New York Festivals To Honor Geoffrey Mason with TV & Film Lifetime Achievement Award

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Geoffrey Mason continues to rack up the honors as next April at NAB he will be awarded the New York Festivals International Television & Film’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

One of sports television’s most accomplished executives, Mason has more than 40 years of domestic and international production experience, including seven Olympic Games, six World Cups, and multiple America’s Cup races. The consummate freelancer, Mason has worked for ABC, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and the NFL Network during five decades in the business, mentoring hundreds of co-workers along the way.

He will be honored on April 17 during the Television & Film Awards ceremony that will be held at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas. The NYF Television & Film Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes prominent industry leaders whose accomplishments and contributions have advanced their field and made a lasting impression on the industry.

“I am blessed to have been assigned – for most of the past 40 years – to big events, all over the planet. This good fortune has immensely broadened my understanding of our industry, and of our world – and the people in it,” says Mason. “Who is luckier than I?”

Mason currently serves as head of production planning for UEFA EURO and FIFA World Cup soccer. He was head of production planning for the award-winning 2010 FIFA Men’s World’s Cup soccer tournament in South Africa as well as the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup from Germany. Previously, Mason was executive producer of ESPN’s international and regional production.

“Geoff Mason’s list of accomplishments, the events he has overseen and the impact he has had on the television sports industry cannot be overestimated,” adds Sean McManus, CBS Sports, chairman. “Spanning five decades, his managerial and creative achievements are simply remarkable, encompassing many of the greatest sports events of our time. And yet he has somehow found the time to give back to society in a major way, through his tireless work for 20+ years on the Board of Directors at the Betty Ford Center. Not many of us can say that we have changed for the better both the history of sports television and the lives of so many people. Geoff Mason certainly can.”

As executive producer at ABC Sports, Mason was involved in some of the sporting world’s most exciting events.  His extensive production background includes Super Bowls, Monday Night Football, World Series, Triple Crowns, Indianapolis 500s, golf and tennis majors, the Tour de France, and multiple America’s Cup events in Australia and New Zealand. He has witnessed some of sport’s most iconic moments: Borg and McEnroe’s epic final at Wimbledon in 1980, Franz Klammer earning the Gold Medal for his dramatic downhill  in the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics, the tragic murders perpetrated by terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and the 1989 earthquake that rocked the World Series in San Francisco. Mason has earned more than two dozen Sports Emmys.

“By selecting Geoff Mason as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, New York Festivals honors a man whose work has had a major impact in broadcasting, not only for his achievements in sports television, but also for his influence on hundreds of colleagues who have gone on to prominence in their own careers,” adds Rose Anderson, NYF Television & Film Awards Executive Director.

The New York Festivals Awards ceremony will shine the spotlight on the 2012 World’s Best TV & Films, as well as present the Lifetime Achievement Award, Broadcaster of the Year, Production Company of the Year, and United Nations Department of Public Information Awards.  Award winners and ceremony attendees will have access to The NAB Show, content conferences, speakers, exhibitions, and screening of the Grand Award winners in the Content Theater.