Danny Glover, Jason Priestley Join Golden Nymph Awards Jury

MONACO: Hollywood actors Danny Glover and Jason Priestley have become jury presidents for the Golden Nymph Awards at this year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which is being held from June 12 to 16.

Glover has been appointed to lead the News Jury, which will choose the best programs in the categories of news documentaries, current affairs documentaries, 24-hour news programs and TV news items. The actor, producer and humanitarian is perhaps best known for his role in the hit Lethal Weapon franchise. He more recently appeared in Dreamgirls, directed by Bill Condon, and 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich.

Priestley was named president of the Fiction Jury, which selects the best programs, actors and actresses in the categories of long fiction programs (including anthologies, TV movies and miniseries), comedy TV series and drama TV series. He rose to fame after his role in Beverly Hills, 90210, and now stars in and executive produces the crime procedural Private Eyes. He has also worked as a director for a number of films and TV programs.

Glover commented: “I have heard of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival and the exceptional work done by the organizers to bring a variety of international talent and programming to the media. The festival impressively brings together the familiar and the innovative and I am honored to be involved as News Jury President. And of course I am very excited to visit the community of Monte-Carlo and experience the beauty and elegance of Monaco firsthand.

“I am enthusiastic about the strong support for documentary filmmakers; the specific niche of my own company, Louverture Films, is documentary features. We are dedicated to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose and artistic integrity and we are proud that many of our films have themselves won international awards and honors. It is important that the various platforms of news and information are available for everyone, not only as citizens of our respective countries but as citizens of the world.”

Priestley stated: “I was honored to accept the role of president of the Fiction Jury. I’ve been to the festival several times and was nominated for two Golden Nymphs and won one. I’m looking forward to seeing the work of all the international competitors. It’s a very exciting time in television today. The level of the programming has never been better and I’m excited to see what’s next!”

Laurent Puons, CEO of the 56th Monte-Carlo Television Festival, added: “As the Golden Nymph competition becomes an even more recognized part of the international awards roster it is important to have universally regarded talent at the helm of our juries. This year I am particularly delighted to welcome Danny Glover and Jason Priestley to join us in Monaco to oversee the deliberations and ultimately determine the recipients of this year’s awards. Our news jury has a particularly difficult task with such a wide range of subject matter and exceptional reporting techniques to select from, and our fiction jury has the challenge of choosing from a wealth of the world’s most exciting new drama and comedy series, miniseries and television films.”