Variety has been nominated for 32 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards presented by the Los Angeles Press Club, including one for the best entertainment publication and one for best entertainment website.
Cynthia Littleton, managing editor of television at Variety, was nominated for journalist of the year, and chief film critic Owen Gleiberman is up for critic of the year.
Littleton scored three additional nominations, two for industry/arts investigative for her stories “Fraud in Hollywood: Stealing From Media Companies Has Never Been Easier,” and “Inside the Troubled Production of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Get Down,’ Netflix’s Most Expensive Series Yet.” She scored another alongside chief TV critic Maureen Ryan for their piece “WGA Deal: Extended Talks Highlight Major Shifts in Peak TV Era.” Ryan was also nominated for commentary analysis/trend in TV or film for “The Progress and Pitfalls of Television’s Treatment of Rape.”
Awards editor Kristopher Tapley also received three nominations, one for entertainment blog tied to an organization for “In Contention,” one for film personalities podcast for “Mel Gibson on ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and Being Defined by Dark Chapters,” and one for industry/arts feature on TV or film for “Damien Chazelle and Barry Jenkins on That Oscars Shocker. The Morning-After Interview.”
New York bureau chief Ramin Setoodeh, senior film and media editor Brent Lang, and Gleiberman all picked up two nominations a piece. Other Variety staffers who received nominations include senior producer David S. Cohen for industry/arts investigative for “Artisans So White: Minority Workers and the Fight Against Below the-Line Bias,” senior Silicon Valley correspondent Janko Roettgers for general news for “How Hollywood Got Hacked,” senior editor Ted Johnson for personality profile on music or politics for “Michelle Obama Interview: How FLOTUS Used Pop Culture Stardom to Make an Impact,” and senior TV editor Brian Steinberg for personality profile on TV or film for “Samantha Bee’s ‘Full Frontal’ Breaks Late Night’s Rules and Shakes Up the Format.”
In the commentary analysis on trend-business or social issues, TV critic Sonia Sariya received a nomination for ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Helped Me Understand Donald Trump,” while co-editor-in-chief Andrew Wallenstein received a nomination for “The Moves Tech Giants Just Made That Should Terrify Hollywood.”
Variety’s art department — led by former creative director Chris Mihal, director of photography Bailey Franklin and art director Chuck Kerr — scored six nominations along with respective photographers and illustrators for cover images with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Kevin Hart.
In video categories, TV writer Elizabeth Wagmeister and video producer Preston Northrop were nominated for soft news feature under five minutes for “Leah Remini Says Tom Cruise Is ‘Brainwashed’ By Scientology,” and Variety staff was recognized for documentary or special program for “Actors on Actors: Tom Hanks & Viola Davis on Diversity in Hollywood and Taking Characters From Stage to Screen.”
Other Variety nominations include executive editor of TV Debra Birnbaum for one-on-one interviews with TV & other arts personalities for “Remote Controlled: Susan Sarandon on ‘Feud’s’ Bette Davis, Joan,” Crawford: ‘They Were the Early ‘Real Housewives,'” and deputy awards and features editor Jenelle Riley for best journalistic use of social media by an individual to tell or enhance a story for her “Facebook Live Q&A With Patrick Stewart .”
The Los Angeles Press Club Awards will be held Dec. 3 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, where Variety’s co-editors-in-chief Claudia Eller and Andrew Wallenstein will be honored with the Luminary Award for career achievement.
