Announcing Winners of the Short Form Video Festival...

Cynopsis’ inaugural Short Form Video Festival & Conference took place on Thursday, March 22nd, honoring outstanding work in the field, as well as offering insights and intel during panels with creators and buyers of this emerging format. It all came down at the SVA Theatre in NYC’s Chelsea. Speakers from State Farm, Under Armour,  Time, Viacom Velocity,  NBCUniversal and more shared their expertise and case studies. In “The Brands Speak,” we heard execs from the creative side share what they’ve learned from their short-form collaborations, while “Building Your Blueprint for Revenue Success” explored strategies for maximizing investment with the right content and distribution plans. Speakers from Time Inc. also dissected their blink-and-it-went-viral Person of the Year video. 

After a noisy networking break, we got down to the task of honoring the best in the business. Our guest presenters kept things moving, naming the top three finalists in each category, including the winning entry.  Pictures will be available on our Facebook page tomorrow morning, so stay tuned.  And thanks to partners Situation Interactive and Procam.

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Winners & Honorable Mentions

Series Animals/Pets

Winners
1st Place

ESPN Features: SC Featured - Arthur (Snapchat)

Awesome Pet Thoughts is Jukin Media's original pet/comedy series that pairs user-generated clips with comedic voices in a sitcom format. The 20-episode series ran on Comcast and showed pets can be as ridiculous as humans.

2nd Place

Awesome Pet Thoughts

ESPN's Arthur told the story of the unlikely bond between a team of Swedish Adventure Racers and a stray dog, Snapchat-style.

3rd Place

Nutrish & HGTV

HGTV.com and Nutrish Indoor Complete helped minimize the crazy and get a handle on modern life with kids and pets – and scored over 21 million views on Facebook for a kitty playground video.

Single Entry Animals/Pets

Winners
1st Place

Arrogate - super horse!

A classic dark horse film, TVG's Arrogate – Super Horse used first-person testimonies to tell the tale of an underdog US equine who traveled around the world to race against some of the top horses on the planet in the Dubai World Cup. 

2nd Place

Nutrish & HGTV: DIY Kitty Corner Playground

Modern Family Design Lab, HGTV.com featured ideas for quick weekday meals, cleaning and storage shortcuts, and kitty-friendly design, organically integrating Nutrish cat food.

3rd Place

Blind bison never loved anyone until she met Oliver the cow

Humankind utilized USA Today Network reporting and video assets to share the touching story of a lonely blind bison who found a bovine best friend.

Series Animation

Winners
1st Place

Marvel's Rocket & Groot

Two beloved characters from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy series, Rocket and Groot, starred in their prequel shorts, where fans learned what happened when the broke pair had to buy a new spaceship.

2nd Place

Thomas & Friends™ Adventures

Engines … in … spaaaace! In these YouTube-launched shorts from Mattel Creations, Thomas the Tank Engine goes off the rails and into the outer limits, hoping to make the galaxies safe for intergalactic trains.

Who says trains have to stay on the ground? Thomas the Tank Engine headed out into space (thanks to his imagination) to build interplanetary railways, but his mission was not without perils in this short from Mattel Creations.

3rd Place

Travel + Leisure Explainers

The evergreen video series produced by Time Inc. Studios transcended the traditional travel category by highlighting the fun and curious nature of their audience's wanderlust.

Honorable Mention
  • CANAdooDAday #104 "Alexander Graham Bell Invents The Telephone"

Single Entry Animation

Winners
1st Place

Dear Basketball

Kobe Studios' paean to Kobe Bryant, Dear Basketball, showcased a heartwarming look at how the game changed his life an also earned the basketball legend a 2018 Oscar.

2nd Place

Scent of a Sasquatch

With Project Five by Five, Visit Seattle and Sundance TV hired five directors to create short films that incorporated one of the five senses to explore Seattle. Scent of a Sasquatch, directed by Drew Christie, was one such film and honored the unofficial mascot of the city.

Visit Seattle leaned into the Emerald City's burgeoning film scene with Project Five by Five, which enlisted five filmmakers to create short films that use the five senses to explore the city.

3rd Place

Exploring Our Dark Sides: A Brief History of the Shadow People

Where does our love of dark folklores come from? Inspired by Amazon Prime series Lore, Dr. Michelle Golland explored the "other side" of these iconic stories in a series of three custom films.

Honorable Mentions
  • 9 Stylish Houseplants (And How Not to Immediately Kill Them)
  • BEAT MONSTERS
  • The Beatles’ LEGO Yellow Submarine vs. the Sea Monster

Series Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

Ask Kylie

When you're associated with the Kardashians, the world wants to know what you think, and with E!'s Ask Kylie (Jenner, in this case) episodes, the then-19-year-old offered advice on relationships, style, stress and social media, among other topics.

2nd Place

Mortgage Check: Short Form Series

HGTV and DIY paired with Quicken Loans to create Mortgage Check, a series of videos and integration campaign that aimed to take some stress out of the lending process for aspiring home buyers.

3rd Place

Stream On Campaign

Extreme Reach created a series of videos to educate the advertising industry about the problems bogging down the activation of video programs, and to provide a solution in Video Ad Streaming.

