October 23, 2018: iHeartMedia to Launch Podcast Awards, Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss to Produce 91st Oscars Ceremony, Naomi Kawase to Direct Official Tokyo 2020 Olympics Film

1. IHEARTMEDIA TO LAUNCH PODCAST AWARDS: The podcast industry is getting its own award show thanks to iHeartMedia, which will host the inaugural iHeartRadio Podcast Awards on January 18 at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. Billboard: “The Breakfast Club's Charlamagne tha God will co-host the 90-minute event alongside Stuff You Missed in History Class co-host Holly Frey and country radio personality Bobby Bones. Mario Lopez has been tapped to host a live stream of the ceremony. Presenters will include Up & Vanished host Payne Lindsey, Lore creator Aaron Mahnke, and Disgraceland's Jake Brennan. ‘Podcasting has roared onto the audio scene, creating the most excitement since the advent of streaming music services,’ said Conal Byrne, president of iHeartMedia's podcasting division. ‘The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will provide a forum to celebrate the high-caliber, creative content that has made podcasting a major new audio category—and that truly reflects America's favorite podcasts, voted by the listeners themselves. We look forward to hosting this transformative, annual event and encouraging everyone in the podcasting industry to push the envelope and inspire even more creators in this space.’ The show will award winners in 22 categories, 17 of which will be voted on by fans. A blue-ribbon panel of podcast industry figures will determine the winners in five top categories, including podcast of the year, breakout podcast, best branded podcast, best social impact from podcast/host and the podcast innovator award.” https://bit.ly/2R8f6Cn

2. DONNA GIGLIOTTI AND GLENN WEISS TO PRODUCE 91ST OSCARS CEREMONY: Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss will produce the 91st Academy Awards, with Weiss also directing the broadcast. The Hollywood Reporter: "Gigliotti, who will be overseeing the awards broadcast for the first time when ABC airs the 91st Oscars from Hollywood on February 24, 2019, won a best picture Oscar as one of the producers of 1998's Shakespeare in Love. She also has been a best picture Oscar nominee for The Reader, Silver Linings Playbook, and Hidden Figures. Her other credits include such films as Beasts of No Nation, Two Lovers, and Emma. Weiss has more familiarity with the challenge of mounting the Oscars, since he directed the last three broadcasts, winning two Emmys, among his 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, for outstanding director for a variety special for the 2017 and 2018 shows. While he has not previously served as an Oscar show producer, he has regularly served as an executive producer of Broadway's Tony Awards. A veteran of award shows, he amassed such directing credits for the Kennedy Center Honors, Primetime Emmy Awards, and Billboard Music Awards, among others. ... Gigliotti and Weiss will be succeeding the team of Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, who produced the last two Oscar broadcasts. And they take on the job as the Academy and ABC contend with a ratings decline for the broadcast, which in February attracted a record-low viewership of 26.6 million viewers." https://bit.ly/2R8G8JU

3. NAOMI KAWASE TO DIRECT OFFICIAL TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS FILM: Japanese director Naomi Kawase will direct the official film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The International Olympic Committee selected her in collaboration with the Organizing Committee of the Games. Deadline: "Kawase was chosen after close consultation among Tokyo 2020, Japanese film experts, international film experts, and the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage who guides the production on behalf of the IOC. Kawase, who is a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, is the fifth woman to direct an Official Film, following the works of Caroline Rowland (London 2012), Gu Jun (Beijing 2008), Mai Zetterling (for one of the segments of the film Munich 1972), and Leni Riefenstahl (Berlin 1936). She will also build on a legacy of more than 100 years of Olympic Film, including documentaries created for past Olympic Games that were held in Japan: Tokyo 1964 (Kon Ichikawa), Sapporo 1972 (Masahiro Shinoda), and Nagano 1998 (Bud Greenspan). The aim is to capture the soul of a specific edition of the Games while also considering the broader social and cultural context." https://bit.ly/2NXwqIp

* LOCAL NEWS *

AUSTIN:  Sonic Foundry’s Mediasite Experience will take place in Austin in October 2019. 

LOS ANGELES:  The fifth annual L.A. Zoo Lights will take place November 16-January 6. Along with light displays, the holiday experience will have V.I.P. events including a happy hour and a family New Year’s Eve event. 

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Brightline will launch the Polar Express Train Ride experience on select dates from November 11-January 1. The holiday-theme, one-hour trip, which features performances and sounds inspired by the film The Polar Express, will take place at the Fort Lauderdale Brightline Station. 

NEW YORK:  The Hetrick-Martin Institute’s Emery Awards will take place November 7 at Cipriani Wall Street. The event will honor Alan Cumming and Grant Shaffer. 

OddFellows Ice Cream Co. has opened its fourth location in Dumbo. Inspired by the Dumbo location of Jane’s Carousel, the ice cream brand has introduced the Carousel, a D.I.Y. sundae created with three scoops of ice cream and a variety of toppings served on a gold spinning tray. 

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  The Orange County Convention Center is launching a $605 million campus improvement plan that will include expansions and new meeting and exhibit space in the North and South concourses. 

TAMPA:  The 15th annual Conga Caliente festival will take place November 4 at Al Lopez Park. The Hispanic arts and culture event is produced by Coda Sound.  

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job: http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

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