Introducing the all new Critics’ Choice Movie Ratings widget!

Here it is:

Every ten seconds the ratings shift to the Critics’ Choice Twitter feed and then to video highlights of our last four shows.

To use it on your own website, click the “get widget” tab at the bottom (or have your tech pro do so). Just copy and paste the embed code that works best for your site.

Note that this widget will not work on many mobile devices.

Of the 101 surveys collected, the polls showed us that:

- 70% of those who responded use Twitter professionally, and

– Nearly 80% use Facebook to promote their professional work, but

– Only 56% of our users used LinkedIn

Many of you shared your Facebook pages and Twitter handles. The BFCA is hard at work to add these fields to the Member Profiles section of our official Web site. We’ll alert you once that information is able to be added to your profile.

Thank you, again, for taking the time to fill out our quick survey.

-The Social Media Team

Thank you to everyone who volunteered.  Please know that less than half of those who volunteered will get the opportunity to participate on a NomCom this year, but the BEC is extremely grateful to everyone who stepped up.  Selections were based on a variety of factors, with the intention of keeping the NomComs small enough to guarantee efficient operation while also making sure that they are diverse enough to represent BTJA as a whole.

The identities of the NomCom members are not revealed outside of the NomCom.  This is to ensure that any DVDs or links sent by the networks, channels and studios for our consideration are sent to the entire membership.  BTJA widely sends out our Membership Directory and Voting Timeline, but it is always up to the companies to decide if they want to send out “for your consideration” materials.

ALL BTJA members will be asked to select our Critics’ Choice winners from amongst the nominees, along with our picks for our unique Most Exciting New Series honors.
Our Voting Timeline for the second annual CCTA is listed below for your convenience.

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The following dates apply for the second annual CRITICS’ CHOICE TELEVISION AWARDS, honoring the finest achievement among programs airing between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

May 1, 2012– Nominating Committees begin consideration

June 1, 2012 – Nominating Committees render recommendations

June 5, 2012 – Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominees announced

June 11, 2012 – CCTA Best New Series winners announced

June 14, 2012 – Final ballots go out to the BTJA members

June 16, 2012 – Deadline for returning final ballots

The second annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, June 18, 2012, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Additional information: (310) 860-2665.

Los Angeles, March 28, 2012 – Food Forward is a refreshing documentary series about the chefs, scientists, farmers, fishermen, teachers and others creating a healthier food system in America.

“Food Forward doesn’t lay on a guilt trip like some other food politic and environmental programming does. Rather, it’s an uplifting, inspirational work.” Sean Timberlake, SF Weekly

Shot entirely on location, from the rooftop farms of New York City to the food deserts of Detroit, Food Forward features food rebel John Mooney, whose space-age hydroponic farm on top of a historic building in the West Village of Manhattan, is a window into the future of rooftop farming. In Milwaukee, viewers meet the biggest name in urban agriculture, Will Allen, who is inspiring a new generation of aquaponic innovators.

“We’ve all heard what’s wrong with the way we eat.  Food Forward offers something different,” said Greg Roden, director of Food Forward. “Our program goes beyond the doom and gloom to reveal the compelling stories and inspired solutions from Americans striving to create a more just, sustainable and delicious alternative to how and what we eat.”

After a stop in West Oakland to visit urban farmer Abeni Ramsey, Food Forward finishes in Detroit with Travis Roberts, an eighteen-year-old who grew up watching the city struggle with increasing urban blight. In trouble and more than 100 pounds overweight, Roberts discovers the city’s urban agriculture movement and finds a new purpose in life through urban chicken farming. Food Forward opens the door into a new world of possibility, where pioneers and visionaries are creating viable alternatives to our food system.

For more information go to Food Forward on PBS. To watch the full episode for review go the PBS pressroom (you must register to use this site).

This pilot episode, Food Forward: Urban Agriculture Across America, is presented by Organic Valley, Stonyfield Farm, International Studies Abroad, Annie’s Homegrown, Animal Welfare Approved and Anna Getty.

Follow Food Forward on Facebook, Twitter and check the Food Forward website for local PBS listings.

About the Filmmakers
Food Forward is written, produced and directed by a veteran team of journalists, cinematographers and storytellers that includes director Greg Roden (PBS, FOX, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, contributor to the LA Times, Dallas Morning News, SF Chronicle), creator-producers Stett Holbrook (Food Editor for Metro Silicon Valley and contributor to the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Saveur, and Chow.com) and Brian Greene (Food Network, Discovery Channel, NBC) and director of photography David Lindstrom (PBS, National Geographic, Discovery).

May 1, 2012– Nominating Committees begin consideration

June 1, 2012 – Nominating Committees render recommendations

June 5, 2012 – Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominees announced

June 11, 2012 – CCTA Best New Series winners announced

June 14, 2012 – Final ballots go out to the BTJA members

June 16, 2012 – Deadline for returning final ballots

The second annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, June 18, 2012, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Additional information: (310) 860-2665.

It’s time to prepare for the second annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. The following are the categories we will be voting on later this spring. They are divided below by the four Nominating Committees which will determine the nominees in each genre (Comedy, Drama, Movies-Minis, Reality/Animation). All members will collectively select the Most Exciting New Series honorees.

Best Comedy Series
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series

Best Drama Series
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series

Best Movie or Mini-Series
Best Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series
Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series
Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series
Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series

Best Reality Show Host
Best Reality Series
Best Reality Series – Competition
Best Talk Show
Best Animated Series

Most Exciting New Series

If you would like to serve on a Nominating Committee, please reply to this e-mail indicating which NomCom (Comedy, Drama, Movies/Minis, Reality/Animation) you prefer. Feel free to indicate more than one. The BTJA Executive Committee will choose who will serve on each NomCom. NomCom deliberations – primarily conducted via online exchanges – will take place in May. In the meantime, BTJA will encourage networks, channels and studios to send screeners or links to ALL BTJA members, without noting who serves on which NomCom. A Timeline with voting dates is attached to this e-mail.