Honorable Mentions
  • Fanáticos del Asombro | Digital Series | Discovery Latinoamérica
  • T-Mobile: Secrets to Success
  • NBC News & Discover Student Loan Series
  • Saboreando Presentado por Coca-Cola
  • Origins, Inspired by Genesis
  • Project Five by Five
  • Mountain Dew Spiked Lemonade & MTV Beach House
  • MDNA Skin featuring Madonna and Dr. Paul Frank

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Series [Food] Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

Man Crafted with James Briscione, by Food Network and McCormick Spices

McCormick and Food Network wanted the world to know that millennial men can cook, and with Man Crafted created long- and short-form episodes featuring Chef James Briscione to feature new flavor combinations. Applying taco seasoning to watermelon turned into a viral video hit.

2nd Place

Going Off the Menu

Going Off the Menu from Bravo Media integrated Toyota into a world of authentic food discovery, as host Graham Elliot and his guests traveled to foodie destinations in a RAV4 while reinforcing diversity of lifestyles and cultures.

3rd Place

What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley

USA Network's What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley digital series took audiences into her home kitchen to whip up some favorite family recipes, all while raising awareness of the network's Chrisley Knows Best series.

Hoping to energize the Chrisley Knows Best fan base, USA Network had Julie Chrisley help audiences who might be seeking out recipes for their family gatherings with a 10-part series where she showed off some of her favorite preparations.

Honorable Mention
  • Airheads & Food Network/HGTV

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Series [Kids/Teen] Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

JCPenney - Dorm Decor

Using TODAY.com as a platform, JCPenney created social-friendly, stop-motion format videos designed to help families of college-bound students settle into dorm life in style.

2nd Place

Club Mickey Mouse

Disney Digital Network brought back the beloved Mousketeers with Club Mickey Mouse, a digital and social variety program developed in partnership with HP Inc. It is created entirely for social feeds and included unique musical performances and marquee music videos.

3rd Place

Thomas & Friends™ Adventures

Engines … in … spaaaace! In these YouTube-launched shorts from Mattel Creations, Thomas the Tank Engine goes off the rails and into the outer limits, hoping to make the galaxies safe for intergalactic trains.

Who says trains have to stay on the ground? Thomas the Tank Engine headed out into space (thanks to his imagination) to build interplanetary railways, but his mission was not without perils in this short from Mattel Creations.

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Series [Sports] Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

Orchestrating the PGA TOUR

In Orchestrating the PGA Tour, CDW and Skratch partnered on a six-part series to explore the personalities behind the scenes that make putting together one of golf's biggest events possible every year.

2nd Place

Rolling with the Rookies, Presented by Hyundai

To build excitement in the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia, Hyundai created Rolling With the Rookies as a content component of a fully-integrated campaign that went beyond traditional stats to celebrate places and experiences that defined a 2017 NFL rookie.

3rd Place

Southpaw Regional Wrestling

In Southpaw, an original web comedy series starring John Cena, WWE harkened back to its local, low-budget past with a series of shorts that synergized with sponsors KFC and Old Spice.

With Southpaw, WWE poked fun at its own super-low-budget past by hiring wrestler/actor John Cena to parody the sport's earliest days in this 10-episode series.

Honorable Mentions
  • The Amazin' Life
  • Logo Snow Days @Aspen Gay Ski Week & AT&T
  • Esurance – Pep Talks with Buster
  • MLB's Express Written Consent
  • Draftsville

Single Entry Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

"Day Zero"

In a series of films starting with Day Zero, health services company Optum and Bloomberg told the story of a man seeking a liver transplant, and walked him through how Optum's streamline process helped him achieve the outcome he desperately needed.

2nd Place

IBM- The Living Network - Women's March + Ancestry

In order to connect its telecom, media and entertainment customers, IBM knew it needed a new sort of network, and created social and programmatic units to drive awareness to its customers, driving them to a new landing page experience.

3rd Place

Upworthy + Cricket Wireless - Fill My Basket

Upworthy and Cricket Wireless made the holiday season a little brighter for shoppers by creating a video of individuals "paying it forward" by offering to cover the costs of a grocery store customer's bill. The video went viral, earning over 17.6 million views.

Honorable Mentions
  • Prairie Vodka - Organic Farming
  • STEEL:REDEMPTION
  • Meet an Owner: Daniel Tosh
  • LipstickFables: How to Get Along With Your Partner's Family
  • The Beatles’ LEGO Yellow Submarine vs. the Sea Monster
  • Wonder Woman In the Sky
  • Ricardo's Story
  • Meet Elizabeth Bennet from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen | kick-a** characters

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Single Entry [Health/Fashion/Beauty] Branded Content/Content Marketing

Winners
1st Place

Goo Ru Style: Commit to a Routine!

Starring stylist Goo Goo Atkins, WE tv's Goo Ru Style provided a sponsorship opportunity for advertiser Black Radiance, and provided product integration, and content built around the concept of "playing with the positives."

2nd Place

Dove and Shonda Rhimes Launch Real Beauty Productions

Timed with the launch of their Real Beauty Products, Dove hired TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy) to film real women sharing their personal stories that redefine beauty. The films earned over 3 billion earned media impressions.

3rd Place

Craft Services: Old Spice Sweat-Blastin' Robot Tank

Old Spice aligned with Comedy Central to create a multiplatform opportunity to promote Old Spice Sweat Defense deodorant in the Craft Services series. In the shorts, comedian Barak Hardley hit the road in a quest to make the world better through arts and crafts.

Honorable Mentions
  • JCPenney - Fall Fashion
  • JCPenney - Pair Up Program
  • MORNING RITUAL: COFFEE TO SKINCARE

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Series [5 minutes or less] Comedy

Winners
1st Place

FODtv

Using Funny or Die's established roster of absurd characters, the digital platform "hacked" the Saturday night movie on IFC each week with comedy pieces aired during breaks in the film, which provided new context and showcases for fresh comedic ideas.

