BAFTA FOR FRANNY ARMSTRONG

Date 20th Feb 2005
Submitted by Anonymous on 20 February 2005 - 1:00am

spannerfilms Armstrong wins a Bafta

 
At last night's Baftas, Armstrong was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award

Peter Armstrong, that is, Franny's dad. But she had a little go with the statue anyway. And got a chocolate version to share with Spanner Films.

This is what they said:

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announces that at this year’s BAFTA Interactive Awards, to be held on 19 February 2004, a Special Lifetime Award will be given to Peter Armstrong to commend his contribution to the digital industry.

Starting off his career as a radio and TV producer for the BBC, Peter was quick to demonstrate his talent for understanding media formats and the exciting limits to which they can be stretched. The result: groundbreaking series that he created including Everyman and Global Report.

Peter was therefore one of the first to recognise the potential of the digital world and was instrumental in pushing the BBC into the multimedia and interactive age.

He was the driving force behind the acclaimed Domesday project in 1983, which involved a million citizens in celebrating the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book by creating a modern-day equivalent, considered today as an icon of interactive multimedia.

He then created the BBC’s award-winning Interactive Television Unit in 1986 to continue this pioneering work, delivering projects such as the Countryside and Volcanoes multimedia discs.

The eventual closure of the division by the BBC led to a management buy-out which gave birth to the MultiMedia Corporation. With Peter as its first Chair, the company produced the million-selling 3D World Atlas in 1994 and became renowned as a seedbed for new media talents.

Underpinning all of Peter’s achievements is a deeply held belief in the responsibility of the media to harness its power for the benefit of the people of the world. The Internet provided the perfect canvas for Peter to express his democratic vision at a global level.

OneWorld.net was conceived by Peter and his partner Anuradha Vittachi in 1994 as the world’s first online platform devoted to human rights and social justice worldwide. A decade on, the OneWorld Network is the established leader in its field, bringing together over 6,000 civil society organisations and media-makers worldwide.

Peter Armstrong said: “I am surprised and deeply honoured to receive this recognition from the Academy. I share it with all those with whom I have worked and from whom I have learned over these twenty multimedia years – most especially Anuradha Vittachi, my partner and inspiration in seeking to create media that matter.”

Commenting on the Special Award, Sue Thexton, Deputy Chair of the BAFTA Interactive Committee, said: “Peter is an inspiration to us all, he is an innovator in the truest sense and has played a key role in shaping the UK’s hugely vibrant and creative new media industry that we are celebrating at today’s BAFTA Interactive Awards.”