Esteemed Jury Comprised of Leaders in Entertainment, Media and Film Will Award $25K Prize for Winning Picture that Shines a Light on Children & Families in Unprecedented Circumstances 

The Children’s Resilience in Film Award is Made Possible Through Generous Support and Funding from Sponsors including Paramount Pictures, The Hollywood Reporter, and Sunset Marquis HotelNEW YORK, NY – Shine Global, the non-profit media company behind Academy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning films Inocente (2012) and War/Dance (2005), has announced the esteemed jury for the first-ever Children’s Resilience in Film Award, who will decide and announce the inaugural winner in October. Films from 32 countries across the world have entered to compete for the Children’s Resilience in Film Award, nominees, all feature-length films released in the last year, will be selected and announced later this month. The jurors who will select the winning film are: 

• Kay Wilson Stallings, Executive Vice President of Creative and Production, Sesame Workshop
• Maria Perez Brown, Head of Kids & Family, TIME Studios
• Amy Kennedy, Children’s rights activist, educator, and 2020 Democratic Congressional Nominee
• Scott Feinberg, Senior Awards Analyst, The Hollywood Reporter
• Jana Sue Memel, Academy-Award winning producer (Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987), Lieberman in Love (1995))

Shine Global will screen the selected films in New York City from September 15-18. The winner will be selected by the esteemed jury and announced at a VIP awards show breakfast at Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, California on October 20 and will be awarded a $25,000 cash prize. 

The first-of-its-kind award will honor the preeminent filmmakers who masterfully highlight and celebrate the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children across the world. Amidst an ongoing pandemic that has disrupted everyday life and social-emotional development for billions of children globally and a humanitarian crisis that has forced hundreds of thousands of children and families to flee Ukraine, the Children’s Resilience in Film Award seeks to shed much-needed light on the uplifting, inspiring stories of children who offer global audiences hope and the talented filmmakers who tell them.

The inaugural 2022 Children’s Resilience in Film Award is sponsored in part by media partner The Hollywood Reporter who will uplift these powerful, culture-shifting films to receive the recognition they deserve; Paramount Pictures; Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang; Mattel Inc; pocket.watch; Quest Pacifica; Jim and Kimberly Caccavo; Ellen and Wendell Maddrey; DreamWorks Animation; and hospitality partner Sunset Marquis Hotel.  

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About Shine Global

Shine Global is a non-profit media company that gives voice to children and their families by telling their stories of resilience to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, and Home Is Somewhere Else which is currently in festivals.