2nd Place

Ahamed's Ramadan Diaries

In five short episodes released on Comedy Central's social and digital platforms, Ahamed Weinberg (who directed, edited and stars) explores the holy month of Ramadan as a Muslim in Trump's America.

3rd Place

BTWN 2FLRS

A&E's BTWN2FLRS was shot in an elevator, the one place almost no one wants to socialize. While the cars moved between floors, celebrities were interviewed as unsuspecting employees joined the ride. Everyone played games and answered questions, but had to do it before the elevator reached maximum capacity.

Honorable Mentions
  • Better Call Saul Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training Videos
  • Handy

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Series [more than 5 minutes] Comedy

Winners
1st Place

Southpaw Regional Wrestling

In Southpaw, an original web comedy series starring John Cena, WWE harkened back to its local, low-budget past with a series of shorts that synergized with sponsors KFC and Old Spice.

With Southpaw, WWE poked fun at its own super-low-budget past by hiring wrestler/actor John Cena to parody the sport's earliest days in this 10-episode series.

2nd Place

Snatchers

Sara wakes up pregnant with an alien baby, and that's only the start of the horror comedy show Snatchers. Stage 13 geared the series at millennial and Gen Z audiences alike, and used social media to push news trends as video amplifiers and for original stunts and talent takeovers.

3rd Place

Neurotica

IFC Comedy used its Comedy Crib to launch the six-episode series Neurotica, which blended romantic comedy tropes with the story of a BDSM dominatrix with a severe neurosis.

Honorable Mentions
  • Distilled TV
  • Drive Share
  • Frank & Lamar
  • Mr. Student Body President
  • Now We're Talking

Single Entry Comedy

Winners
1st Place

LipstickFables: How to Get Along With Your Partner's Family

Driving awareness and tune-in to its comedy novela Mi Marido Tiene Famila, Univision hired the network's influencer Ana Alvarado to create a comic video that played on the soap's theme of getting along with your partner's family.

2nd Place

Meet an Owner: Daniel Tosh

Can you write a love letter to a car? That's what Comedy Central's Daniel Tosh (Tosh 2.0) did, in his Meet an Owner video for Subaru's web hub, with a short film that utilized friends, relatives and dogs to underscore his devotion to the brand.

3rd Place

Krabby Patty IRL: Chopped Meat

Nickelodeon explored what happens when Krabby Patty leaves Bikini Bottom and gets a job in the real world in this SpongeBob SquarePants series of shorts.

Series Culinary

Winners
1st Place

Cooking Up Soul

New WE tv "it" personality, Chef Lawrence Page (of WE's Hustle & Soul) hosted Cooking Up Soul, a six-episode cooking series that premiered exclusively on YouTube. Page and two servers from his Pink Tea Cup restaurant captured their unique spin on classic soul food dishes and life lessons.

2nd Place

"What I Really Cook for Dinner"

Fans and foodies got a glimpse into celebrity chefs' home kitchens as PeopleTV's What I Really Cook For Dinner took them behind-the-scenes to see what the experts prepare for their own meals.

3rd Place

What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley

USA Network's What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley digital series took audiences into her home kitchen to whip up some favorite family recipes, all while raising awareness of the network's Chrisley Knows Best series.

Hoping to energize the Chrisley Knows Best fan base, USA Network had Julie Chrisley help audiences who might be seeking out recipes for their family gatherings with a 10-part series where she showed off some of her favorite preparations.

Honorable Mention
  • Food Network Finds

Single Entry Culinary

Winners
1st Place

Kitchen Secrets - Lincoln Loud

Nickelodeon took ordinary household items and transformed them into channel branded characters making foods that are found in every kitchen.

2nd Place

SORTEDFoods - Kansas City BBQ (Fountain Hunters)

Brand USA and Sparkloft Media hired four friends from the UK's SORTEDfood to create a video campaign called Game Changers, which featured them exploring the lesser-known areas of the US. Kansas City was chosen as the most recent destination through social media posts.

3rd Place

Pizza Skulls from Genius Kitchen

Genius Kitchen, part of Scripps Networks Interactive, reached out to young millennials and cord-cutters with a series of Halloween-focused cooking videos that aired on social media platforms.

Series Documentary

Winners
1st Place

Legacy: Bob Hurley | Digital Documentary | SHOWTIME Sports

Showtime's Legacy: Bob Hurley followed the final season for the Hall of Fame coach, who led the Jersey City boys' basketball team over 50 years. Six weekly installments also drove viewers to the Hurley fundraiser website.

2nd Place

QB1: Beyond the Lights

QB1: Beyond the Lights followed three top high school quarterbacks in the country in the final season of their high school careers, as each dreams of joining the NFL.

3rd Place

Modern Hero

The Modern Hero series celebrated women who defied the odds, shattered glass ceilings and were making a difference in their careers in the world. The interactive series featured journalist Julia Fisher Farbman, who interviewed many of the women nominated as Modern Heroes.

Honorable Mentions
  • "It Got Real: Erin's Surgery"
  • Breaking Big
  • Chronicles of Courage: Stories of Wartime and Innovation
  • Independent
  • Psycho Family
  • The Art of Ink

Single Entry Documentary

Winners
1st Place

Modern Hero

The Modern Hero series celebrated women who defied the odds, shattered glass ceilings and were making a difference in their careers in the world. The interactive series featured journalist Julia Fisher Farbman, who interviewed many of the women nominated as Modern Heroes.

