International Emmys Honor Spielberg, Lauder

NEW YORK, November 20: The
International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has given
producer-director Steven Spielberg its Founders Award for his "long and
distinguished career in television,” and named Ronald S. Lauder, former U.S.
ambassador to Austria, recipient of its Directorate Award for fostering the
development of independent television broadcasting in six Central and Eastern
European countries.

Though noted for his
acclaimed films, from Jaws to Schindler's List, Spielberg began his career
directing episodes of such TV series as Night Gallery and Colombo. His later TV
projects included the medical drama ER, the animated series Animaniacs and the
miniseries Band of Brothers.

Lauder, a former cosmetics
executive with Estee Lauder and an art collector and museum patron, is also
founder and chairman of broadcaster Central European Media Enterprises.

Other award categories
include best actor, best actress, comedy, arts programming, children's
programs, documentary and other formats.

British television
productions dominated the field, garnering 17 of the 36 nominations. The
British detective series Vincent (Granada) was nominated in two categories for
best drama series and best performance by an actor, Ray Winstone.

Germany and Brazil each
had five nominations, while France had three and Norway two. Japan, China,
Sweden and the Netherlands had one apiece.

Among the celebrity
presenters scheduled to appear at the gala were actresses Rosie Perez and Susan
Sarandon; Lorenzo Lamas, star of the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful; CNN
international correspondent Christiane Amanpour; CBS news anchor Katie Couric;
Brazilian actor-director Milton Goncalves; French actor Thierry Fremont;
Chinese TV journalist Rose Liuqi; and Robert Iler, Dominic Chianese and Steven
Van Zandt of the HBO series The Sopranos.

The Academy is the largest
organization of global broadcasters, with more than 500 members from nearly 70
countries.