Sunday, February 08, 2015

Jonathan Judge Wins Directors Award At 67th Annual DGA Awards For "100 Things to Do Before High School" Pilot; Fatima Ptacek, Voice Of Dora The Explorer, Wins Award At 46th NAACP Image Awards

The Directors Guild of America has announced the fantastic news that television director and producer Jonathan Judge has won the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs for 2014 award in the TV and commercial categories of the 67th Annual DGA Awards for his directional work on the pilot episode of Nickelodeon's brand-new show "100 Things to Do Before High School"!


This is Jonathan's first DGA Award and third nomination. He was previously nominated in this category in 2012 and 2013 for the Nickelodeon Original TV Movies "Camp Fred", in which he made a cameo as a Monkey Butler, and "Swindle", respectively.


Jonathan Judge's directorial team on the pilot of "100 Things to Do Before High School" was:

Unit Production Manager: Debra Spidell
First Assistant Director: Julian Petrillo
Second Assistant Director: Katey Wheelhouse
Second Second Assistant Director: Ceci Mak



Isabela Moner (CJ Parker), Jaheem Toombs (Fenwick) and Owen Joyner (Crispo) in "100 Things To Do Before High School".

Nickelodeon USA premiered the pilot of "100 Things to Do Before High School" on Tuesday 11th November 2014 as a movie special, and plans to fully launch the series, which will introduce Nickelodeon's latest crop of super-star talent, in April 2015.

"100 Things To Do Before High School" is a brand-new live-action creator-driven comedy-focused series from "Big Time Rush" creator and executive producer Scott Fellows. The half-hour, single-camera series follows three best friends as they navigate the highs and lows of middle school, with the help of a bucket list of adventures that help them overcome class cliques, terrifying bullies and clueless teachers.

With real life and teen drama awaiting her after 8th grade graduation, CJ Parker (Isabela Moner) has only a short time left to make the most of her middle school years. Together with her two lifelong best friends Fenwick (Jaheem Toombs) and Crispo (Owen Joyner), she is determined to get the most out of this time, using an ever-expanding list of challenges as a guide. For this group, growing up means trying everything and taking chances while they still can.

Jonathan Judge also directed the pilot episode of the brand-new Nickelodeon comedy series "Bella and the Bulldogs", "Newbie QB" (part one), which Nick USA debuted on Saturday 17th January 2015, and has directed many episodes of popular Nickelodeon shows, including "Haunted Hathaways", "The Thundermans", "Big Time Rush", "Marvin Marvin", "Supah Ninjas", "Fred: The Show", "The Naked Brothers Band", "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide", "See Dad Run", and "Instant Mom", and episodes of the popular Nickelodeon Preschool series "Blue's Clues", "Blue's Room", "Nick Jr.'s Play Along" and "LazyTown". Jonathan Judge's producing credits include "U-Pick Live" ("MusicWeek" and "Fairly Odd Wish-a-Thon"), the "Kids Choice Awards Orange Carpet Pre-Show 2009" and "Kids Choice Awards Orange Carpet 2010".

The Directors Guild of America announced the winners at the 67th annual DGA Awards at a dinner hosted by actress, singer, and comedian Jane Lynch, who guest-starred on the hit Nickelodeon comedy series "iCarly" as Pam Puckett, Sam Puckett's (Jennette McCurdy) Mother, in the episode "iSam's Mom", on Saturday 7th February 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

You can find a full list of 67th annual DGA Awards nominees here on the official Directors Guild of America website, dga.org.

Additionally, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has announced the further fantastic Nickelodeon News that Nickelodeon voice actress Fatima Ptacek, who voices Nickelodeon's preschool megastar Dora the Explorer, has won the "Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Youth/Children's Program (Series or Special)" award in the 46th NAACP Image Awards for her voice work on Nickelodeon's brand-new animated preschool series "Dora and Friends: Into the City!"! The NAACP Image Awards is a prestigious event which celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, recording, literature, motion picture and writing & directing), as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors. You can find a full list of 46th NAACP Image Awards winners here on the official NAACP Image Awards website, naacpimageawards.net!



Fatima Ptacek at the 2014 Alma Awards. Photo Copyright (C) Richard Sandoval.

A huge congratulations to Jonathan Judge and Fatima Ptacek!!
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