NEW YORK — Marking its 40th anniversary as the world's largest honor for video and television content across all screens, the Telly Awards (https://www.tellyawards.com) announced this year's winners, including animated, environmentally-conscious standouts like Passion Pictures and CNN's "There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom", live streaming favorite DC Entertainment's "DC Daily Live with Kevin Smith", Netflix's drag show music video of Dolly Parton's legendary "Jolene", and CBS Interactive's viral juggernaut for "The Late Late Show with James Corden: The Biggest Baby Shark Ever" starring a crooning Josh Groban and Sophie Turner. A resurgence of documentary filmmaking also prompted top honors for a diverse range of companies: ESPN, AETN, AJ+, HBO Latin America, and PBS.
Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards honors video and television made for all screens and is judged by the Telly Award Judging Council, a group of leading video and television experts from some of the most prestigious companies in entertainment, publishing, advertising, and emerging technology.
As part of the Telly Silver Council, media personality and technology maven Shefik (https://shefik.info) has been named an official judge for this year's competition, where he served alongside a panel of esteemed judges. In addition to a refreshed mission and recent rebrand, this year's competition boasted a new roster of judges, comprising the most diverse and elite group of television and video industry leaders in the award's history. Entries were evaluated by jury members from creative powerhouse Droga5, next generation motion picture studio RYOT, Condé Nast, Framestore, Vimeo, VICE, A+E Networks, and more. The complete list of winners can be viewed at https://www.tellyawards.com/winners.
For the first time ever, the Telly Awards has crowned a Telly Company of the Year: CBS Interactive — recognizing years of achievement across platforms with video content from its many properties like Chowhound, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", and CNET, who created the widely shared video "Mark Zuckerberg Explains the Internet to Old People". Their commitment to creating great work, online and off, truly embodies the full breadth of platforms and screens honored by the Telly Awards.
This year's winners not only represent a further broadening of the online landscape to embrace more documentary, scripted, and even episodic pieces, but an increased focus on Branded Content and innovative new platforms like VR and Social Streaming.
"We spend a lot of time listening to the creative community and our industry to better understand where the opportunities are for storytelling, and Social and Branded Content rose head and shoulders above the rest," says Sabrina Dridje, Manager Director at Telly Awards. "CBS Interactive especially should be commended for its approach to social and online video. These are areas that take a specific set of skills to produce great work, and as an organization honoring video and television content, spotlighting their efforts is fundamental to our mission."
Shefik continues to be very active in the community. He served as a judge for a local Miss America competition, aiding in the 2018 crowning of Miss Northern Highlands, Miss Northern Lakes, and Miss North Jersey. The winners moved on to compete for the state title of Miss New Jersey 2018. Shefik also served as moderator at a panel discussion on "Equity & Diversity: Community Dialogue", held in Washington, D.C., and he was named Master of Ceremonies for various charitable events to benefit Autism New Jersey, and Eastern Shore Self-Advocacy Project (Chestertown, Maryland), as well as industry leading events Maarkah New York Fashion Week SS18 (New York City), and Lehigh Valley Fashion Week (Pennsylvania).
Additionally, Shefik appeared as a guest speaker at various uplifting events, such as a holiday fundraiser for YWCA Yonkers (Yonkers, New York), the 7th Annual Broadway Sings for Pride, and Global Tech Meets Fashion Affair Fundraiser, both held in New York City.
"As a working professional in the television industry, I am excited to explore the exciting creative and ground-breaking work of my peers," says Shefik.
About Shefik
Celebrating over 20 years in the entertainment and technology industries, Shefik (https://shefik.info) is an accomplished industry insider, who has appeared on MTV, SiriusXM, PBS, network television, and in print media, as well as internationally on TRT World (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, based in Istanbul, Turkey). He has held senior-level positions at many Fortune 500 companies and celebrated brands, including IBM, NBCUniversal, MTV World, Merck, Merriam-Webster, and Wolters Kluwer. A seasoned pro in social media with a career background as a Lead Architect and Senior Web Developer, Shefik is on the cutting edge of new media. As a videographer and producer, his work has been featured in television broadcasts and video productions for TIME magazine, The Washington Center, "Unsung" (TV One), and Broadway World. Additionally, his photography has been featured in print and online publications, such as Daily Mail (based in United Kingdom), Harvard Kennedy School Magazine, Playbill, and China Press. He is currently the Executive Producer and Host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Shefik presents Invocation" (https://invocation.co), which is broadcast on 22 terrestrial radio stations and frequencies throughout the United States, as well as the internationally syndicated video series of the same name, via Amazon and other notable outlets.
Last Updated: October 14, 2022
