Chernobyl standout drama at Content Innovation Awards as Endemol Shine, Kew and BT Sport also pick up gongs

Endemol Shine Group and Kew Media were among the stand-out winners at the fifth Content Innovation Awards in Cannes, while Sky picked up the Best Debut Drama Series award for its hit show Chernobyl.

At a packed event at the Majestic Hotel, Chernobyl beat off finalists including Benedict Cumberbatch-starring Patrick Melroseand Bavaria Fiction’s Das Bootto take home the coveted scripted prize, with judges describing the show as “seminal television”.

Produced in association with HBO and from Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint and Word Games, Chernobyltracks the disaster at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in 1986, with the judging panel adding that the show was “innovative to the core.”

Endemol Shine, meanwhile, took home the Entertainment Format of the Year award for its culinary veteran MasterChef, and the company’s well-travelled All Together Nowwas crowned Best Musical Format.

Endemol Shine’s Brazilian division was also among the winner for its series O Próximo Número 1 VillaMix, which was named Branded Content of the Year, while its UK outfit Tiger Aspect Productions secured the Best Returning Kids Programme prize for Mr Bean: The Animated Series.

The Best Documentary Series prize was taken home by Kew Media Distribution for Leaving Neverland, about the two men who alleged they were sexually abused by pop icon Michael Jackson, and the Canada-based company also bagged the Best Returning Drama Series award for Line Of Duty.

Italy’s Rai Ragazzi and Stand By Me won the Best Live Action Programmein the kids division, with Jams, while Gutsy Animations and Sky Kids walked away with the Best Animated Kids Programmefor Moominvalley.

Sky Studios’ chief commercial officer Jane Millichipwas handed this year’s CIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, having grown Sky Vision revenue from £8m to more than £240m over seven years before it was combined with NBCUniversal Global Distribution, while ABC Studios International’s Keli Leewas this year’s recipient of the Contribution to Content Award.

Endemol Shine Brazil’s Izabela Ianelliwas awarded the Rising Star of Developmentprize for her work on MasterChefin her home country, using innovative techniques via social and digital media to massively expand the brand’s reach.

Elsewhere, Endemol Shine-backed Douglas Road Productions took home the Best Short-Form Seriesfor Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, while Arrow Media took the Factual TV Project Of The Yearprize for Under The Wire.

You can find the full list of winners below:

Best Debut Drama Series
Show: Chernobyl
Winners: Sky in association with HBO, Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Word Games

Best Returning Drama Series
Show: Line of Duty
Winners: Kew Media Distribution for

Breakthrough Crime Series
Show: Banged Up: Teens Behind Bars
Winners: Britespark Films

Factual TV Project of the Year
Show: Under The Wire
Winners: Arrow Media

Factual Entertainment Programme of the Year
Project: Portrait Artist Of The Year
Winners: Storyvault Films, Sky Arts

Entertainment Format of the Year
Show: MasterChef
Winners: Endemol Shine Group

Best Musical Format
Show: All Together Now
Winners: Endemol Shine Group

The YouTube Award
Winner: Barcroft Studios for Barcroft TV

Global Spotlight Award
Show: La Catedral Del Mar(Cathedral of the Sea)
Winners: Diagonal TV (Endemol Shine Iberia), Atresmedia, TV Catalunya & Netflix

Best Digital Original
Show: Star Trek: Discovery
Winner: CBS Television Studios

Branded Content of the Year
Show: O Próximo Número 1 VillaMix
Winner: Endemol Shine Brazil

Best Use of Social Media
Show: BT Sport’s No Filter
Winner: BT Sport

Best Documentary Series
Show: Leaving Neverland
Winner: Kew Media

Best Animated Kids Programme
Show: Moominvalley
Winners: Gutsy Animations and Sky Kids

Best Live Action Kids Programme
Show: Jams
Winners: Rai Ragazzi, Stand By Me

Best Returning Kids Programme
Show: Mr Bean: The Animated Series
Winners: Endemol Shine Group’s Tiger Aspect Productions

Representation on Screen
Show: Save Me
Winners: World Productions, Sky Atlantic

Series Launch of the Year
Show: NOS4A2
Winner: AMC Networks International

Distribution Innovation
Winners: All3media international for Inside Outside – House and Garden
&
ONE for ONE

Best Short-Form Series
Show: Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle
Winner: Douglas Road Productions

Rising Star of Development
Izabela Ianelli, Endemol Shine Brazil

Contribution to Content Award
Keli Lee, ABC Studios International

Lifetime Achievement Award
Jane Millichip, chief commercial officer Sky Studios