Modern Witch Trials Wins 10 Awards at the 45th Annual Telly Awards

The campaign’s short film was directed by Emmy Award nominee and Venice Film Festival winner Eliza McNitt.
By Team Cybersmile
Published

The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens and are judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, and production companies.

We are thrilled to announce that we've won 10 Telly Awards for Modern Witch Trials, our campaign launched in February to tackle the weaponization of social media and the growing problem of mob harassment.

Modern Witch Trials was developed and produced in partnership with JOAN London and Darren Aronofsky's production company, Chromista. The campaign drew parallels between 17th-century witch trials in Salem and modern-day mob harassment on social media.

The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens and are judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, and production companies. Alongside Cybersmile, this year's winners include Adobe, Calvin Klein, ESPN, LinkedIn, MTV Entertainment Studios, NASA, the LA Clippers, and PlayStation Studios, to name a few.

At JOAN London, we want to be a part of the solution. We love the work Cybersmile has done, and we are extremely proud to have worked with such a brilliant extended team to tackle this very complex and polarizing issue, and bring this campaign to life.

Tom Ghiden, Managing Director, JOAN London

The campaign's short film was directed by Emmy Award nominee and Venice Film Festival winner Eliza McNitt and garnered international recognition, with more than 5 million video views inspiring meaningful conversation online. The short was supported by a range of high-profile public figures, including Star Trek's William Shatner, WWE superstar Nicola Glencross, actress Katie Cassidy, and soccer player Jordan Henderson.

We are thrilled that the value of our Modern Witch Trials campaign has been recognized by industry leaders with such a deep history of excellence. We are extremely grateful to everybody who made the campaign possible.

Scott Freeman, CEO, The Cybersmile Foundation

Committed to pushing the boundaries of creativity forward, this year's categories included topics within Public Service & Activism, Generative AI, Brand Collaboration, Use of Data Visualization, Thought Leadership and Accessibility. These categories are centered on cutting-edge technologies and storytelling formats that are actively evolving within the video and television industry.

The caliber of the work this season truly has reflected the theme of going beyond the frame. Our industry is experimenting with new technologies like never before, crafting truly compelling stories to draw attention to some of the world's most pressing issues.

Amanda Needham, Managing Director, Telly Awards

Nearly 13,000 entries were submitted for this year's edition from across the globe, which included top video and television content producers. Winners were chosen by The Telly Awards Judging Council, which includes Nathalie Van Sasse Van Ysselt, VP of Design and Creative Services, MSG Sphere Studios; Barry Christie, Global Creative Lead, Meta Creative Shop; Farihah Zaman, Director and member of Brown Girl Doc Mafia; Aiden Darné, VP, Global Studio Lead, Shutterstock; and Malinda Wink, Executive Director, Minderoo Pictures.

Award Wins

Since 2010, our campaigns and initiatives have won numerous international awards at prestigious events, including the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Shorty Awards, Campaign Big Awards, The One Show Awards, The Clio Awards, and MM+M, to name a few.