The accolade is scheduled to be conferred on September 17th in Amsterdam, as part of the IBC Innovation Awards ceremony.
The IBC2023 International Honour for Excellence (IHFE) award is set to be bestowed upon Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. This recognition arrives on the commemorative 100th anniversary of the establishment of the company by its visionary founders, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack L. Warner. The IHFE constitutes a pinnacle accolade within a series of distinguished IBC awards that laud remarkable innovations and transformative developments in the realm of media and entertainment.
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group and the other special IBC award honourees are being announced in advance of the IBC Innovation Awards and IBC Social Impact Awards events, where the awards will be presented along with the full slate of winners yet to be revealed. The IBC Innovation Awards take place in IBC’s Premier Lounge at 18.00 CEST on Sunday, 17 September, while the Social Impact Awards will be held the same day at 16.30 CEST in The Forum as part of the Changemakers Programme.
Michael Crimp, Chief Executive Officer of IBC, said: “These special awards exemplify the spirit of IBC2023, starting with our aim to showcase and inspire transformative innovations and other advances driving change in the industry. IBC and the judges involved in the selection of our award winners wanted to spotlight in advance a number of organisations and individuals that have best demonstrated how the industry is rapidly evolving to meet new trends, demands and expectations.”
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, as the IHFE laureate, epitomises the art of perpetual adaptation to shifts within the media and entertainment domain. From its origins as a cinema pioneer, the company has evolved into a stalwart across diverse facets of the entertainment industry – encompassing feature films, television, direct-to-consumer production, animation, comic books, video games, consumer products, themed entertainment, studio tours, and brand licensing. The studio’s extensive library, housing over 145,000 hours of content, stands as one of the world’s most esteemed and valuable. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group also boasts a remarkably varied portfolio of beloved franchises including Looney Tunes, Wizarding World, DC, Friends, Game of Thrones, Hanna-Barbera, and more.
Crimp added: “Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has been a leading creative force in media and entertainment since its inception 100 years ago and remains an industry trailblazer. Warner Bros.’ work has had a profound impact on our industry and society over the last century and continues to do so today, shaping our culture and our understanding of the world around us through its films, television programming and other productions.”
Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, Co-Chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, stated: “We are delighted to accept IBC’s International Honour for Excellence award in the studio’s 100th year. Warner Bros. has always been at the forefront of the industry because of its commitment to innovative storytelling and we want nothing more than to continue that legacy. The success of Barbie is a fantastic example of this because not only is it a great story, but it means something to people and has an impact on societies and cultures globally. We look forward to another hundred years of best-in-class movies told by incredible storytellers, who have created countless stories that have inspired a century, as well as a new generation of visionaries who we are excited to see take Warner Bros. to new heights.”
The jury for the Innovation Awards has announced the winner of the 2023 Special Award for Innovation, the German DVB-I Pilot – an initiative bringing together multiple stakeholders from the German media industry, including broadcasters, device manufacturers, software providers and research institutions. The project aims to advance the DVB-I standard to enable the ongoing use of linear TV programming.