2nd Place

ESPN Features: SC Featured - The Legacy of 261

Legacy of 261 followed the marathon career of Kathrine Switzer, who was the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon in 1967. The short video included never-before-seen footage of the marathon, in which the race official attempted to stop her from running.

3rd Place

HBO J.Cole: Mapping the Story

A video shared on HBO brand social channels eventized the release of the documentary J Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only with an illustrated map that animated further with each new city introduced in the doc, which focuses on black voices in the American south.

Honorable Mentions
  • ESPN Features: SC Featured - The List
  • Off the Grid: Sabra
  • Striking Silver: The Untold Story of America's Forgotten Hockey Team
  • The Other Dreamers
  • The Path to Totality
  • 60 Second Docs x Spike: Wrongfully Accused & Locked up at 16- Time: The Kalief Browder Story

Series Drama

Winners
1st Place

Two Sentence Horror Stories

Two Sentence Horror Stories tapped into universal primal fears and explored themes including racial tensions, LGBTQ struggles and bio hacking, setting them against a horror backdrop.

2nd Place

Fear the Walking Dead: Passage

Expanding the world of Fear the Walking Dead, AMC created a companion web series with Passage, a 16-part survival story set during the onset of a zombie apocalypse. The one-minute segments debuted in AMC apps on mobile, on other devices and on AMC.com before airing on television.

3rd Place

Chatterbox Chapter 1: Escape the Asylum

Adaptive Studios' choose-your-own-adventure series Chatterbox: Escape the Asylum put viewers into the point of view of someone being held in an insane asylum. The viewer controlled "Jed's" decisions, including whether to help him escape or stay medicated.

Honorable Mention
  • Lost Memories

Single Entry Game/Competition/Quiz

Winners
1st Place

"Younger" Indie Band/Sex Position

Cast members of TV Land's Younger show participated in a series of games and quizzes designed to highlight their personalities and camaraderie between them. Videos were posted on social accounts over the course of the show's season.

2nd Place

"Younger" Emoji Phrases - Chickens

As part of a series of games and quizzes designed to interest fans of Younger, TV Land asked cast members the show to decipher the meaning of new emojis. Videos were posted on social accounts over the course of the show's season.

Series Instructional

Winners
1st Place

What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley

USA Network's What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley digital series took audiences into her home kitchen to whip up some favorite family recipes, all while raising awareness of the network's Chrisley Knows Best series.

Hoping to energize the Chrisley Knows Best fan base, USA Network had Julie Chrisley help audiences who might be seeking out recipes for their family gatherings with a 10-part series where she showed off some of her favorite preparations.

2nd Place

Nutrish & HGTV

HGTV.com and Nutrish Indoor Complete helped minimize the crazy and get a handle on modern life with kids and pets – and scored over 21 million views on Facebook for a kitty playground video.

3rd Place

The Legal Edge

The Legal Edge videos use a down and dirty, on-location approach to illustrate legal issues that average people have to deal with in their daily lives. The goal is to provide useful information in an entertaining manner.

Single Entry Instructional

Winners
1st Place

9 Stylish Houseplants (And How Not to Immediately Kill Them)

Where to plant your plants? Apartment Therapy Media created a video with tips on how to do just that in a variety of different environments, in which they tackled a dry subject matter in a relatable way.

2nd Place

Craft Services: Old Spice Sweat-Blastin' Robot Tank

Old Spice aligned with Comedy Central to create a multiplatform opportunity to promote Old Spice Sweat Defense deodorant in the Craft Services series. In the shorts, comedian Barak Hardley hit the road in a quest to make the world better through arts and crafts.

3rd Place

Rewa: Conservation through Fly fishing

Outside TV showed how in the jungles of Guyana the people of Rewa Village work with fishermen to use catch and release fly fishing to sustainably support their village while protecting endangered species.

Honorable Mention
  • Kylie Instructional Video

Live Event Live Event

Winners
1st Place

Marshall Miller's Solar Eclipse Jump

During the August 2017 solar eclipse, Outside TV filmed professional wingsuit pilot Marshall Miller and nine other BASE jumping pilots performed a wingsuit formation to chase the sun event. Outside also hosted a Facebook livestream of the pilots practicing their jump.

2nd Place

Top Chef - LIVE Quickfire Challenge

Wanting to promote awareness of its Do Us a Flavor contest in which fans would pick a new flavor of potato chip, Lay's paired with The Top Chef Quickfire Live Challenge with behind-the-scenes looks, bloopers and live engagement with fans.

3rd Place

Uncharted Discoveries with Travel Channel and Land Rover

Paired with Land Rover, Travel Channel's host Josh Gates created a series of webisodes that showed what travelers could do when they left the map behind. Facebook Live audiences were able to help choose destinations for the latest webisode, and Gates (and friends) traveled everywhere in a Land Rover.

Honorable Mentions
  • Garden of Dreams Talent Show Intro Videos at Radio City Music Hall
  • MTV Movie & TV Awards + Toyota C-HR
  • VIBES Festival
  • Wonder Woman In the Sky

Series Music

Winners
1st Place

The Voice on Snapchat Show

NBC's The Voice created a native mobile experience with a fully-original program based on the series' broadcast format, but for Snapchat. The winner appeared on the broadcast series' finale, and was given the chance to compete in the next cycle of the on-air show.

2nd Place

BET Digital's Rate The Bars

Rate the Bars is a BET.com show that features real MCs who provided commentary based on rap lyrics from an undisclosed artist.

3rd Place

Independent

Millennial-targeted series Independent focused on four musicians who tried to conquer the music business without being signed to a label.

