Starting this year, the preliminary round of judging for the annual International Emmy Awards will be held in centers throughout the world, rather than exclusively in the United States, which has been the case for the last 20 years.
As explained at a press conference held by the International Council at NATPE , the main reason for the change is to promote more participants in the competition.
Art Kane, co-chairman of the International Emmys committee, said, "We have had a steady entry list of about 250 for the last several years, and we believe that holding the judging in the States perhaps scared some non-English countries from sending entries. Hopefully, this will encourage more participation."
Mainz, Germany, has been established as the judging center for all European non-English entries, with Rio de Janeiro as the center for Latin American entries. All English-language entries, regardless of the country of origin, will be judged in London. A center for the Pacific Rim area will be announced in the near future.
Each center will work in collaboration with a host network: ZDF in Germany, TV Globo in Brazil and the BBC in England. Judges will be chosen from television professionals in the various territories.
Final judging will still be held in New York and Los Angeles.
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