BYRON ALLEN’S ALLEN MEDIA GROUP ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL ‘THE GRIO AWARDS’ CELEBRATING ICONS, LEADERS AND LEGENDS

Honorees Include: Tyler Perry, Norman Lear, Patti LaBelle, Kenan Thompson, Ben Crump, Alena Analeigh McQuarter, Robert F. Smith, Allyson Felix, Don Peebles, Queen Latifah, Dave Chappelle, and Jennifer Hudson 

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Allen Media Group‘s African American-focused news, lifestyle, sports and entertainment platform theGrio (www.thegrio.com) will celebrate icons, leaders and legends at TheGrio Awards, a star-studded, black-tie event at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, October 22, 2022 with co-hosts comedian Sheryl Underwood and Taye Diggs. The television event will be broadcast on Saturday, November 5, 2022 on broadcast television stations nationwide, theGrio Television Network and other Allen Media Group television and digital platforms.

Attending in person, this year’s honorees include: Tyler Perry (theGrio ICON Award, @tylerperry), Norman Lear (theGrio Champion Award, @TheNormanLear), Patti LaBelle (theGrio Music Icon Award, @mspattipatti), Kenan Thompson (theGrio Comedy Icon Award, @kenanthompson), Ben Crump (theGrio Justice Icon Award, @AttorneyCrump), Alena Analeigh McQuarter (theGrio Young Icon Award, @thebrownstemgirl), Robert F. Smith (theGrio Philanthropy Award, @RFS_Vista), Allyson Felix (theGrio Sports Icon Award, @allysonfelix), Don Peebles (theGrio Business Icon Award, Queen Latifah (theGrio Television Icon Award, @iamqueenlatifah), Dave Chappelle (theGrio Cultural Icon Award, @davechappelle), and Jennifer Hudson (theGrio Trailblazer Icon Award, @IAMJHUD). The event will also feature special musical performances by Yolanda Adams, Tyrese, Fantasia and Patti LaBelle. Greg Phillinganes will serve as musical director, and DJ Kiss will serve as both D.J. and announcer.

“I created theGrio Awards to celebrate and amplify African-American excellence and the incredible champions from other communities who truly support us,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “As a child, strong, positive African-American icons such as Berry Gordy, Jr., Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King, Jr. helped me see myself differently, and changed the trajectory of my life. Celebrating and amplifying iconic individuals is something we can never do enough of, especially for our children.”

TheGrio Awards celebrates excellence in film, music, comedy, television, sports, philanthropy, business, fashion, social justice, environmental justice, education and the cultural icons and innovators, whose many contributions positively impact America. TheGrio Awards pays tribute to, and amplifies, the history makers, change agents and artists who define and influence our world. Allen Media Group and Backhand Productions are co-producing theGrio Awards. Executive Producers include: Byron Allen, Carolyn Folks, Jennifer Lucas, Jeff Atlas, and Michelle Willrich.

About Allen Media Group
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC. Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO, THIS TV, and PATTRN. Allen Media Group also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, THEGRIO, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP and LOCAL NOW–the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 68 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. Allen Media Group International Television continues to extend its corporate branding and content around the globe.  It currently has active license agreements and programming in South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, The Bahamas, Canada and New Zealand.  With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, and multimedia digital. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.

Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017’s highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES, the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.

In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased The Grio, a highly-rated digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. The Grio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 100 million annual visitors

About Backhand Productions
Jeff Atlas founded Backhand Productions with a contract to produce 14 hours of live TV content for the Democratic National Convention. From there, Backhand went on to produce a series of diverse, high-quality productions for ABC, NBC, FOX, TNT, Nickelodeon, MTV, and more. Notable projects include Kevin Hart’s theatrical blockbuster, Laugh at My Pain, the launch of  YouTube Space LA, and the National Urban League‘s National Annual Conference and NAACP Image Awards.  His virtual event credits include The Gracie Awards, the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions, and the go90s live stream of the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco. In addition, he co-created, and executive produced the limited series Blood Ivory for Animal Planet, which focuses on the non-profit group of American veterans (VETPAW) and their first mission to Tanzania to support the elephant anti-poaching effort. More recent projects include the Biden Inaugural in 2021, the NBA All-Star Game, and project launches for Instagram and Facebook. Backhand is represented by Robyn Lattaker-Johnson at A3 Artists Agency and Kerry Smith of Smith Entertainment Legal Group.

SOURCE Allen Media Group