The 2022 New York Festivals® competition announced the appointment of two prominent global industry leaders to the TV & Film Awards Advisory Board, Ellen Windemuth, CEO, WaterBear Network and Walter Fernandez, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Sustainability Officer, Mediacorp Singapore.
The 16-member Advisory Board panel of world-renowned executives is an international brain trust of some of the most innovative storytellers, content creators and industry executives whose experience and expertise provide a futurist’s view of the evolving television and film industry to NYF’s TV & Film Awards.
Ms. Ellen Windemuth is the CEO of WaterBear Network,she oversees the strategy and direction of the new free streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet. Ellen executive produced My Octopus Teacher, which won both a New York Festivals Grand Award and a Gold Award, a BAFTA, and the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. A seasoned Executive Producer and Distributor, she has produced over 500 hours of content to date herself.
“It is a privilege to be on the Advisory Board of this fantastic festival with its worldwide scope. In these challenging times, people must connect and align on a global scale via great storytelling.”—Ellen Windemuth, CEO, WaterBear Network
In December 2021, WaterBear rolled out globally, expanding its reach to 194 countries. As part of its global expansion, the platform’s inspirational content – spanning biodiversity, community, climate action and sustainable fashion, will also be available to watch on Apple TV and Roku® devices. In its first year, WaterBear has built a platform of over 140 NGOs and partners; given citizens access to more than 300 campaigns; produced 36 impact films and 20 WaterBear Original Productions and curated over 1000 award-winning documentaries on the platform.
Prior to WaterBear, Ellen was owner and CEO of Off the Fence, which she founded in 1994. Under her leadership, Off the Fence acquired, produced, and co-produced over 6,000 hours of content. In 2018, Ellen was presented with Wildscreen’s Christopher Parson’s Outstanding Achievement Awards.
Mr. Walter Fernandez brings more than 25 years of journalism and editorial experience to the TV & Film Awards Advisory Board. As Editor-in-Chief and Chief Sustainability Officer at Mediacorp , the Singaporean mass media conglomerate that serves as the national media network, he oversees all news and current affairs content on television, radio and digital across English news brands such as CNA and TODAY as well as vernacular brands such as Berita in Malay and Seithi in Tamil. CNA was named the Channel of the Year by the Association of International Broadcasting (AIB) based in London in 2020.
“I’m honoured to join the TV & Film Advisory Board of the New York Festivals. Every year, the TV & Film Awards honour the best in global news, sports, documentary, and entertainment programmes. The awards are one of the most well-known and widely respected in the world and we are always thrilled when CNA and Mediacorp receive these accolades. I am grateful to the New York Festivals for this invitation, and I look forward to working with the distinguished industry professionals from around the world on the board.”—Walter Fernandez, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Sustainability Officer, Mediacorp
Walter manages more than 1,000 staff in Singapore and around the world. He also oversees AI strategy and solutions for the newsrooms and broadcast engineering for Mediacorp. In May 2021, he was concurrently appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer to drive Mediacorp’s sustainability initiatives and action plans across its business and among its staff.
The deadline to enter the 2022 Television & Film Awards competition is February 1, 2022. To view entry details and competition rules and regulations visit HERE. For a complete list of 2022 categories,visit HERE.
