The most honored film of the year was Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life which received four awards including those for Director, Youth Performance (Hunter McCracken), Cinematography and Cinematic Moment (Creation of the Universe). Even though it won the most categories, Best Picture was given to The Artist which also received awards for Best Breakthrough Performance: Male (Jean Dujardin) and Original Score.

The Artist was one of four films to win three awards. The others were Drive, Shame and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Drive was honored for Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects; Shame won prizes for Best Actor (Michael Fassbender), Supporting Actress (Carey Mulligan) and Adapted Song (“New York, New York”); and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was named Best Ensemble, Casting and Adapted Screenplay.

We Need to Talk About Kevin star Tilda Swinton was named Best Actress while Best Supporting Actor was presented to Christopher Plummer for Beginners.

For more winners, check out the following link: 16th Film Awards

Hall of Fame

In addition to awarding the best in film across the past year, the members of the Online Film & Television Association annually select ten films, four actors, three creative and three other technicians. Below are this year’s recipients:

Films

• The African Queen (1951)
• Alien (1979)
• L.A. Confidential (1997)
• The Lost Weekend (1945)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
• Red River (1948)
• Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
• Top Hat (1935)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
• The Truman Show (1998)

Acting

• Doris Day (1924 – )
• Janet Gaynor (1906 – 1984)
• Burt Lancaster (1913 – 1994)
• Edward G. Robinson (1893 – 1973)

Creative

• Michael Curtiz (1886 – 1962)
• Fred Zinnemann (1907 – 1997)
• Leo McCarey (1896 – 1969)

Other Technicians

• Busby Berkeley (1895 – 1976)
• Pauline Kael (1919 – 2001)
• Lyle R. Wheeler (1905 – 1990)

Best Picture nominee Hugo led the pack with 14 nominations with second-place The Artist earning 13. Filling out the five-slot Best Picture field were The Descendant, Drive and Shame. Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was replaced in the Best Director field by David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo while the directors of the remaining Best Picture nominees were also nominated there.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tied The Help for third-most nominations this year with eight each. Just below them with seven nominations apiece were Best Picture co-nominees Drive and Shame.

The winners will be revealed on Sunday, February 12, 2011. For a handful of statistics, see the list below.

To see the full list of nominations, follow this link: 2011 Nominations.

• Meryl Streep breaks the five-way tie she was in after her 2009 nomination to become the most nominated actress in OFTA history with six bids to date. Her total nominations sits at 6.
• Ezra Miller picks up three nominations for We Need to Talk About Kevin this year joining a small group of talented young thespians in picking up three nominations in single year. Alongside Hailee Steinfeld and Saoirse Ronan, he becomes the first male actor to accomplish this feat.
• Fellow Best Youth Performance nominee Elle Fanning collects a different record, picking up her third consecutive nomination. Cate Blanchett from 2006 through 2008 and Haley Joel Osment from 1999 to 2001 were the only others with such a record.
• While Streep picked up her sixth nomination, six other actors incremented their history totals to three: George Clooney, Fanning, Carey Mulligan, Nick Nolte, Tilda Swinton and Michelle Williams. Clooney, Fanning, Mulligan and Swinton were each nominated in 2009.
• Jessica Chatain, Jean Dujradin, Michael Fassbender and Rooney Mara were double nominees this year, each picking up nominations in the major acting categories and the breakthrough acting fields (along with triple nominee Miller). Only Elizabeth Olsen didn’t earn a second nomination in the lead or supporting categories.
• Unlucky 13: The Artist‘s thirteen nomination put it in a small company of eight films that have received thirteen nominations, six of which earned that total within the last four years.

The following are the top ten films of 2011 as voted by the OFTA membership (in alphabetical order) based on their nomination submissions.

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Drive
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• Hugo
• Shame
• A Separation
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• The Tree of Life

The most honored program of the year was miniseries Mildred Pierce which won eleven prizes including those for Best Motion Picture or Miniseries, Actress (Kate Winslet), a tie for Supporting Actress (Evan Rachel Wood), Ensemble, Direction, Writing, Music, Editing, Cinematography, Production Design and Costume Design.

The winner of Best Comedy Series was Modern Family which picked up another six awards: Supporting Actor (Ty Burrell), Supporting Actress (Sofia Vergara), Guest Actor (James Marsden), Ensemble, Direction and writing. This is the second year the series has won the Comedy Series prize. Last year, it tied Glee for the trophy.

Mad Men won the award for Best Drama Series along with the award for Writing. The two awards ties Mad Men for most honored program in OFTA history. In the show’s four seasons, it has received the award for Best Drama Series each year. With four awards for Best Drama Series, Mad Men furthers its dominance of the category, earning the prize two more times than any other series in history.

Drama series Boardwalk Empire was the third most honored program of the year earning six awards for Actor (Steve Buscemi), Ensemble, Direction, Editing, Production Design and Costume Design. Game of Thrones earned five awards for Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), Music, Sound, New Theme Song and New Titles Sequence.

