The TV Academy rewards talent behind the cameras

Many professionals, family and friends come to the Instituto Cervantes headquarters in Madrid to pay tribute to those who, with their talent, demonstrate their excellence behind the cameras every day. The Talent Awards are proposed by academics and voted on by the institution's Board of Directors.

In a ceremony, especially emotional because it was led by Concha García Campoy, now recovered from her illness that has kept us all in suspense, the Academy of Television Sciences and Arts presented its Talent Awards this Monday.

There were many professionals, family members and friends who, at the Instituto Cervantes headquarters in Madrid, wanted to be very close to the winners who were recognized for their excellence behind the cameras. The Secretary of State for Communication, Carmen Martínez de Castro, also attended the event.

The Talent Awards are proposed by academics and voted on by the Academy's Board of Directors. To be eligible for this award, the candidate must have performed their professional work behind the cameras with brilliance and general recognition.

The first award of the night was collected by the journalist, director and screenwriter Juan Manuel Martín de Blas, from the hands of another screen great: Josefina Molina. Martín de Blas played a fundamental role in TVE in Barcelona 92 ​​as program director, also being in charge of launching the International Channel and Teledeporte. To his baton we owe emblematic series such as This is my land.

Telecinco's sports coordinator, Raúl Gamonal, presented the Talent Award to photojournalist Bernabé Domínguez. 'Berni', as his teammates affectionately call him, has been able to capture with his camera from the harsh reality of conflicts in Africa and the Middle East to the excitement of the Football or Motorcycle World Cups. After collecting the award, Domínguez had a memory for his colleague José Couso, who died during the 2003 invasion of Iraq due to shots fired by a US tank against the Palestine Hotel in the Iraqi capital where he was staying.

Lluís María Güell (director, director and producer) received his Talent Award from actor Rodolfo Sancho, which recognizes his work in the origins of TV3 and in the “puberty” of TVE in Miramar. His work on Diagonal TV and Ovideo TV has generated great series such as The Lady o Loving in troubled times.

The current director of Current Affairs programs on Antena 3, Luz Aldama, collected the Talent Award given to her by journalist Vicente Vallés, who after remembering her beginnings in Telemadrid highlighted the honoree's ability to "manage teams like no one else."

The director of 7 and Acción programs Jordi Roca saw his career recognized in which he stands out Martian Chronicles, whose format he sub-directed alongside Miquel José, who presented him with the award. With the Talent Award in his hands, Roca assured that “I perceive a general lack of recognition of teamwork, and without that we are not competitive.”

Pepe Huertas, CEO of GECA, Imagina International Sales and Globomedia Música and member of the Management Committee of the Globomedia Group, received his award from the partner advisor of Globomedia, José Miguel Contreras, who praised Huertas' role in the success of the audiovisual conglomerate.

The composer Alfonso Santisteban saw his talent recognized reflected in unforgettable music for film, television and advertising. More than fifty soundtracks came from his scores.

The veteran director of photography, lighting and professor Juan García Doncell thanked the director Fernando Navarrete for presenting the Talent Award. This professional has been in the audiovisual world for 54 years, 37 of them on TVE lighting legendary programs such as One, Two, Three… o What we bet.

Until a few months ago, the news director at TVE, Fran Llorente, presented another Talent Award to the news director at Canal Sur, Pilar Vergara, who defended the public television service "at the service of society" asking that "rigor, truthfulness and plurality... be more than just words."

When collecting the award from journalist Andrés Aberasturi, Koldo Anasagasti, executive producer and founder of Trauko Management, recalled the beginnings of Euskal Telebista and its time at the San Sebastián Festival.
Juan Ramón Gonzalo, director of AR at Telecinco he received his Talent award from Ana Rosa Quintana who highlighted his ability to manage teams and content.

Finally, Alejandro Samanes, general director of 13 TV, was recognized for his bravery in leading the launch of a channel in bad times for the audiovisual sector. Nieves Herrero and Inés Ballester presented him with the award.