The third annual Young Entertainer Awards ceremony will take place at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 15 in The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA. Nominees will walk the Red Carpet beginning at 9:30 a.m. Hosting this year's awards will be Emmy-winning KTLA-TV evening news anchor Courtney Friel.
Honoring a bevy of super-talented rising stars ages 5 - 21, the Young Entertainer Awards has all the trappings and show-biz pizzazz of the Oscars, Emmys, or Golden Globes. There are award categories for performance in film, TV, voice-over, web, and theatre, as well as for directing. Additionally, a Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year.
The Young Entertainer Awards honors youthful artists affiliated with many different production companies, studios, and networks across the industry spectrum. Winners are selected by a committee of entertainment professionals.
More than 500 young entertainers and directors vie for Young Entertainer Awards each year. Studios and production companies represented include Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Amazon Studios, Hallmark, Nickelodeon, PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, Netflix, Telemundo, Family Channel, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Discovery Kids, Dreamworks TV, Lionsgate, and more.
Previous Young Entertainer Award winners, presenters, and performers have included such notables as Asia Monet Ray (Dance Moms/Lifetime), Rio Mangini (Lethal Weapon/Fox), Sean Ryan FOX (Henry Danger/Nickelodeon), Michael Grant (September Morning, Forsaken, Pitching Tents), Jeremy Maguire (Modern Family/ABC), and Shahadi Wright Joseph (Hairspray Live/NBC), as well as Youtube stars Alisha Marie and Mia Stammer. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented in 2016 and 2017 to two successful entertainment industry professionals who began their careers as young performers: highly accomplished entertainer Fergie and gifted filmmaker/choregrapher Kevin Tancharoen.
The 2018 Young Entertainer Awards show will stream live on the Young Entertainer Awards Youtube channel. The Red Carpet event preceding the awards ceremony will stream live on the Young Entertainer Awards Facebook page. The awards ceremony will also be taped for TV broadcast at a later date.
The Young Entertainer Awards Foundation scholarship program seeks to assist and encourage physically or financially disadvantaged young performers. A central component of each Young Entertainer Awards ceremony is the presentation of a scholarship in support of arts education. This year's scholarship recipient will be Silverlake Conservatory, a non-profit music school in Los Angeles founded by Michael "Flea" Balzay of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Beyond all else, the Young Entertainer Awards show is a celebration of community. Explains Young Entertainer Awards Foundation president, Alitzah Wiener, "Growing up in the industry, for me, was all about creating community. Being a young entertainer is a family affair, and our awards ceremony is a day to celebrate as a community, to come together to honor and recognize the hard work and dedication the whole team puts in, especially the supportive parents who sacrifice so much to help their kids fulfill their dreams."
The Young Entertainer Awards were established in late 2015 by Amparo and Michael Wiener to honor youthful performance achievements in film, television, music, and stage. The Young Entertainer Awards Foundation is a non-profit organization created by members of the entertainment industry who want to provide a positive incentive for young entertainers to perfect their skills and build a strong foundation of confidence that will benefit them not only in their present careers but also in whatever paths they wish to follow in the future.
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