In other categories, the Tony Awards becomes the first annual awards program to win a program prize against The Academy Awards. Katey Sagal won the prize for Drama Actress for Sons of Anarchy, Joan Cusack won the Supporting Actress award for Shameless and Jim Parsons wins Comedy Actor for The Big Bang Theory while Toni Collette earns the trophy for United States of Tara. Edgar Ramirez becomes the first actor to win a Motion Picture or Miniseries trophy for performing in a foreign language with his Best Actor prize for Carlos. Paul Giamatti wins the Supporting Actor award for Too Big to Fail and in a tie with Evan Rachel Wood in Mildred Pierce, Maggie Smith wins the Supporting Actress award for Downton Abbey.

For more winners, check out the following link: 15th Television Awards

Hall of Fame

In addition to awarding the best in television across the past season, the members of the Online Film & Television Association annually select ten programs, four performers and three behind the scenes artists to induct into their Hall of Fame. Below are this year’s recipients:

Programs

• Batman (1966-1968) – Adam West and Burt Ward starred in this ’60s action series using comic book styles to tell the stories of Batman and his boy wonder Robin as they battled the forces of evil including iconic villains Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler and Joker.
• Bonanza (1959-1973) – This classic television western saw Lorne Greene in the role of Ben Cartwright, the patriarch of the clan that occupied the Ponderosa, a massive ranch in Nevada. Greene and the three actors who played his sons, Pernell Roberts (Adam), Dan Blocker (Hoss) and Michael Landon (Little Joe) became household names thanks to this series.
• Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, et al (1954-2008) – This weekly anthology series began as “Disneyland” in 1954 and saw a number of nome changes, including it’s most recognized “The Wonderful World of Disney” which it carried for 20 of its 52 seasons on television from 1969 to 1979 and from 1997 through 2008 when it was cancelled by ABC. It is the second-longest running anthology series in history behind Hallmark Hall of Fame.
• Father Knows Best (1954-1960) – This NBC radio program moved to television in 1954 where it ran for six successful years. The show followed the lives of the Anderson family led by Robert Young along with his wife Margaret (Jane Wyatt) and three children Betty (Elinor Donahue), Bud (Billy Gray) and Kathy (Lauren Chapin).
• Late Night (1982-Present) – One of the earliest post-Tonight Show programs, Late Night led the way in the late night programming under the leadership of host David Letterman who was followed by Conan O’Brien in 1993 when Letterman moved to CBS to challenge lead-in Jay Leno, and then by Jimmy Fallon in 2009 when O’Brien was briefly promoted to host of The Tonight Show before being dumped by NBC in favor of bringing back Leno.
• Mission: Impossible (1966-1973) – This primetime crime drama ignited the imaginations of millions bringing its Bond-esque adventures of a small group of spies to the small screen. The theme song is one of the most recognized in television history and its “your mission, should you choose to accept it” tagline a part of popular culture.
• Murphy Brown (1988-1998) – A popular newsroom drama in the vein of The Mary Tyler Moore Show followed the aggressive title character played by Candice Bergen as she wrestled with her fame as a news anchor not too dissimilar from Barbara Walters. The show became noted for its thick political commentary, providing a lightning rod for a number of important issues of the 1990s.
• SCTV (1976-1984) – Second City Television was a Canadian variety series featuring the television programming on the fictional SCTV network. Employing some of the most recognizable comedians of the 1980s and 1990s, SCTV was a more risque series than its rival Saturday Night Live. Among the noted names that came out of the SCTV cast were John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherin O’Hara, Harold Ramis, Martin Short and Dave Thomas.
• Wheel of Fortune (1975-Present) – One of the most recognized Merv Griffin game shows of the 1980s, this Hangman-style game show awarded “valuable prizes” after contestants spun a massive wheel with dollar values that would add together to give them a monetary reward. It remains one of the most popular game shows in history and is the longest running game show of all time. Host Pat Sajak began the current syndicated run in 1983, one year before his long-hosting rival Alex Trebek.
• Your Show of Shows (1950-1954) – Sid Caesar’s acclaimed variety program Your Show of Shows was a successful multi-camera skit series that paved the way for a number of other popular programs. Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca rose to fame as they performed skits written by famous writers like Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Carl Reiner.

Acting

• Eve Arden (1908-1990) – Before reaching her height of popularity as the beloved, titular school teacher on Our Miss Brooks, Arden worked on Broadway and in film. She began working in radio on Danny Kaye’s short lived variety show in 1946 before moving on to the radio version of Our Miss Brooks in 1948 and then the television series from 1952 to 1956 before transferring the character to film in 1956. She made a number of guest appearances over the years, but Miss Brooks will be the role she’ll always be remembered for.
• Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) – Murrow was one of the first television newsmen and became a recognizable face after a long and important career on radio. He hosted three long-running television programs, See It Now (1951-58), Person to Person (1953-59) and Small World (1958-1960), among other duties before becoming director of the United States Information Agency.
• Dinah Shore (1916-1994) – The noted singer and actress began her television career in 1937 on an experimental broadcast for NBC. In 1949, she made her official debut on Ed Wynn’s variety show also appeared on Bob Hope’s first television show in 1950. In 1951, she was given her own variety show where she sang the legendary “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet” theme and commercial which landed her a sponsor and a name-change to The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. The series ran through 1963. She starred in two more self-titled series from 1970-1974 and 1974-1980 and then a third program on cable from 1989 to 1992. With 25 years of variety programming under her belt, Shore remains one of the most prolific stars of television.
• Red Skelton (1913-1997) – Star of film, radio and television, Skelton made a big splash on television as he transitioned his radio program to TV in 1950 and his own The Red Skelton Show began in earnest in 1951. It would run for 20 years until 1971. After that, he made two further appearances as an actor in 1976 and 1981 before retiring.

