New York, N.Y., April 6, 2017 — POV’s Snapchat Films Series, the first films created specifically for the platform, has been nominated for a 2017 Webby Award in the category of Culture & Lifestyle (Video). POV (“Point of View”), starting its 30th season on PBS this June, is American television’s first and longest-running independent documentary series. Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Film and Video Awards are the leading industry awards honoring original film and video premiering on the Internet. POV has been nominated for eleven Webby Awards since 2007, and has won six times, most recently in 2015.

Two POV shorts were also nominated for a Webby. Joe’s Violin,  a co-production with The New Yorker, broadcasts this 30th season, and Pink Boy, a co-production with Vanity Fair, premiered on PBS in 2016. Both films were submitted by Conde Nast Entertainment, who premiered the films online.

As a nominee for a Webby Award, POV is eligible to win a People’s Voice Award. Voting is open to the public through April 20. Winners will be announced on May 5, 2008 and honored at a ceremony in New York City on June 8, where winners will take to the stage to deliver the Webbys’ famous five-word speeches.

“We are honored to be nominated for the Webby Award,” said POV Vice President of Content Strategy and Engagement Eliza Licht. “While the media landscape is constantly evolving, POV has been at the forefront of using new technology to engage audiences and tell new stories. This nomination from the leading body of digital arts and sciences confirms the importance of thoughtful documentary storytelling in the mobile age. As people increasingly consume media on the go, POV is leading the charge in providing filmmakers all over the country with the free and accessible tools needed to craft their stories for this growing mobile audience.”

POV Snapchat Films went live in 2016 with two films native to the platform. “We’ll Still Be Here” by Lizzie Jacobs (Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016) followed dominoes players keeping their beloved game alive as a Brooklyn neighborhood changes around them. “The Way It Should Be” by Terence Nance and Chanelle Aponte Pearson (Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016) is a story of love and friendship as lived and told by queer women of color. The films were each available exclusively on the Snapchat Discover channel of the online media pioneer NowThis for a 24-hour window. The series became an early signal of Snapchat’s use as a filmmaking platform for nonfiction cinematic storytelling, while continuing POV’s tradition of presenting contemporary stories that express perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media and promoting dialogue around critical social issues. To develop these stories for Snapchat, POV built its own dynamic storyboarding tool, called POV Mobile Stories. Enabling filmmakers to storyboard, prototype and publish their projects for mobile devices, POV released the free tool to the public in early 2017.

Established in 1996, the Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

View the documentaries and vote here.

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, Inc., POV is public television’s premier showcase for nonfiction films. Since 1988, POV has been the home for the world’s boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action. Always an innovator, POV discovers fresh new voices and creates interactive experiences that shine a light on social issues and elevate the art of storytelling. With our documentary broadcasts, original online programming and dynamic community engagement campaigns, we are committed to supporting films that capture the imagination and present diverse perspectives.

POV films have won 36 Emmy® Awards, 19 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards®, the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award and the Prix Italia. The POV series has been honored with a Special News & Documentary Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, three IDA Awards for Best Curated Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity. In 2013, American Documentary | POV was one of 13 nonprofit organizations around the world to win a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Learn more at www.pbs.org/pov.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Fledgling Fund, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Open Society Foundations, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.

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Produced by American Documentary, Inc., POV is public television’s premier showcase for nonfiction films. Since 1988, POV has been the home for the world’s boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action. Always an innovator, POV discovers fresh new voices and creates interactive experiences that shine a light on social issues and elevate the art of storytelling. With our documentary broadcasts, original online programming and dynamic community engagement campaigns, we are committed to supporting films that capture the imagination and present diverse perspectives.