CELEBRATING CINEMA IN INDUSTRY
SINCE 1959

ABOUT

SINCE 1959, THE COVETED CINDY AWARD HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THOUSANDS OF PRODUCERS WORLDWIDE.

The International CINDY Awards began two years after the founding of the Industry Film Production Association in Los Angeles. This fledgling professional association, primarily made up of aerospace filmmakers in Southern California, wanted something to elevate their status within the larger film production industry. What better way than to introduce a film festival judged by their peers? In 1959 the first CINDY Awards specifically designed for the non-theatrical market were presented. As you know, non-theatrical is a broad arena of production work that trains and explains as well as entertains. It can be found in a wide variety of applications from museum exhibits and training environments to consumer product rollouts and business meetings. Many successful Hollywood directors and cinematographers began their careers in this non-theatrical market, and it seemed only fitting that The TDF Awards should honor them at the very beginning of their careers

In the early days, many future Hollywood legends would start their careers by working in the industrial film arena. Renowned directors George Stevens, John Ford, William Wyler and John Huston found themselves taking a break from features in Hollywood to make 16mm training and public relations films supporting the war effort during WWII. Later, Robert Altman would begin his career in Kansas City at The Calvin Companies, one of the largest “industrial” film producers of the 1950s. He worked first as a cameraman and later as a director making training and educational films. At least two of the projects he worked on received some of the earliest CINDY Awards.

The 1960s brought advances in not only 16mm film but filmstrips, audio, Super-8 sound cartridges, and slide media as well. By the 1970s, video arrived on the scene and video cameras became smaller. In the 1980s multi-image presentations were in wide use, the video was exploding and the first interactive programming was born. In the following 25 years, the rate of change ramped up even more. The curve measuring the means by which gathering, editing, and delivering media went totally vertical. Today, the survivors left standing are the ones who adapted and changed. One of these is the CINDY Awards.

The success of the CINDY Awards is simple. Although the platforms and technology for gathering, mixing, and delivering media are always changing, the talent to properly blend words, sounds, and imagery into persuasive audience messages will always remain constant and paramount. Today, the TDF Awards accept a wide variety of programming from various delivery platforms in a wide range of subject matter categories. The dividing line between “non-theatrical” and everything else no longer exists. Entertainment is presented both in the theater and direct to your home. Training and educational content are available across the web and from the cloud. All are available anytime on any device, including your old-fashioned television set. And it’s all delivered in crisp and colorful HD.