The creator of ´Betty, the ugly one´ earned the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award in the Natpe Fair 2012 , that took place in the United States. Fernando Gaitan, Product Vice-president of Canal RCN, received the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, tonight at Miami Beach, one of the most important worldwide recognitions in the television industry. The award, which is given for the first time to a Latin American person, was given by the National Association of Television Program Executives (Natpe) during their annual fair which took place January 23-25. Gaitan was grateful for the recognition and said that he was very proud to be the first Latin American to receive it in this Ninth Edition of the awards. “ It is a gigantic honor because it is a very important award for the industry, even more because it is given to a Latin American for the first time and most importantly because the work that you´re awarding me for, has completely been done in Colombia, because I´ve never worked in any other country. So I take it as a recognition to me and to Colombian television”, said the script writer. Natpe called Gaitan a creativity icon in Latin America and highlighted the fact that he is the father of productions such as ´Café, con aroma de mujer´, ´Hasta que la plata nos separe´, and the famous ´Betty, the ugly one´, the most successful telenovela in history according to the Guinness Book of Records 2010, since it has been shown in more than 90 countries and has 23 different international versions in such diverse countries like Russia, China, India, Spain, Germany or Mexico. Besides, ´Ugly Betty´, the American version of this telenovela, won two Golden Globes and one Emmy, and was the first Latin American production to be shown in the highest audience prime time of North America.
During the event to honor the winners, at the Glimmer Ballroom of the grand Fontainebleau Resort, Guillermo Arriaga was in charge of introducing Fernando Gaitan to the assistants, a famous Mexican script writer for movies such as Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel, and a very close friend to the honoree. With Gaitan, other three important executives from the world of international television received this significant award. Cecile Frot-Coutaz, of FremantleMedia North America and Executive producer of American Idol, a successful musical reality show that has been considered by the specialized critics as one of the most striking shows of all times; Dennis Swanson, Operation President of FOX Television Stations, who has had under his wing some of the most influential program developments of television in the last 30 years, for example the first talk show with Oprah Winfrey, and who was the person to convince the International Olympic Committee to alternate the summer and the winter Olympic Games; and Matthew Weiner, creator and executive producer of ´Mad Men´, a series show that, just about to release its fifth season, has been able to win four consecutive Emmys as the Best Dramatic Series, three consecutive Golden Globes as the Best Drama for Television, among other awards. He was also the executive producer of the famous series ´The Sopranos´. The Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award was created as a tribute to Brandon Tartikoff, one of the most important programmers in the history of television. It is given to a very select group of professionals that show passion, leadership, independence and an extraordinary vision in the process of creating television programming. Rick Feldman, President and CEO of Natpe said that “those who received our award on 2012 have lived, worked and traveled all over the planet. Their common interest, and the reason why we have chosen them, is their great passion for the excellence in television programming. Cecile, Fernando, Dennis and Matthew love what they do and we´re happy to honor them in Brandon´s name”.