Michelle Visage to Host Prestigious Award Recognizing Programs and Producers that Inspire Social Change

The Television Academy announced today the recipients of its 18th Television Academy Honors, recognizing six exceptional television programs and their producers who have leveraged the extraordinary power of television to advance social change.

The honorees include four non-scripted programs and two scripted series representing some of the most inspiring and meaningful television of 2024. They are Daughters, Genius: MLK/X, Independent Lens: Greener Pastures, Out of My Mind, We Will Dance Again and Will & Harper.

Each year

Television Academy Honors celebrates programs across numerous platforms and genres that raise awareness about complex issues facing society. This year’s honorees include compelling programs that address transgender identity, friendships and allyship; the legacy of the prison-industrial complex on Black communities; mental health issues in farming families and communities; social justice and racism; the Americans with Disabilities Act and “special needs” students; and the Israel/Palestine conflict.

“Now more than ever, television serves as a powerful platform for information and discourse on important social issues that affect so many of us throughout the world,” said Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego. “We honor this year’s winners for their dedication and commitment to creative and effective storytelling that both educates and motivates audiences around the globe.”

Scott Freeman

Governor of the Reality Programming Peer Group, and Bobbi Banks, Governor of the Sound Editors Peer Group, were co-chairs of the Television Academy Honors selection committee and participated in this year’s expanded process to determine the 2025 honorees.

“For the first time, we opened up the selection process so all voting members of the Academy could participate in a vote that identified 50 finalists among 142 incredible submissions,” explained Freeman. “Then, our dedicated selection committee undertook the challenging task of selecting this year’s honorees from those very worthy programs.”

“The programs selected explore such important issues,” said Banks. “The stories told, the voices heard and the lives seen in these programs are a testament to the power of television to educate while entertaining — and to inspire conversation; understanding; empathy; and, when needed, action.”

The Honors recipients will be celebrated during a recognition ceremony slated for Wednesday, May 28, at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, California, hosted by Michelle Visage.

Visage

an internationally known television personality, radio show host, platinum-selling recording artist and author, is a judge on the wildly popular Emmy Award-winning program RuPaul’s Drag Race. She is a renowned advocate for diversity and inclusion and celebrated for her work empowering LGBTQ+ communities and fostering intersectional representation.

Recipients of the 18th Television Academy Honors are:

Daughters (A Netflix documentary / an Object & Animal and Epoch Films Production / a Park Pictures and XTR Production in association with OPC and World of HA in association with Simpson Street and Two One Five) This documentary film intimately follows four young girls as they prepare for a special daddy / daughter dance with their incarcerated fathers, part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail. The girls share their aspirations, dreams and the emotional toll of their fathers’ absence, revealing a profound wisdom and resilience beyond their years. (Netflix)

Genius: MLK/X (National Geographic, 20th Television, Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema) The formative years and parallel stories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two iconic leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, are compellingly explored in this docudrama series. It is particularly focused on their pioneering accomplishments with their formidable wives, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz. (National Geographic Channel)

Independent Lens: Greener Pastures (Intersection Pictures and ITVS) There is a mental health crisis happening for many American farmers. A combination of climate change and the pandemic have contributed to increasing economic uncertainty and isolation. This documentary, which follows four family farms in the Midwest over several years, is a story of perseverance and survival within the farming industry in the heartland. (PBS)

Out of My Mind (Big Beach, Participant, EveryWhere Studios LLC and Disney Branded Television) This inspiring, coming-of-age drama is the story of Melody Brooks, a quick-witted, non-verbal sixth grader with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair. She is not given the same opportunities as her classmates; but when a young educator notices her untapped potential, Melody starts to participate in mainstream education and finds her voice. (Disney+)

We Will Dance Again (See It Now Studios Presents in association with HOT 8 and BBC Storyville) This documentary about the October 7 Hamas terror attack at the Nova Music Festival in Israel is told by two dozen survivors — witnesses to unimaginable stories of courage, humanity and heroism. Their stories provide a riveting account as the celebration of music turned into a nightmare, and festivalgoers had to make choices that would determine whether they lived or died. (Paramount+)

Will & Harper (A Netflix Documentary / a Wayfarer Studios Film / a Delirio Films Production / a Gloria Sanchez Production) When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years was coming out as a trans woman, the two decided to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship. This documentary is an intimate portrait of friendship, transition and America. (Netflix)