“Abbott Elementary” and “Top Gun: Maverick” received top honors at the 60th annual International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Publicists Awards luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Friday.
The awards honor individual publicists, unit still photographers and entertainment journalists who further publicity campaigns for film and TV. Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay and senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson each earned nominations from ICG.
Quinta Brunson of “Abbott Elementary” received the TV showman of the year honor, and the producers of “Top Gun: Maverick” (Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, David Ellison and Christopher McQuarrie) received the honor on the film side, with Bruckheimer accepting on behalf of all four.
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In her speech, Brunson had the crowd laughing as she commended the role of publicists. “I didn’t know that this award show existed…but I’m happy that it does exist, because you all do a job that is incredible, crucial and underappreciated,” Brunson said. “It’s important to have publicists who understand the vision, who I can communicate with. It was really important to me with ‘Abbott Elementary,’ making sure that the messaging was consistent. It was a show that I felt was special, but that meant the messaging about the show had to be special as well.”
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See the full list of winners and nominees from the 60th Annual ICG Publicists Awards below.
Maxwell Weinberg Award For Motion Picture Publicity Campaign
“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)
“Nope” (Universal Pictures/MonkeyPaw Productions)
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures/Skydance/Jerry Bruckheimer Films)
“The Woman King” (TriStar Pictures/Entertainment One)
Maxwell Weinberg Award for Television Publicity Campaign
“Abbott Elementary” (Warner Bros. Television/ABC)
“Ghosts” (CBS Studios/CBS)
“Prey” (20th Century Studios/Hulu)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: Allstars” (MTV Entertainment Studios/ Paramount+)
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (CBS Studios/Paramount+)
Les Mason Award for Career Achievement in Publicity
Natalie Bjelajac, Netflix
Karen Chamberlain, Warner Bros. Pictures
Gabriela Gutentag, Unit Publicist
Carri McClure, Unit Publicist
Carol McConnaughey, Unit Publicist
Claire Raskind, Unit Publicist
Publicist of the Year Award
Michelle Alt, Paramount Pictures
Heidi Falconer, Unit Publicist
James Ferrera, Unit Publicist
Sara Hull, Walt Disney Studios
Gianluca Lignola, Universal Pictures
Danielle Roque, Paramount Pictures International
Excellent in Unit Still Photography Award – Motion Pictures
Eli Joshua Ade
Quantrell Colbert
Kevin Estrada
Chiabella James
Jojo Whilden
Excellent in Unit Still Photography Award – Television
Beth Dubber – TIE
Richard Foreman
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle – TIE
Justin Lubin
Nicole Wilder
Press Award
Erik Davis, Fandango
Angelique Jackson, Variety
Dave Morales, KRIV-TV Houston
Andy Reyes, Entertainment Tonight
Jazz Tangcay, Variety
International Media Award
Yong Chavez, ABS-CBN News (Philippines)
Dan Jolin, Empire (UK)
Garry Maddox, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Zachary Ntim, Deadline (UK)
Helen O’Hara, Empire (Northern Ireland)
Adam Tanswell, Total Film (UK)
Motion Picture Showman of the Year
“Top Gun: Maverick” producers, accepted by Jerry Bruckheimer
Television Showman of the Year
Quinta Brunson
Bob Yeager Award for Community Service
James Ferrera
