Information About the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to utilizing the resources of the Television Academy (the organization best known for its Primetime Emmy® Awards telecast each fall) and the artistry of television to preserve and celebrate the history of the medium and to educate and guide those who will shape its future. Established as the charitable arm of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1959, the Foundation draws from Academy resources and membership to develop and sponsor educational and archival programs for members, students, researchers, and the general public. Foundation programs focus on career guidance, student achievement, diversity, personal skill development, and the documentation of television’s rich history and continued evolution.
The Archive of American Television was launched in 1997 to preserve the rich history of television and to educate and inspire future generations by videotaping interviews with pioneers and legends of the medium. To date it has completed over 2000 hours of videotaped conversations with hundreds of television pioneers—from inventors of electronic television, to those behind the camera, to television’s biggest stars. Selected interviews can be viewed/streamed on Google Video’s website .
The Foundation’s Education Department, working together with an advisory committee of Television Academy volunteers, offers a variety of programs and activities. These include:
The College Television Awards and Festival: The Nation’s Best in Video, Film and Digital Works. These productions are judged by Television Academy members and a gala dinner is held to honor the winners who are awarded cash prizes including a $1000 Directing Award; a $4000 Seymour Bricker Family College Award given to a 1st or 2nd place winner from any category whose work best represents a humanitarian concern; and Eastman Kodak product grants from the Kodak
Worldwide Student Program. In addition, their works are screened for the television industry, the Academy membership, and the public.
- The Student Internship Program. It offers 35 undergraduate or graduate students an eight-week paid internship in one of 29 career disciplines within the telecommunications field. Applicants are screened and reviewed before panels of television professionals and Academy members.
The Faculty Seminar. The Education committee sponsors this each fall for 20 professors who teach television throughout the country. This five-day “intensive” offers panel discussions, visits to working production facilities, and exclusive access to the heads of major networks and television producers for a state-of-the-industry overview.
- The Visiting Professionals Program sends Television Academy members to colleges to lecture on various aspects of the television industry.
Journeys Below the Line is a project undertaken by the Foundation and the Education committee that taps television professionals working on the industry’s top-rated shows to give interested students an exclusive,
inside look at career opportunities within the crafts and technical professions. For information on all these activities and more, visit the website.
The Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship, two $10,000 grants, supports and encourages aspiring students to pursue careers in children’s media and further the values of Fred Rogers’ work.
Students and faculty can become Academic Members of the Television Academy and receive many benefits. Students can use the student membership form and faculty can use the faculty membership form. For more information about Academic membership, visit their website.
Lastly, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, with the Princeton Review and Random House, has published a guide to television, film, and digital media studies.
