When I began my career with ScreenRant nearly two decades ago, what made the publication stand out then remains true today. We share the news and craft original content around the happenings of the film and television industries, but we do it with insight and analysis from the perspective of audiences who are also fans and often know the material just as well. It was for “fans by fans” and our way of spotlighting Hollywood.
That perspective has always shaped how ScreenRant approaches entertainment coverage. Our writers and editors engage with stories the same way audiences do, with enthusiasm, curiosity, and a deep familiarity with the worlds and characters that define modern entertainment.
The ultimate culmination of that perspective is formally recognizing the talent who deliver the art and performances that resonate with our teams the most each year. As more genres move into the mainstream and more platforms deliver entertainment directly to audiences through streaming, there is more storytelling to celebrate than ever before, but not many outlets that can actually do so.
That made the creation of the Screen Awards feel like an obvious next step and an exciting opportunity for collaboration.
Our first ever Screen Awards launched in December 2025 brought together the editorial voices behind Valnet’s entertainment brands ScreenRant, Collider, MovieWeb, and CBR to showcase the movies, television series, anime, and performances that defined the year. They also reflect how our teams have always approached entertainment coverage: with thoughtful curation, editorial expertise, and a real love for the stories audiences care about.
Why the Screen Awards Came Together
The Screen Awards grew out of years of covering the entertainment industry and its awards season from the inside. Our teams spend the entire year following the stories, performances, and creators shaping film, television, and anime. Each of our publications serve a unique audience and bring their own voice to entertainment coverage, yet we all share the same core purpose. We help audiences understand the industry, discover and break new stories, and dig deeper into the films and series that fans are passionate about.
Bringing those voices together around a single awards initiative was an essential evolution to expand our footprint and elevate the voices of our experts. Over the past several years, we have also invested in building some of the strongest voices in awards and FYC coverage across entertainment media.
Our teams attend and report from major film festivals throughout the year, including TIFF, Sundance, Cannes, Venice, and SXSW, among others. And we often set up our own studios to host exclusive talent interviews and guests at these events, bolstering our physical footprint and brand presence. These festivals serve as the starting point for the films and performances that go on to shape the awards conversation, and it’s important for us to share our thoughts on these films first and lead the conversation, so audiences know what’s coming, and we know what’s in the running come awards time.
This leads to our extensive awards season coverage. Over the last few weeks, ScreenRant reported live from the Golden Globes, the Saturn Awards, along with the major guild ceremonies such as SAG-AFTRA’s Actor Awards, the Writers Guild Awards, the Producers Guild of America Awards, the Directors Guild of America Awards, and of course, we were at the Oscars. Later this year, we’ll be at the Emmy’s. Many of our staff are members of various critics circles and have been involved in award shows. I’m part of the Critics Choice Association and a judge and consultant for the Canadian Game Awards as an example, and we can leverage this experience and expertise from our rosters and build something special.
Creating the Screen Awards allowed us to spotlight the work that stood out to our editorial teams using the same expertise our readers have relied on for decades of entertainment coverage. And it allowed us to do it our way, and to think bigger than just traditional film and TV, but to include anime as well.
Across the Screen brands, particularly on CBR and ScreenRant, our teams have expanded anime coverage with dedicated editorial teams, while also partnering with and helping host anime conventions across North America as the audience continues to grow. Including anime in the first edition of the Screen Awards reflects that shift and acknowledges the cultural impact the medium now holds across the industry.
Building the Screen Awards
The development of the Screen Awards unfolded on a tight timeline, barely a few months, and was built as a collaborative effort across the Screen brands. A major part of that work was led by Natasha Taggart, a Content Manager for our Screen brands, who helped shape the foundation of the project from the beginning. Natasha played a key role in selecting the award categories and helping establish the jury of experts representing each brand and editorial vertical. She also custom-built a dedicated destination for the Screen Awards on our flagship brand, ScreenRant. The Screen Awards would not have launched in 2025 without Natasha’s efforts.
From there, editorial leads and jury members worked through what the awards should look like and which categories would best capture the year across film, television, and anime. Expert critics, reporters, and editors across ScreenRant, Collider, MovieWeb, and CBR then contributed lists of standout performances, series, films, and creative achievements.
Those lists became the starting point for deeper discussion. Editors and writers across the brands debated nominees, refined selection for finalizing my nominees list, and ultimately voted on the final winners. The process brought together perspectives from journalists who spend their careers immersed in entertainment coverage.
When we formally announced the first-ever Screen Awards nominations, we shared them across all of our brands and platforms, including through press releases and newsletters sent to both our readers and industry colleagues. From there, I was able to publish a daily rollout of features analyzing the nominees in each category. Reporters, critics, and editors across the brands authored pieces that gave context to each nominee and helped tell the broader story of the year in entertainment.
Designing the Screen Awards Identity
Creating a new awards program also meant developing a visual identity that could represent the initiative moving forward. To do this, we enlisted the assistance of ScreenRant’s graphic designer, Joe O’Shea.
Part of the process involved designing the Screen Awards logo and branding, so the awards would feel distinct while still fitting the theme within the Screen network of publications. It needed to work within articles and on social media platforms across multiple digital publications.
The design process involved collaboration between editorial leadership, branding teams, and designers. Early concepts explored how to represent the scope of the awards while maintaining a clear connection to the Screen brands.
Seeing the concept evolve from early sketches to a finalized logo was one of the most rewarding parts of the launch. It showed how a project like the Screen Awards relies on strong collaboration across editorial, design, and brand teams. And once this was locked in, we were able to craft hundreds of images for all nominees and categories to use with our featured content and social media channels, offering an award-themed takeover for two weeks at the end of 2025.
Why the Screen Awards Matter and What Comes Next
For the Screen brands, hosting our own awards is a natural extension of the work our teams already do, and it helps bolster our FYC hubs with our own voice in recognizing the achievements across television, film, and anime.
Our publications serve as trusted guides to the entertainment landscape. We analyze new releases, track industry trends, and highlight the performances and stories that capture audience attention. The Screen Awards bring that perspective together into an annual moment we can celebrate and grow moving forward.
The first edition of the Screen Awards is just the start of what we plan to become a lasting and evolving tradition. Future editions will expand the number of award categories, and 2026 will introduce larger and dedicated jury pools for each entertainment vertical, and invite external experts from other respected media brands and publications to take part in the process.
The collaboration across the Screen brands will also continue to grow. In addition to ScreenRant, Collider, CBR, and MovieWeb, we are excited to include members of Polygon, one of the newest and most prestigious digital publications in the Valnet portfolio, in future iterations of the Screen Awards.
And we’ll have more video features to include alongside our articles, newsletters, and social content. We’re just getting started. Stay tuned. 2026 is going to be a big year.
Read more articles on the Screen Awards here: ScreenRant, Collider, MovieWeb, and CBR.