When we vote to select Critics’ Choice Television Award winners on June 16th, the ballot will also include two BTJA organizational issues. The membership will be asked to choose the members of the BTJA Executive Committee (BEC) which oversees BTJA operations. The BEC members currently are Michael Ausiello, Debra Birnbaum, Jenna Busch, Mike Cidoni Lennox, and Sam Rubin, along with BTJA acting president Joey Berlin and acting executive vice president John De Simio. They have been providing the leadership that has created BTJA and established the Critics’ Choice Television Awards and have generously agreed to continue for two-year terms commencing on July 1st. If you wish to run for a seat on the BEC and oppose the current members or the acting executives, please feel free to respond to this e-mail and you will receive further instructions.

The membership will also be asked to formally endorse the status of BTJA as a branch of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. This arrangement has many advantages for BTJA. For the past year, since BTJA’s inception, BFCA has provided management and direction and absorbed all BTJA expenses, working with BFCA staff out of BFCA offices, etc., at no cost to BTJA. This has enabled BTJA to come into existence and to function without collecting dues from its members and to finance the Critics’ Choice Television Awards. (The first CCTA ran a deficit, which BFCA covered.) The basic idea is that by having two Critics’ Choice Awards – one for movies and one for TV – the members of both groups will benefit from the enhanced value of the Critics’ Choice brand.

It was ten months ago that BTJA was officially born.  Organizing for our first Critics’ Choice Television Awards (CCTA) gala followed quickly, dividing the membership into Nominating Committees and taking on the awesome task of judging what we collectively believed to be the finest achievements in television during the 2010-2011 season.  On June 20^th we hosted the inaugural CCTA and were thrilled to have dozens of nominees join us at the Beverly Hills Hotel, including our Television Icon Award winner, Danny DeVito.

Our original plan was to simply have an awards luncheon, but broadcasters came to us and the ceremony wound up being streamed live on VH1.com and televised two days later on ReelzChannel.  In the end, the success of our first CCTA show surpassed our own optimistic expectations.

And now it’s time to do it again.  We are holding Monday evening June 18^th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel as the tentative date of the second annual CCTA.

Led by our BTJA Executive Committee, we need to adopt a voting timeline and determine what our awards categories will be and how many nominees should be announced in each category.  Last year we presented awards in the following categories:

Best Comedy Series

Best Drama Series

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Best Reality Show Host

Best Reality Series

Best Reality Series – Competition

Best Talk Show

Most Exciting New Series

Do we want to add Specials or Movies/Minis this year?  Best Documentary?  Best Picture Made for Television was deleted from the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards show last month, in anticipation of adding the category in our CCTA show.  Obviously there are many more categories that we could consider adding.  But we should not bite off more than we can chew.

Last year, we formed three NomComs – Comedy, Drama and Reality.  Do we want to stick with this arrangement?  Who should Chair each committee?  I recommend that we ask members who feel qualified to volunteer for one NomCom, with the understanding that not everyone will actually step up.  The BEC will then determine the ultimate makeup of each NomCom

There has been some discussion of setting up a rolling voting system to rate primetime TV series or special programs on an ongoing basis.  Such Critics’ Choice Ratings (CCR) would be featured on Criticschoice.com.  I’d like to propose we start this off by offering studios/networks/channels the opportunity to seek a CCR for any program they wish to submit for a rating.  This would require that they service all BTJA members with DVDs or links so that we have a timely opportunity to view and vote.  In practice, this would encourage studios/networks/channels to get us their best shows as early as possible.  In the future, it would be nice to expand the CCR system, but this seems like a good way to get the ball rolling.

It is also time for a referendum to seek membership approval of the organizational systems that have been put into place, including the individuals serving on the BEC and BTJA presidency.  The BFCA Board of Directors will nominate those currently serving and who wish to continue, and there will then be an opportunity presented for other members who wish to be considered for these posts to throw their hats into the ring.  Once the BEC is formally in place, it will address the issue of creating by-laws for BTJA.

This certainly is a daunting agenda.  But with your input and involvement, I’m sure we can build something that will well serve the membership, our audiences, and the television industry.

Please post your comments, suggestions and questions below.

To insure that your outlet is exactly as you want it to appear on your card, please go to criticschoice.com and check your name and outlet on the list of BFCA members.  If you have changes, just let me know.

http://www.criticschoice.com/members/bfca

For those who would like to include more information on their cards, here are some additional possibilities to consider:

Your photo

Home address
Home phone #
Personal e-mail address

Outlet name
Business address
Business phone
Business e-mail

If you would like any of this data on the back of your card, please send me your photo and a list of all the above information you’d like to include by February 17.

Sara Voorhees
svoorhees@bfca.org

Our 17th annual Critics’ Choice Movie awards was clearly our best ever – with spectacular starpower – unforgettable presentations and acceptance speeches – and a range of magical moments from Bob Dylan to the Muppets.

There are a literally hundreds of people to thank for this achievement, but it all starts with YOU, the members of the BFCA who made such wise choices and then lifted their voices to do everything possible to build our audience.

I hope you are as proud of what we accomplished on January 12th as I am.

Please feel free to add your comments, pro or con, below.

Onward and upward!

Photographs by Lisa Rose: Press Room, Floor and After Party

Photographs by Tammie Arroyo: Cocktail Reception and Press Room