Amy Schumer has been tapped to receive the Critics’ Choice MVP Award during the 21st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards airing live on A&E, Lifetime and LMN on January 17, 2016 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. This year’s star-studded awards show will be hosted by Silicon Valley‘s T.J. Miller and will take place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA. The Broadcast Film Critics Association* (BFCA) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) also announced Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) will receive the Critics’ Choice Genius Award which Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams will present. ILM is being recognized for 40 years of revolutionizing filmmaking.
“The BFCA and BTJA are thrilled to be honoring someone as wildly talented and multifaceted as Amy Schumer with our second MVP Award. With her work in both film and television Amy proves that she can make us laugh until it hurts whatever the platform,” said BFCA/BTJA’s President Joey Berlin. “For our Genius Award this year, there seemed no more deserving recipient than Industrial Light & Magic. For the last 40 years, George Lucas and his extraordinary team have changed the way we see film and the industry would not be the same without their groundbreaking work.”
In addition to revealing the Critics’ Choice MVP and Genius Awards, BTJA also revealed the nominees in the Most Bingeworthy Show category. The nominees for this year’s bingeworthy series are The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Outlander, Empire, Orange is the New Black, and Friends. Fans can vote on their favorites by visiting Facebook, Twitter or Instagram by posting #[Show Name]CCA or at http://www.aetv.com/shows/the-21st-annual-critics-choice-awards/exclusives/bingeworthy-poll. Per the BTJA, for the first time ever fans can vote by posting a tweet using the following emojis (along with the @CriticsChoice handle):
• #TheWalkingDeadCCA OR skull emoji @CriticsChoice
• #GameofThronesCCA OR crown emoji @CriticsChoice
• #FRIENDSCCA OR people holding hands emoji @CriticsChoice
• #EmpireCCA OR lion emoji @CriticsChoice
• #OITNBCCA OR orange emoji @CriticsChoice
• #OutlanderCCA OR crossed swords emoji @CriticsChoice
More on Amy Schumer, Courtesy of the Critics’ Choice Awards:
Amy Schumer is the creator, star, writer and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award winning Inside Amy Schumer, the popular Comedy Central television series which premiered in April 2013 to the network’s highest season premiere ratings of the year. Schumer’s provocative and hilariously wicked mind is on full display as she explores topics revolving around sex, relationships, and the general clusterf*ck that is life through a series of scripted vignettes, stand-up comedy, and man-on-the-street interviews. The show, which was recently picked up for a fifth season by Comedy Central, will be premiering in April 2016.
Last fall the show was honored with the first-ever Emmy Award for “Outstanding Sketch Variety Series” and Schumer also received honors for “Individual Achievement in Comedy” and “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy” from the Television Critics Association, the Critics’ Choice Television Award for “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” and The Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for “Excellence in Comedy.” Schumer also hosted the 2015 MTV Movie Awards.
Her one-hour HBO comedy special, Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo, directed by Chris Rock premiered on October 17th. It was HBO’s most watched Saturday night comedy special debut since December 2009.
More on ILM:
The “Critics’ Choice Genius Award” will be given to ILM in recognition of its 40 years of revolutionary moviemaking that changed entertainment forever. Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams will be on hand to present the honor. For four decades, ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, ILM continues to break new ground in visual effects. ILM has been awarded 15 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, received 26 Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards, and was presented with the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 2004. Founded in 1975 by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, serving the motion picture, commercial production and attraction industries. ILM has created visual effects for over 250 feature films, including all seven Star Wars episodes, the Jurassic Park Franchise, the Harry Potter series, the Indiana Jones films, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Iron Man, Transformers, and The Martian.
* – I am a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association
