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The Television Publicity Executives Committee (TPEC) has the winners for the television publicity campaign competition, the 2024 TPEC AWARDS, along with the Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Three public relations individuals who are just starting their careers were named “Rising Stars,” and the overall “Campaign of the Year” team were also honored. The announcement was made by TPEC Chair Wendy Zocks, Founder, Wendy Zocks PR.
The second year of the television publicity campaign competition accepted submissions across nearly every genre and platform to recognize excellence for all programming publicity campaigns. Additionally, Rebecca Marks, EVP, Publicity, Communications and Social Media, Warner Bros. Television Group, was awarded the Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award, an award named after one of the founders of TPEC, for her dedication and stellar career in publicity.
The inaugural Rising Star Award was given to three individuals whose exemplary contributions to their PR team cements their future in the field. This year’s recipients are Brandon Bassler, Lifetime, Tori Morris, Hallmark and Jillian Santoro, Smithhouse Strategy.
“For our second year, we saw an impressive selection of campaigns from our colleagues at studios, networks and viewing platforms,” said Zocks. “These campaigns showcased creative and strategic thinking supporting an impressive range of content in an evolving landscape of networks and services. TPEC continues to evolve and this year we are thrilled to shine a light on our rising stars as well as honor one of our industry’s most respected executives, Rebecca Marks.”
The winners of the 2024 TPEC Awards are:
Campaign of the Year
Returning Drama – Star Trek: Picard – Season 3
- Cornelia Thomson CBS Studios
- Jennifer Verti, CBS Studios
- Rachael Wesolowski, CBS Studios
- Nikki Kozel, Paramount+
- Mackenzie Lawn, Paramount+
- Taylor Webster, Paramount+
New Drama – Goosebumps
- Steven Beydler, Disney Branded Television
- Morgan Di Stefano, Disney Branded Television
- Katherine Nelson, Disney Branded Television
- Kristina Quintos, Disney Branded Television
- Chrissy Woo, Disney Branded Television
- Lauren Grossman, Sony Pictures Television
- Annalisa Race, Sony Pictures Television
Returning Comedy – Only Murders in the Building – Season 3
- Yasamin Azarakhsh, Hulu
- Emily Leitz, Hulu
- Lydia McMahon, Hulu
- Suzy Ejuryan, 20th Television
- Chris Kaspers, 20th Television
New Comedy – Frasier
- Kacy Barrasas, CBS Studios
- Beth Haiken, CBS Studios
- Langley Turcsanyi, CBS Studios
- Eve Kenny, Paramount+
- Magee Snyder, Paramount+
- Yahnnica Tate, Paramount+
Returning Unscripted – RuPaul’s Drag Race – Season 15
- Michael Fabiani, MTV Entertainment Studios
- Mariana Garces, MTV Entertainment Studios
- Justin Permenter, MTV Entertainment Studios
- Patrick Santiago, MTV Entertainment Studios
- Cameron Knoblock, Metro Public Relations
- Robin Leventhal, Metro Public Relations
- Sammy Jerrard, Metro Public Relations
New Unscripted – The Traitors
- Alex Martinett – Peacock
- Stephanie Baum – Peacock
- Breanna Klein – Peacock
- Cassidy Irish – Peacock
- David Lee – Peacock
Animated Series – Krapopolis
- David Hail, Fox Entertainment
Children’s Series – Percy Jackson and the Olympians
- Morgan Di Stefano, Disney Branded Television
- Cara Freitas, Disney Branded Television
- Heather Levine, Disney Branded Television
- Katherine Nelson, Disney Branded Television
- Adam Stern, Disney Branded Television
- Chrissy Woo, Disney Branded Television
- Sepehr Amirkhalili, 20th Television
- Chris Kaspers, 20th Television
- Erin Riley, 20th Television
- Shari Rosenblum, 20th Television
TV Movie – Black Girl Missing
Limited or Anthology Series – Daisy Jones & The Six
- Melissa Armstrong, Amazon MGM Studios
- Kit Chavers, Amazon MGM Studios
- Kevin McAlpine, Amazon MGM Studios
- Reegan Smyth, Amazon MGM Studios
Talk Show – The Daily Show
- Ronnie Brumant, Comedy Central
- Parker Moreno, Comedy Central
- Nicole Platt, Comedy Central
- Imani Punch, Comedy Central
- Natalie Lee, Minassian Media
- Craig Minassian, Minassian Media
Game Show – 007: Road to a Million
- Nikki Calderon, Amazon MGM Studios
- Christina Lee, Amazon MGM Studios
- Sophie Spirit, Amazon MGM Studios
- Tyler Zlotnick, Amazon MGM Studios
Ben Halpern Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient – Rebecca Marks
Rebecca Marks’ career in television publicity spans nearly four decades, the majority with NBC Entertainment and NBCUniversal in myriad leading communication roles. For the past three years, she has headed communications at Warner Bros. Television Group. Marks, who served on the TPEC Board for many years, has hired, trained and served as a mentor to many of the top PR professionals currently working in the public relations industry. She has overseen publicity efforts on such hit series as “Saturday Night Live,” “The Voice,” “Friends,” “The Tonight Show,” “Abbott Elementary,” “The West Wing,” “Young Sheldon” and “Ted Lasso.” She has served as a communications liaison to many of the top networks and studio executives in Hollywood.
The TPEC Award committee conducted this year’s judging, evaluating the submissions with an eye on fully-realized, innovative and creative campaigns that made a cultural impact. The committee also considered work that thoughtfully embraced diversity and inclusion, overcame unexpected roadblocks and ultimately achieved press hits that met the goals and strategies. The committee was comprised of:
- Ryan Aguirre, Freelance
- Gabriella Alaimo, Sony Pictures Television
- Brian Eley, Crunchyroll
- Kristen J. Hall, CBS Studios
- Ryan McCormick, NBCUniversal
- Lindsay Miller, Amazon MGM Studios
- Amy Prenner, The Prenner Group
- Shari Rosenblum, Disney Television Studios
- Aashna Moitra Serrao, DreamWorks Animation
- Dustin Smith, SMITHHOUSE
- Lakeitcha Thomas, Disney Television Studios
- Lynn Weiss, SMITHHOUSE
- Wendy Zocks, Wendy Zocks PR
About TPEC
TPEC (The Television Publicity Executives Committee) was created in the 1990s to foster collaboration among senior communications professionals across the television industry as they faced shared challenges, including changing technology and redefinition of media ownership regulations. Members are involved in all forms of programming publicity from networks, studios, streamers and agencies. TPEC is chaired by Wendy Zocks and executive committee members include immediate past chair Dustin Smith, Todd Beck, Irina Bobker, Brian Eley, Eileen Quast, Alice Rao and Joe Schlosser. Decades later, as the industry evolves at an unprecedented pace, TPEC continues to serve that purpose while fostering mutual understanding and positive working relationships between publicists and the media who cover the TV business and elevating the next generation of communications talent. The Los Angeles-based non-profit publishes the annual TPEC Guide, an invaluable resource that TV publicists use everywhere. For more information on TPEC membership or the Guide, please visit www.tpec.tv. Follow TPEC on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN and X.
