ABOUT THE AMERICAN SCENE AWARDS®

What are the American Scene Awards®?

American Scene Awards are bestowed on those union productions that most intelligently and progressively employ the talents of people of color, people with disabilities, women, seniors, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer and other misrepresented or under-represented groups resulting in the realistic portrayal of the American Scene.

The three (3) awards—the American Scene Award in Entertainment, the American Scene Award in Music & Sound Recordings, and the Belva Davis American Scene Award in News & Broadcast—are collectively known as the SAG-AFTRA American Scene Awards.

The recipients of these awards are producers whose projects exemplify our collective commitment to the employment of our diverse union membership in the following three (3) categories: Entertainment, Music & Sound Recordings, and News & Broadcast.

Eligible projects are seen and heard in movie theaters, through streaming, television and radio, on sound recordings and the internet. Eligible projects employ SAG-AFTRA members as actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, dj’s, news writers, news directors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals.

How many awards are given?

The recipients of the three (3) awards will be producers whose projects exemplify their commitment to employment of our diverse union membership in the following three (3) categories: the American Scene Award in Entertainment, the American Scene Award in Music & Sound Recordings, and the Belva Davis American Scene Award in News & Broadcast.

How are winners notified?

Winners will be notified by the week of August 25th. Winners must confirm acceptance of their AMERICAN SCENE AWARD® no later than September 5th and agree to provide photos, video clips, and some form of a taped acceptance of the Award for the virtual Awards Presentation to take place at the SAG-AFTRA National Convention, Oct. 25-28, 2025.

How and where are the American Scene Awards presented?

SAG-AFTRA will present the AMERICAN SCENE AWARDS® during its virtual national convention, taking place October 25-28, 2025, in a virtual presentation ceremony

Previous Award Winners:

• ENTERTAINMENT AWARD Winners:

• 2023 ABC/Warner Bros. TV for “Abbott Elementary”

• 2021 Warner Bros. Pictures for “Judas and the Black Messiah”

• 2019 Hulu + A24 for "Ramy"

• 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Television for "This Is Us"

• 2015 Amazon Studios for "Transparent"

• 2013 ABC Family and Brenda Hampton of Brendavision! for "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"

• MUSIC & SOUND RECORDINGS AWARD Winners:

• 2023 Mickey Guyton & The Country Music Association for "Love My Hair" by Mickey Guyton, featuring Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards, as broadcast at the 2021 CMA Awards

• 2021 Capitol Records Nashville “Black Like Me” by Mickey Guyton

• 2019 Columbia/Sony Music for “Old Town Road (remix)” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

• 2017 Atlantic Music Group for "Hamilton" (Original Broadway Cast Recording) and "The Hamilton Mixtape"

• 2015 Capitol Records Nashville for Darius Rucker’s "Southern Style"

• 2013 Universal Music Group for their entire catalog and roster of artists

• BELVA DAVIS NEWS & BROADCAST AWARD Winners:

• 2023 PBS SOCAL /KCET for “Lost LA: From Little Tokyo To Crenshaw”

• 2021 20/20 by ABC News and The Courier Journal in Louisville for "Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor"

• 2019 NPR for "It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders"

• 2017 San Diego State University Research Foundation for KPBS San Diego

• 2015 NPR for "Code Switch"

• 2013 Detroit Public Television for "Arab American Stories"

AWARDS CALENDAR

Nominations Open Monday, June 2nd

Nomination Period Ends Thursday, July 17th at 12 p.m. PT/ 3 p.m. ET