Honorable Mentions
  • Club Mickey Mouse
  • Unsung Live

Single Entry Music

Winners
1st Place

Lip Sync Battle: SketchShe Mash Up

Spike (now Paramount Network) wanted to create a high-energy digital piece that would promote the third season of its show Lip Sync Battle. Viral stars SketchShe created an epic mashup video of some of the series' biggest moments, including re-created and original choreography and costume changes.

2nd Place

Song Voyage – "Chicken Attack"

YouTube favorites The Gregory Brothers took fans on a musical journey around the globe with their original series Song Voyage, a six-part series in which they traveled the world and collaborated with offbeat musicians at every stop. One video, Chicken Attack, went viral around Asia.

3rd Place

The Songs of Beulah Rowley Album Trailer

The Songs of Beulah Rowley from JillGo Productions introduced viewers to the story of Midwestern Depression-era singer/songwriter Rowley, who died in a house fire in her 20s. Her music and diaries survived the fire, and Mary Lee Kortes has taken the songs to the next level in the modern day.

Honorable Mentions
  • Extra Gum + 2017 MTV Video Music Awards
  • The Heart of Harmony: The Vienna Philharmonic & Suntory Music Aid Fund
  • The Loud Song
  • Unsung Live

Series News

Winners
1st Place

"People Cover Story” and “People Features”

PeopleTV's People Cover Story and People Features are short documentaries that capitalize on the brand's exclusive access and feature emotional, in-depth reporting that covers celebrity and human interest.

2nd Place

Geopolitics

Geopolitics is a biweekly reported series from Newsy exploring under-reported global issues and themes, and includes visually sharp video with custom graphics and archival materials.

3rd Place

The Rundown

E! Entertainment's The Rundown is a fully-produced Snapchat show hosted by correspondent Erin Lim, which runs three times a week and provides a unique and humorous take on all things pop culture, featuring original content and with an audience of 65 million viewers globally.

Honorable Mention
  • BET Digital News - Policing The Police

PR or Marketing Campaign PR or Marketing Campaign

Winners
1st Place

The World's Largest Unboxing

Volvo Trucks North America created an "unboxing" video designed to launch its new long haul truck VNL, featuring a boy who loves trucks and in the process breaks a Guinness World Record.

2nd Place

Jimi Could Have Fallen from the Sky

In Project Five by Five, Visit Seattle and SundanceTV enlisted five filmmakers to create short films that used the five senses to explore Seattle.

3rd Place

Women's March/A Chance of Two Lifetimes

In The Women's March 2017 and The Chance of Two Lifetimes, IBM told the stories of human connections that on the surface appeared to be kismet but were actually made possible thanks to a network designed to support the needs of people who use it.

Honorable Mentions
  • 1-2-3 Coloriage: Blaze and The Monster Machines
  • "Younger" Date Reveal
  • If
  • "Younger" Live Portraits
  • "Younger" Memories
  • Stream On Campaign
  • What's Cooking With Julie Chrisley

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PR or Marketing Campaign[Travel] PR or Marketing Campaign

Winners
1st Place

Project Five by Five

Visit Seattle and Sundance TV created a short content series, Project Five by Five, to lean into the city's burgeoning film scene. Five filmmakers created short films that used one of the five senses to explore Seattle.

2nd Place

Uncharted Discoveries with Travel Channel and Land Rover

Paired with Land Rover, Travel Channel's host Josh Gates created a series of webisodes that showed what travelers could do when they left the map behind. Facebook Live audiences were able to help choose destinations for the latest webisode, and Gates (and friends) traveled everywhere in a Land Rover.

3rd Place

Outside TV Features

Outside TV's Outside TV Features is a subscription video on-demand service that showcases a wide-ranging collection of full-length adventure sports films.

Honorable Mention
  • Scent of a Sasquatch

Best Actor People

Winners
1st Place

Hannah Barlow

Hannah Barlow starred in Guilt Trip, an episode in the Two Sentence Horror Stories series from Stage 13, designed to touch on themes including racial tensions, bio hacking and LGBTQ struggles set against a horror backdrop.

2nd Place

Erich Lane

3rd Place

Wei-Yi Lin

Starring in Ma, one of the ongoing short films in the Two Sentence Horror Stories series from Stage 13, Yi Lin is a Taiwanese actress who graduated from Columbia University.

Honorable Mentions
  • Gabrielle Elyse
  • Gentry White

Best Director People

Winners
1st Place

Walk To Fame

2nd Place

JD Dillard

Up-and-coming director J.D. Dillard directed the episode Guilt Trip, part of the Two Sentence Horror Stories series from Stage 13.

3rd Place

Josh Miller

Director Josh Miller guided Comedy Central audiences through the advertising mockumentary Handy, in which an awkward, egoistic hand model dealt with the stress and absurdities of the industry.

Honorable Mention
  • Vera Miao

Best Host People

Winners
1st Place

Jason Silva | Fanáticos del Asombro | Discovery Latinoamérica

Venezuelan host and influencer Jason Silva hosted the Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic (DLA/USH) and Marriot Hotels digital series Fanáticos Del Asombro, designed to explore how travel expands the mind and inspires new ways of thinking.

2nd Place

Erin Lim, "The Rundown"

E! News correspondent Erin Lim hosted the Snapchat show The Rundown, which provided a unique and humorous look into all things pop culture, with original content.

3rd Place

Katie Sturino in Project Runway's Behind The Seams

In Beyond the Seams, plus-size blogger host Katie Sturino provides backstage footage and additional digital content insight for Lifetime's Project Runway, and a place for body positivity within the fashion industry.

