The Telly Judging Experience

This year I was fortunate to be invited to participate as a judge on the Silver Council of the Telly Awards. It was a fascinating ‘Behind the Curtain’ view of one of the longest running awards for “works across all screens.” On the tail end of this year’s judging, I’d like to give some perspective.

Full disclosure: I also pulled in 3 Tellys as an entrant this year, but an entrant is not allowed to judge their own entry (so there wasn’t any funny-business going on).

Although I’ve received 10 Tellys over the last few years, admittedly, I used to wonder about these awards. Why submit to an award that has no actual “ceremony”? What was the point, other than to claim bragging rights to self-promote?  But judging gave me a whole new perspective about WHO had judged me and how they might have approached other works. It gave me a unique insight into the world of the Tellys and a greater appreciation for this 43 year old institution.

As a judge, I found myself on the other side of producing entries. The quality and caliber of work that I screened was across the spectrum; from amateur to high-end top talent productions. I was able to recognize hard working people that desired recognition from peers and the industry, for a myriad of reasons. Truth be told, the average person likely does not know what a Telly Award is nor why it matters. As a filmmaker and producer, and now having seen behind the curtain, I can tell you- it matters.

• • • Peer recognition: in an increasingly online and virtual world, it’s very hard to get people to review your work critically by your peers, particularly if it is created for promotional or corporate clients. Other than simply polling all viewers, the only bearing creators have on the reception for their work may be view count and (hopefully) some great tracking and analytical data. The Tellys give content producers the chance to gain recognition from other industry professionals that have a proven track record.

• • • Perception of you and your work: It sets you apart from the plethora of other content on the web. As Telly winners are recognized by their peers for excellence, they are then able to use that recognition to motivate future stakeholders and clients. Telly judges know what it takes on the back end to produce a top quality, end-to-end project, and the award encourages further viewing by the public.

• • • Validation: let’s be real here, it’s nice to get recognition for your work, especially in an industry that is often seen as promotional in nature - that of client-based corporate and promotional video. We are in a day and age in which video has become a popularity contest, and poorly shot cat videos gain millions of views while slick, professional productions have a hard time gaining traction. The Telly Awards give a nod to those producers and international content creators whose work is industry recognized. While this serves many purposes in self-promotion, it also serves one of the most important “soft” purposes…gaining confidence.

All of this being said (and now that the 2021 Tellys have completed) I encourage you to check out a few of the outstanding productions that I had the honor of judging which had a significant impact on me.

• • • Dolly Parton’s Music Video-“Blue Bonnet Breeze”: I grew up with Dolly Parton. I’ve even interviewed her former music mate, Linda Ronstadt. She’s an institution, and this video is a sweet and beautiful rendition of her song, set to amazing animation rendering.

• • • PBS Documentary on “Swamp Dogg”: file this in the “who knew?!” category. Portsmouth native Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams is an American soul and rhythm & blues singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He’s been described as “one of the great figures of 20th century American music”, and his influence is felt in R&B, hip hop, rock and country music.

• • • Leica Lenses "Do It Justice" : my goodness, I couldn’t stop watching this one. This is the way to evoke memory, story, and imagery to create an impression. I bow to the producers; Nate Townsend and Real Republic.

At the end of the day, being acknowledged for professional, creative, approaches to what might be seemingly perceived as “promotional content” is a wonderful boost to visibility, stakeholder interests, and morale. Congratulations to all the hard working producers and cross-functional production partnerships that breathe life, curiosity, and entertainment into everyday marketing content.