Behind the Scenes

• Larry Gelbart (1928-2009) – Celebrated writer Larry Gelbart began his career on Danny Thomas’ radio show before writing for Jack Paar and Bob Hope. He also wrote material for legendary comics Red Buttons and Sid Caesar. But it wasn’t until 1972 that Gelbart’s legacy would be preserved. That year, he was one of the main creative forces behind iconic television series M*A*S*H which ran for 11 critically acclaimed seasons.
• David Sarnoff (1891-1971) – Sarnoff was a businessman and pioneer who founded both NBC and RCA, two companies important to the creation and success of television.
• David Wolper (1928-2010) – One of the most successful television producers in history, Wolper was behind the seminal productions of medium-defining miniseries Roots, The Thorn Birds and North and South along with popular series Welcome Back, Kotter.

Best Drama Series nominee Boardwalk Empire lead the nominations with twenty mentions. With 16 nominations each, fellow Drama Series nominee Game of Thrones tied with Mildred Pierce, nominated for Best Motion Picture or Miniseries. Two more series nominees tied for fourth with fifteen nominations each. Last year’s category winners, Mad Men and Glee were both nominated again this year. The Pillars of the Earth, earning 13 nominations to land in sixth in the nomination tallies, is also nominated for Best Motion Picture or Miniseries.

Joining first time nominees Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones as well as last year’s winner Mad Men for Best Drama series are Friday Night Lights (6 nominations), The Good Wife (7 nominations) and True Blood (10 nominations).

In the Best Comedy Series category, Glee is joined by last year’s co-winner Modern Family (12 nominations) as well as 30 Rock (8 nominations), The Big Bang Theory (6 nominations), Community (5 nominations) and Parks and Recreation (6 nominations).

Mildred Pierce and Pillars of the Earth will face off in the race for Best Motion Picture or Miniseries with Carlos (9 nominations), Cinema Verite (9 nominations), Downton Abbey (11 nominations) and Sherlock (5 nominations).

The winners will be announced on Sunday, August 14, 2011. For a handful of non-performance facts and statistics, see below.

For the full list of nominees, visit the Awards page.

• Boardwalk Empire nets the highest nomination count in 9 years. Six Feet Under received 24 nominations for the 2001/2002 season.
• Boardwalk is ranked fourth for highest total nominations in its first year as a series. In 3rd place with 21 nominations was The Practice in 1998/99. And tied for first are Six Feet Under listed above and The West Wing which debuted in the 1999/2000 season.
• With fifteen nominations, Mad Men has the best fourth-season nomination total in history beating previous record holder The Sopranos which picked up 13 nods in its fourth year. Mad Men now holds the record for most third and fourth year nominations.
• With 65 nominations in four years, Mad Men now has the second-highest run-to-date total of any series. Only The West Wing had more nominations at this point in its run with 69.
• Mad Men is now ranked 10th on the list of all time top series nominees.
• Mildred Pierce is tied for sixth as the most nominated motion picture or miniseries.
• Carlos is the first foreign language motion picture/miniseries nominee in OFTA TV history.
• Lady Gaga: The Monster Ball Tour – Live From Madison Square Garden is the most nominated television special in history beating previous record-holder The 41st Grammy Awards back in 1998/99. (Note: This record is broken with access to more nominating categories than any year prior to 2009/2010 when specials were permitted to compete in design categories alongside motion pictures and miniseries)

For a full list of winners, check out our awards page or click the following link: 2010 winners.

In addition, the 2011 selections for induction into the Hall of Fame have been selected. Ten films; four actors; three directors and/or writers and/or producers; and three technicians join the illustrious ranks in the Hall of Fame. You can find out more by clicking on: 2011 inductees.

For more information and a full list of winners, visit the Awards page linked on the right of this page.

In addition, ten programs and seven individuals were inducted into the OFTA Hall of Fame. These selections may be found in the Hall of Fame section linked at the right.

For more information, visit the Awards page.

For a full list of winners, check out our awards page or click the following link: 2009 winners.

In addition, the 2010 selections for induction into the Hall of Fame have been selected. Ten films; four actors; three directors and/or writers and/or producers; and three technicians join the illustrious ranks in the Hall of Fame. You can find out more by clicking on: 2010 inductees.