Honorable Mentions
  • Austin Creed for UpUpDownDown
  • Cathy Kelley for “WWE Now”
  • Jason Pickens in The Workaround

Best Influencer People

Winners
1st Place

SORTEDFoods - Kansas City BBQ (Fountain Hunters)

Brand USA and Sparkloft Media hired four friends from the UK's SORTEDfood to create a video campaign called Game Changers, which featured them exploring the lesser-known areas of the US. Kansas City was chosen as the most recent destination through social media posts.

2nd Place

Lip Sync Battle: SketchShe Mash Up

Spike (now Paramount Network) wanted to create a high-energy digital piece that would promote the third season of its show Lip Sync Battle. Viral stars SketchShe created an epic mashup video of some of the series' biggest moments, including re-created and original choreography and costume changes.

3rd Place

Maria Antoinette & HGTV Handmade

YouTube/Instagram social influencer Maria Antoinette joined Handmade by HGTV to create content and help expand the Handmade brand by creating videos that included DIY home tips, cooking videos, fashion tips, hair tutorials and more.

Honorable Mention
  • Outlook: Jake Burton

Preview/Sneak Peak Preview/Sneak Peak

Winners
1st Place

"Younger" First Look Trailer

With Date Reveal and First Look Trailer, TV Land rolled out tease videos meant to intrigue and excite fans ahead of the fourth season premiere date for its original show Younger.

2nd Place

Sweet/Vicious - Sweet Attack

MTV created a digital self-defense series that taught real-life moves and techniques to viewers ahead of the premiere of its Sweet/Vicious show, which centered around two college students who acted as vigilantes to take down accused rapists on campus.

3rd Place

Mellisa Arnot-Reid Outlook

Outside TV traveled to Nepal to interview mountaineer Melissa Arnot-Reid, who has made record-setting ascents of Mt. Everest while also giving back to local communities through her Juniper Fund foundation.

Honorable Mentions
  • "Younger" Date Reveal
  • Outlook: Jake Burton
  • The Challenge XXX: Dirty Thirty - The Dirty Awards

Series Sports & Recreation

Winners
1st Place

My JetLife Series

My Jetlife was a series of videos designed to give fans of the New York Jets football team a behind-the-scenes, inside look at first-round draft picks, undrafted success stories, and the unique journey every player has on his way to the big game.

2nd Place

The 5th Quarter

Using the format of Comedy Central's Drunk History, The 5th Quarter was a short-form mockumentary series inspired by ESPN's 30 for 30 film series. The series highlighted fake people, teams and moments from sports "history" and shone a light on fictional stories.

3rd Place

Out of Context with Richard Sherman

One of the NFL's most recognizable faces, Richard Sherman spoke with The Players' Tribune about his team's recent victories and race relations. Partnering with Samsung, TPT gave Richard the tools to create his own content for a weekly series.

Honorable Mentions
  • 90min FanVoice
  • Adventures in Golf
  • Body Image Series
  • Meet The Maddons
  • Orchestrating the PGA TOUR
  • Promoted
  • "24 Hours With" Series
  • Univisiondepcrtes.com Presents Heroes of the Gold Cup sponsored by Kia Motors

Single Entry Sports & Recreation

Winners
1st Place

Thank You, New York

As he prepared for his official jersey retirement at Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter created a first-person, intimate letter in a video for The Players' Tribune. During the video viewers followed both Jeter's story and that of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds as they shared the journey through his career.

2nd Place

Mellisa Arnot-Reid Outlook

Outside TV traveled to Nepal to interview mountaineer Melissa Arnot-Reid, who has made record-setting ascents of Mt. Everest while also giving back to local communities through her Juniper Fund foundation.

3rd Place

HBO Boxing: How To Fight Mexican Style

Since many American viewers aren't familiar with Mexican-style boxing, a short film was designed to break down the unique moves and build momentum ahead of the HBO fight between Canelo Alvarez and Julio César Chávez Jr.

Honorable Mentions
  • ESPN Features: SC Featured - The Legacy of the '97 Masters
  • Home Grown - Finding the Next USA Eagle Ep4
  • Mayweather v. McGregor | Snapchat Discover Show | SHOWTIME Sports
  • Off Day: Rashad Jennings
  • The 812-Mile Run: Why Rob Jones is Running Marathons Every Day for a Month

Series Stand-Alone Short from a TV Network or Digital Publisher

Winners
1st Place

BET Digital's - The Last One Horror Series

BET Networks created a short horror series in which four young urban adults are stuck on the road on a dark night, waiting for help. They told ghost stories to pass the time, but then a stranger arrived and offered to help…

2nd Place

Shark Week

Discovery Channel partnered with Snapchat to create shows based on the network's original programming, as well as create brand new shows for the platform. The first, Shark Week on Snapchat, featured three shows that disproved common myths about sharks and provided education on why they are top predators today.

3rd Place

Two Sentence Horror Stories

Two Sentence Horror Stories tapped into universal primal fears and explored themes including racial tensions, LGBTQ struggles and bio hacking, setting them against a horror backdrop.

Honorable Mentions
  • ID NOW
  • Mortgage Check: Short Form Series
  • My Motto: Veterans Edition
  • Odd Tube
  • The Amazin' Life
  • The Art of Ink
  • Time Warriors

Single Stand-Alone Short from a TV Network or Digital Publisher

Winners
1st Place

Arrogate - super horse!

