ryan Murphy were presented with the Showman of the Year prizes for film and TV respectively and B|W|R Public Relations co-founder Nanci Ryder was feted with the President’s Award.
Among the talent tapped to make these presentations was: Oscar winner Renee Zellweger, Oscar nominee Kate Hudson, Emmy winner Sarah Paulson and SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris.
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In addition, there were seven competitive awards, including one for individual publicists, two for studio efforts, two for photographers and two for the press. The winners (and nominees) are noted below.
Les Mason Award, the highest honor that publicists can bestow on one of their own
Barbara Hannegan, Senior Publicist, Warner Bros. Pictures International
William Hendley, Senior Publicist – Global Publicity, The Walt Disney Studios
Ernie Malik, Unit Publicist
Maureen O’Malley, Senior Publicist and Project Supervisor, Warner Bros. Pictures International
X – Rosalind Jarrett Sepulveda, Executive in Charge of Publicity, Screen Actors Guild Awards
The Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Motion Picture Award
X – 20th Century Fox for “Deadpool”
Columbia Pictures for “Sausage Party”
Universal Pictures for “The Secret Life of Pets”
The Walt Disney Studios for “The Jungle Book”
Warner Bros. Pictures for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
The Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Television Award
CBS Television for “The Late Late Show with James Corden”
Fox 21 Television Studios for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
20th Century Fox Television for “Speechless”
X – 20th Century Fox for “This Is Us”
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The Press Award
Debra Birnbaum – Executive Editor – Television, Variety
X – Grae Drake – Senior Editor, Rotten Tomatoes
Lindsey Bahr – Film Writer, Associated Press
Sean Smith – Executive Editor – Film, Entertainment Weekly
Steve Weintraub – Editor-in-Chief, Collider
The International Media Award
Michael Idato (Australia)
Peter Mitchell (Australia)
Jane Mulkerrins (UK)
Elisabeth Serada (Austria)
X – Brent Simon (China)
Adam Tanswell (UK)
The Excellence in Unit Still Photography for Motion Pictures Award
X – Andrew Schwartz
Claire Folger
Jaap Buitendijk
Murray Close
Niko Tavernise
The Excellence in Unit Still Photography for Television Award
Beth Dubber
Jessica Miglio
X – John Johnson
Justin Lubin
Kevin Estrada
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