The International Emmy Founders Award (or Founders Award) is given by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) to individuals whose creative accomplishments have contributed in some way to the quality of global television production. The awards ceremony has taken place in New York City since 1980.
Winners
Year Winner Country Note1980Jim HensonCreator of The Muppets1981Shaun SuttonHead of BBC-TV's Drama GroupRoone ArledgeExecutive producer, ABC's Wide World of Sports1982Michael LandonExecutive producer, director, writer and performer1983Herbert BrodkinProducer, co-founder of Titus Productions1984David L. WolperProducer and television executive1985David AttenboroughCreator, writer, producer and TV host1986Donald L. TaffnerPresident, D.L. Taffner Ltd1987Jacques-Yves Cousteau President, Cousteau Society1988Goar Mestre Latin American Broadcasting Pioneer1989Paul FoxManaging director, BBC Television1990Joan Ganz CooneyAmerican television producer1991Adrian Cowell Film Maker, ITV Central1992Bill Cosby (Comedian, actor and producer1993Richard Dunn CEO, Thames Television1994Film on Four: Channel 4British public-service television broadcaster1995Don Hewitt Executive producer, CBS' 60 Minutes1996Reg Grundy Founder, Grundy Productions1997Jac Venza Director of Cultural & Arts Programs, WNET1998Robert Halmi Sr. Chairman, RHI Entertainment1999Hisashi Hieda President, Fuji Television2000John Hendricks Founder and CEO, Discovery Communications2001Pierre Lescure Chairman and CEO of Canal+ Group2002Sir Howard Stringer Chairman and CEO, Sony Corporation of America2003HBO American premium cable and satellite television network2004MTV International Channel subsidiary of MTV Networks2005Oprah Winfrey Chairman, Harpo Inc.2006Steven Spielberg American film director2007Al Gore Chairman, Current TV2008Dick Wolf Creator and executive producer, Law & Order2009David Frost Journalist and producer2010Simon Cowell Founder, SYCO2011Nigel Lythgoe Executive producer, So You Think You Can Dance; American Idol2012Ryan Murphy ShowrunnerNorman Lear 40th Anniversary Special Founders AwardAlan Alda 40th Anniversary Special Founders Award2013J. J. Abrams Film director2014Matthew Weiner Screenwriter, Creator of the series Mad Men2015Julian Fellowes Screenwriter, Creator of the series Downton Abbey2016Shonda RhimesTelevision producer, writer and author2017NoneNoneNone 2018 Greg Berlanti American film and television writer and producer 2019 David Benioff and D. B. Weiss Game of Thrones showrunners 2020 Andrew Cuomo (rescinded) 56th Governor of New York2021NoneNoneNone2022Ava DuVernay Filmmaker2023 Jesse Armstrong Screenwriter and producer 2024 David E. Kelley Television writer, producer 2025 Dana Walden Co-chairman of Disney Entertainment
Rescinded awards
Kevin Spacey (2017) Actor and producer Kevin Spacey was chosen to be the recipient of the award for 2017, but the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences later tweeted a reversal of their decision, following accusations of sexual misconduct by Spacey in 1986 towards a then-14-year-old Anthony Rapp.
Andrew Cuomo (2020) Andrew Cuomo, who was the Governor of New York at the time, received the award during the 2020 ceremony for his daily briefings during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the International Academy said "effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure". However, shortly after Cuomo's resignation on August 24, 2021, following a report by the state attorney general into allegations of sexual harassment, the academy rescinded his award.
References
External links Official Website