A classic dark horse film, TVG's Arrogate – Super Horse used first-person testimonies to tell the tale of an underdog US equine who traveled around the world to race against some of the top horses on the planet in the Dubai World Cup. 

2nd Place

State of the Art: Timothy Goodman

Inspired by Ink Master artists, Spike (now Paramount Network) profiled breakout artists who were making surprising and inspiring works of art in their series State of the Art.

3rd Place

Music Choice Pick Up Lines Dave East

Wanting to leverage up-and-coming rapper Dave East, Music Choice created a video to send out on social media that showed a lighter side to him that his fans may not have seen.

Honorable Mention
  • Uncharted Discoveries

Series Travel

Winners
1st Place

We Got You: Philly By Tarik

With its Anthony Bourdain-meets-Talk Stoop approach, Visit Philadelphia created five upbeat and informative episodes aimed at shifting perception of the city among African-American travelers.

2nd Place

USA Through Music

Videos incorporating music and musicians from various states around America were used to inspire international travel to the United States. Brand USA created the videos to air on BBC.com in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, South and North America.

3rd Place

Travel + Leisure Explainers

The evergreen video series produced by Time Inc. Studios transcended the traditional travel category by highlighting the fun and curious nature of their audience's wanderlust.

Honorable Mentions
  • Adventures in Golf
  • Discovering Routes
  • LVCVA and RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Over the Horizon
  • Project Five by Five
  • Uncharted Discoveries

Single Entry Travel

Winners
1st Place

Scent of a Sasquatch

With Project Five by Five, Visit Seattle and Sundance TV hired five directors to create short films that incorporated one of the five senses to explore Seattle. Scent of a Sasquatch, directed by Drew Christie, was one such film and honored the unofficial mascot of the city.

Visit Seattle leaned into the Emerald City's burgeoning film scene with Project Five by Five, which enlisted five filmmakers to create short films that use the five senses to explore the city.

2nd Place

Rewa: Conservation through Fly fishing

Outside TV showed how in the jungles of Guyana the people of Rewa Village work with fishermen to use catch and release fly fishing to sustainably support their village while protecting endangered species.

3rd Place

What We Love About London - A Kids Tour

The video What We Love About London: A Kids Tour aimed to create a fast-paced, fun children's tour of London that was visually compelling, entertaining and informative. It was a companion piece to an upcoming full-length video, The New Big Plane Trip.

Honorable Mentions
  • 25 Years of Unforgettable
  • Jimi Could Have Fallen from the Sky
  • Off the Grid: Sabra
  • RSSC World Cruise 2018
  • WWE IRL: Sasha Banks in Boston

Series Viral Video from a Brand

Winners
1st Place

MDNA Skin featuring Madonna and the Fat Jewish

In order to promote Madonna's skin care line MDNA Skin in the US, Full Picture created a 25-video program that included how-to, viral and advertorial branded content that drew over 90 million unique impressions.

2nd Place

Man Crafted with James Briscione, by Food Network and McCormick Spices

McCormick and Food Network wanted the world to know that millennial men can cook, and with Man Crafted created long- and short-form episodes featuring Chef James Briscione to feature new flavor combinations. Applying taco seasoning to watermelon turned into a viral video hit.

3rd Place

PeopleTV's "Kids Interview..."

PeopleTV's Kids Interview gave viewers a look at celebrities through the prism of a pint-size child interviewer, allowing for off-the-wall questions and answers. The stars watch the pre-recorded questions that are sent to them from children all over the world, and get a new view on who their young fans are.

Honorable Mention
  • Modern Hero

Single Entry Viral Video from a Brand

Winners
1st Place

The World's Largest Unboxing

Volvo Trucks North America created an "unboxing" video designed to launch its new long haul truck VNL, featuring a boy who loves trucks and in the process breaks a Guinness World Record.

2nd Place

PEOPLE TRY BOOKS FOR THE FIRST TIME [Parody]

Penguin Random House promoted its books while parodying a popular video meme called People Try ___ for the First Time. Using actors to mimic people on the street, the video was edited to appear real while also being obvious that it was a joke.

3rd Place

90min FanVoice

Digital football platform 90min created FanVoice, which took fans into Premiere League games and brought them closer to the action. Social media football influencers were enlisted to capture the games and include pre- and post-game reactions.

Honorable Mention
  • Pizza Skulls from Genius Kitchen

Single Entry Viral Video from a TV Network or Digital Publisher

Winners
1st Place

People Are Awesome: Best Videos of the Year So Far!

Jukin Media has been collecting videos of people being awesome for years, so no surprise that People are Awesome's Best of 2017 video went viral when it was posted in August. The video was a curated compilation of the best moments from the previous year of individuals performing stunts and feats of physical achievement, and has since had over 468 million views.

2nd Place

Teen gives up role in marching band to be friend's 'eyes'

Humankind used USA Today Network's reporting and video assets from the Lansing State Journal, a video of a teen who has spent her life overcoming health obstacles while still pursuing happiness.

3rd Place

The Wall – LeBron James Viral Video

NBC Entertainment connected basketball superstar LeBron James with winners of game show The Wall by sending him to their house with giant duffel bags of cash - $1.3 million, actually. The video promoted the show and went viral on Snapchat and sports sites alike.

