CHEVY CHASE, MD (October 3, 2018)—HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Crossing The Line Films and PBS proudly accepted the News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary for THE FARTHEST—VOYAGER IN SPACE documentary celebrating the scientists and engineers behind NASA’s Voyager mission to the outer planets. This win follows a sweep at the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s awards where SK Films and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios’ film BACKYARD WILDERNESS won Best Film-Short Subject, Best Film for Lifelong Learning, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and the Big Idea Award. HHMI Tangled Bank Studios’ films were also recognized for excellence in science communication at the  2018 Jackson Hole Science Media Awards where THE SERENGETI RULES won for Best Editing, THE FARTHEST—VOYAGER IN SPACE won for Best Visualization, and BACKYARD WILDERNESS won for effectively Engaging Young Scientists.

“We’re pleased that our team and our collaborators have been recognized for their craftsmanship, storytelling and science communication,” said Sean B. Carroll, executive director of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. “Our mission is at the center of everything we do and we hope these awards will lead more people to learn the stories of the exceptional scientists featured in our films.”

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 39th Annual News and Documentary Awards were held on Oct. 1, 2018 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. The Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary Award for THE FARTHEST – VOYAGER IN SPACE was accepted by executives from PBS, Crossing The Line Films and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and director Emer Reynolds, and dedicated to NASA’s Dr. Bradford Smith, head of the camera team for the Voyager mission, who was featured in the film and passed away in July this year. THE FARTHEST—VOYAGER IN SPACE premiered nationally on PBS stations on Aug. 23, 2017 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the mission launch and is now streaming on Netflix. The film tells the incredible true story of one of humanity’s greatest achievements in exploration. Both Voyager spacecraft are still traveling and transmitting back data, and have become icons of human curiosity and ingenuity. THE FARTHEST—VOYAGER IN SPACE was written and directed by Emer Reynolds and produced by John Murray and Clare Stronge. The film also won the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Communications Award for Film Radio and Television.  

The Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA), the trade association for the giant screen and IMAX® industry, bestowed five awards upon BACKYARD WILDERNESS, including Best Film-Short Subject, Best Film for Lifelong Learning, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and the Big Idea Award, during this year’s award ceremony, which took place at the Westin in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Friday, September 21. BACKYARD WILDERNESS, which was directed and produced by Andrew Young and Susan Todd, follows Katie, a young girl living in a house at the edge of the woods, on a journey to discover the natural world around her. The film highlights how unexpectedly exotic our own backyard can be, and provides vivid proof that Wi-Fi is not the only connection that matters. The BACKYARD WILDERNESS awards were accepted by Andrew Young and Susan Todd and dedicated to Jonathan Barker of SK Films who received GSCA’s Outstanding Achievement Award and passed away earlier this year.

Passion Pictures and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios’ film THE SERENGETI RULES was honored at this year’s Jackson Hole Science Media Awards with the award for Best Editing. THE SERENGETI RULES, directed by Nicolas Brown, tells the stories of a small band of scientists, whose work began in the 1960s when, driven by insatiable curiosity, they headed out into remote wilderness to learn about how nature works. These five unsung heroes of modern ecology—Bob Paine, Jim Estes, Mary Power, Tony Sinclair, and John Terborgh—share the stories of their adventures, and how their pioneering work flipped our view of nature on its head. The 2018 Jackson HoleScience Media Awards, which took place at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday, September 27, recognize excellence and innovation in science media by celebrating the world’s most effective science storytellers and stories. THE SERENGETI RULES has been screening at festivals around the world and has won numerous recognitions along the way, including the Golden Owl Prize for the Best Science Documentary Film from the Bergen International Film Festival and the Green Fire Award from the American Conservation Film Festival, the festival’s top honor.

About HHMI | Tangled Bank Studios

HHMI Tangled Bank Studios is a mission-driven production company established and funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as an extension of its longstanding commitment to science education. HHMI is the largest private nonprofit supporter of science education and biomedical research in the United States. HHMI Tangled Bank Studios crafts compelling, immersive films about science and scientists for broadcast, theatrical and digital distribution. The company’s award-winning programs address important contemporary issues and capture inspirational stories of discovery across all branches of scientific inquiry. For more information, please visit WWW.TANGLEDBANKSTUDIOS.ORG and follow us on TWITTER, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.