After a successful awards season, Amazon’s half-hour original drama about a family coping with its father’s gender identity issues is not finished.
In addition to honoring producer/director Jill Soloway with the Showrunner of the Year award this June for the transgender series Transparent, the Canadian 2015 Banff World Media Festival plans to present Amazon Studios with Banff’s Award of Innovation, according to a press release obtained by TheWrap.
Transparent stars Jeffrey Tambor as transgender woman Maura Pfefferman (born Mort), who realized at an early age he identified as female. Struggling with shame, Mort hid his feelings from his wife and children, but came out as Maura once he felt the time was appropriate.
“Jill Soloway has made history with ‘Transparent,’ a game changing series which has really shifted the traditional television landscape, while Amazon Studios has really revolutionized the current entertainment climate with their innovative programming model,” said Ferne Cohen, executive director of the Banff World Media Festival, via TheWrap.
He continued: “We are delighted to honor them both at this year’s Banff World Media Festival …We are delighted to welcome them to BANFF and give our delegates access to such incredible talent and creativity.”
Tambor was presented with the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical, while the series brought home the award for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical, becoming the first online series to do so.
The show has also won a Directors Guild of America award, a GLAAD Media Award, multiple Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to multiple other awards and nominations.
Transparent has been praised by critics, and has performed well as one of the studio’s first original shows. A second season was ordered last October, which made it only the second Amazon series to receive a second season order, the other being the political satire comedy Alpha House.