Honorable Mentions
  • "Dirty Laundry: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski”
  • First Media - Blossom "Get clever with your clutter...and these 7 organization hacks!"
  • Music Choice Pick Up Lines Dave East
  • Pinkfong's Baby Shark Dance Video
  • This Is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia Surprise
  • WE tv's Mama June: From Hot to Not "Pumpkin’s Pregnant"

Virtual Reality Virtual Reality

Winners
1st Place

Shooter 360: Inside the Action

USA Network's SHOOTER 360: Inside the Action immersed fans in the filming of a scene from the Shooter series, in which viewers were part of a flashback where Marines were ambushed by the Taliban – and put in the line of fire.

2nd Place

VRtually There

Through VRtually There episodes, viewers can: jump out of an airplane and skydive with the U.S. Army Golden Knights, light the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, swim with sharks, and much more! VRtually There has consistently utilized the latest VR technology to provide incredible 360 degree coverage of significant and thrilling moments.

3rd Place

Broken Night

In Broken Night, a couple played by Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola returned home to find an intruder. The story finds her recounting the events of the evening, but the viewer could choose the memories she had to follow to understand the story.

Honorable Mentions
  • The Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience
  • Capturing Everest
  • Game Day in Pittsburgh 360
  • IndyCar 360

Guest Presenters

  • Monique Moses

    Monique Moses

    Actor

    Monique Moses is a Canadian born, Brooklyn based, actor, improviser, and choreographer. She’s studied with Second City Toronto, UCB and The PIT, and has performed in comedy clubs, theaters, colleges and festivals all over the country with improv teams Day Camp Kids, Nobody’s Token and NYC's premier Hip Hop Improv team Northcoast (voted one of Time Out NY Best Comedy Shows in 2014). In 2010, Monique was 1 of 10 finalists to compete for a full tuition scholarship in the PIT/NBC Universal’s Diversity Scholarship Competition. She now performs weekly with UCB Harold team Some Kid, monthly in UCB's only daytime talk show at night, The Female Gaze and recently concluded a run of shows at UCB Theater Chelsea of A Journey Through Black History, former UCB improv house team Astronomy Club's first foray into sketch comedy. Monique has appeared on Broad City Season 3, VH1's The 20, Funny or Die, Mashableand UCBcomedy, is a recurring role on the second season of Funny or Die's satirical podcast Scienceology and has created web and app content for Refinery29, Mustache Films, MTV/ Yoostar Entertainment and Mik Mak TV. Monique appears in IFC Comedy Crib’s digital series Sport Court in 2017 which was named one of the top 10 best web series of 2017 by IndieWire.

  • James Briscione

    James Briscione

    James Briscione is a two-time Chopped champion and was named one of People Magazine’s ‘Sexiest Chefs Alive’ in 2016. He is the author of four books: Just Married & Cooking (Scribner ’11), Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson (Sourcebooks ’15), The Great Cook (Oxmoor House ’15) and Finding Flavor (HMH ’18). Since 2008, he has operated Just Married & Cooking, LLC with his wife, Brooke Parkhurst. Together, they also teach a series of date night cooking classes at The Institute of Culinary Education, where James is currently the Director of Culinary Development. After leading some of the top kitchens in United States — including Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, AL and the famed Restaurant Daniel in New York City — James found his place teaching and inspiring the next generation of great chefs. You can currently follow the culinary adventures of James and his family in their Food Network digital series, Cooking with Dad.

  • Philip Gilpin, Jr.

    Philip Gilpin, Jr.

    Executive Director
    ITVFest

    Philip is a native Bostonian and an alum of Boston College with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics. After leaving BC in 2003, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a Participations Analyst in the Business Affairs division of HBO where he was responsible for financial analysis of HBO's major production and talent contracts (Sex and the City, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiam, etc.). While in LA, Philip was involved with numerous indie film and TV productions, and invited as a guest to the 1st ITVFest where he met the festival's Founders.

    After moving to Vermont, Philip took over as Executive Director of ITVFest and worked with the festival's Founders to move ITVFest out of Hollywood and into a setting that gave attendees more direct access to each other and the executives. Building this sense of community is the heart of what ITVFest is today. Now after five successful years in Vermont (12 overall), ITVFest has rooted itself in Manchester, VT for years to come.

    Many creatives that attend ITVFest fall in love with Vermont and want to shoot there, so in 2017, Philip Co-Founded the Vermont Production Council which gives filmmakers the resources they need to produce their films and TV shows in Vermont.

Jurors

Randy Abramson

Head of YouTube MCN

Cary Anderson

Screenwriter, Director, Producer

Josh Beane

Founder/CEO

Joe Bellotti

Head of Global Music Marketing

Perrin Chiles

CEO/Co-founder

Polly Conway

Senior TV Editor

Ariel Elazar

EVP of Brand, Marketing, & Digital Strategy

Nick Frew

Creative Director

Anthony Galloway

VP, Programming

Scott Iason

Agent

Ashley Kaplan

SVP, Production (Head of Content)

Justin Killion

GM, Premium Content

Ajay Kishore

Founder & CEO

Howie Kleinberg

COO

Christine Lubrano

SVP, Original Programming

Vikki Neil

GM

Bonnie Pan

Head of Network

Nick Sheingold

Director of Strategy

Mike Vainisi

Head of Editorial

Veronica Zelle

CCO & Co-Founder

Juror Insights

“Why is short-form content so hot now?”

Contact

Questions

For questions related to award entries or event tickets:

Jenn Ocampo
Director of Marketing
Cynopsis Media
[email protected]
203.906.4603

Sponsorships

If you would like to purchase a sponsorship:

Mike Farina
VP, Sales & Marketing
Cynopsis Media
[email protected]
203.218.6480

Program

For information on programming and speakers:

Cathy Applefeld Olson
Awards Producer
Cynopsis
[email protected]