The Telly Awards, the premier national/international competition honoring video and television, announced today that “Real Rail Adventures—Swiss International Hub”from Small World Productions has been awarded two Gold Telly Awards and one Silver Telly Award in the 2020 Telly Awards competition.  The hour-long travel documentary for public television received Gold Telly Awards in the “Television Travel/Tourism” category and in the “Television Videography/Cinematography” category.  The showwas also honored with a Silver Telly Award for “Television Documentary-Series.”

Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading video and television experts from some of the most prestigious companies in entertainment, publishing, advertising, production and major television networks. 

Winners are recognized based on production excellence in television and video across all screens. According to Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards, “Gold Telly Winners…are the standard bearers of excellence in our industry. This year, we continue to highlight…the people, animators, editors, and directors that tell great stories.” Only the top three or four entries in any category are honored with Gold Tellys for “outstanding accomplishment.” The top four percent of entries in a category receive Silver Telly Award.  

According to Dridje,“Real Rail Adventures: Swiss International Hubs” and Small World Productions  are pushing the boundaries for video and television innovation and creativity at a time when the industry is both rapidly changing and heavily impacted by the current crisis.”  “Our theme for this season, ‘Telly Award Winners Tell Great Stories’ is a true reflection of the diversity of stories the community skillfully tells. Now, more than ever, we need to celebrate these stories and those who bring global stories to our attention. This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of the creators.”

In Real Rail Adventures: Swiss International Hubs, hostJeff Wilson explores five international rail hubs in centrally located Switzerland and hops connections to Germany, France and Italy. Swiss cities Basel, Bellinzona, Geneva, Interlaken and Zurich are highlighted, and Jeff sets out to discover seamless train connections to Paris, Milan, and Hamburg as well. Throughout the trip, Jeff models how to create stress-free, illuminating, multi-country, multi-cultural European train adventures.  He concludes that “with the right train connections and a few tips, we can all enjoy the perks of international trains travel from the heart of Europe.”  

Real Rail Adventures:Swiss International Hubshighlights include: UNESCO medieval castles in Bellinzona; a “canyoning” expedition in Grimsel Canyon near Interlaken; the cultural delights of Basel, “The City of Art”; the thought provoking International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva; and honey bees and paddle boards in trend-setting Zurich. 

Real Rail Adventures: Swiss International Hubs was produced by Small World Productions of Seattle in collaboration with Switzerland Tourism, and was co-produced by Cascade Public Media / KCTS Seattle.  It’s distributed to public television stations across the U.S. by American Public Television Exchange.

Real Rail Adventures:Swiss International Hubs washosted and narrated by Jeff Wilson, and produced, directed and written by Patty Conroy.  Eric Jensen was the director of photography and Sherri James Wilson was second unit photographer.  The show was edited by David Ris who also composed the score.  Matthias Kramer from Switzerland Tourism was a principle advisor and the field production coordinator.  John Givens of Small World was the executive producer. 

View all 40th Annual Telly Awards winners at www.tellyawards.com/winners.