Variety Nominated for 93 SoCal Journalism Awards, Including Best Website and Six Nods for Journalist of the Year

Variety received 92 nominations from the Los Angeles Press Club during the 2024 calendar year for the organization’s annual SoCal Journalism Awards. Its reporters earned nods in 57 categories, including print journalist of the year for Daniel D’Addario, online journalist of the year for Clayton Davis, and entertainment journalist of the year for Owen Gleiberman and Chris Willman. In addition to being recognized for best traditional news organization website in the online category, the org further received kudos across magazine and entertainment journalism, video, audio, online content, and social media.

In addition to dominating the entertainment journalist category, Variety took three nominations for commentary/ analysis of TV: Jenelle Riley for “This Emmys Season, Don’t Forget About: Heidi Gardner, the Scene Stealer of ‘SNL’,” Brian Steinberg for “TV Talkers From Pat McAfee to Rachel Maddow Gain New License to Blast Bosses On-Air” and Aramide Tinubu for “Kamala Harris’ Speech Was Powerful and Heartfelt, but Trump’s Legacy Has Stilted My Joy.” Steinberg’s nomination was one of four across as many categories, including for sports journalist of the year, business reporting and soft news feature.

Co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh was recognized with D’Addario for “Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey on Making ‘Queer’.” Executive editor Brent Lang received five nominations, including in the commentary/ film analysis category for his look back at the back-to-back successes of Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List.” Chief film critic Peter Debruge joined Lang in the same category with a story about Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samourai,” and received a second nomination for film criticism over 1,000 words. And deputy editor Pat Saperstein received a nomination in the soft news feature category for her piece about filmmaker Susan Seidelman, “Susan Seidelman on Directing the ‘Grittier’ Pilot for ‘Sex and the City,’ Casting Madonna in ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’: ‘She Loved Being Provocative’.”

In categories including general columnist, music and theater criticism, and humor/ satire writing, senior writer and chief music critic Chris Willman received 14 nominations. His cover story “How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Took Over the Entire World” was nominated for best music feature alongside music executive editor Jem Aswad’s “How Nick Cave Weathered Unimaginable Tragedy and Fell in Love With the World.” Aswad received a total of five nominations, including two for his writing about Jennifer Lopez (“Jennifer Lopez’s Canceled Tour, and Society’s Twisted Pleasure in Seeing Strong Women Fail”), and another for “Who Is Mo Elmasri? Searching for Janet Jackson’s Elusive Fake ‘Manager’ Who Issued an Unauthorized Apology on Her Behalf.” In the entertainment personality profile category, Tiana DeNicola received two nominations, one about music producer Jack Antonoff and another about composer John Williams.

Film and media executive editor Tatiana Siegel’s investigative journalism earned her five nominations, including for “Fugees Founder Pras Michél Speaks Out While Facing 22 Years in Prison: ‘I Never Wanted to Be a Spy’.” She also received two nominations in the category of under 1,000-word feature, for her expert work chronicling Apple’s production strategies (“Apple’s Blockbuster Gamble: Was Spending $700 Million on ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Argylle’ Worth It?”) and the contentious release of the 2024 remake of “Road House” (“The ‘Road House’ Reboot Battle: A Contested Streaming Deal, Ari Emanuel’s ‘Desperate’ Pleas and a Director Going Scorched-Earth”). Nominated for four awards, senior film reporter Rebecca Rubin joined Siegel in the under 1,000-word feature category, and received a nod in the arts personality profiles category for her treatise about the theatrical exhibition industry, “‘We’re Still Here’: How AMC Theatres Is Struggling With $4.5 Billion in Debt and Surviving Thanks to Taylor Swift, Viral Popcorn Buckets and More.”

Ellise Shafer received four nominations, including one for a Harry Styles lookalike contest in London, another for Alex Ross Perry’s film about indie rock back Pavement and Tom Holland’s stint on stage in London’s West End. For his detailed report on “The Blair Witch Project” actors and their efforts to receive profits for the film decades after it became a box office smash, Adam Vary won his first of three nominations. And Angelique Jackson received two nominations, for her illuminating profiles of Ryan Seacrest and and future Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña. Also in the film feature category, Leo Barraclough was nominated for his story about novelist Christine Angot, Naman Ramachandran was recognized for a report on Indian documentaries and Michaela Zee earned a nod for a story focused on animator Akihiko Yamashita and his work on Hayao Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

Alongside Shafer In the theater/ performing arts feature category, Abbey White received a nomination for her feature about disabled comedians. Todd Gilchrist received a nomination in the film production histories category for his 30th anniversary celebration of Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.”

For television writing, Aramide Tinubu and Michael Schneider each received two nominations, the latter alongside Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Jenelle Riley and Emily Longeretta for Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast. The nod was one of four received by Jenelle Riley, who was also nominated for her celebration of “Saturday Night Live” cast member Heidi Gardner, her profile of comedian and actor Ken Jeong and a story about 11-year-old “Blitz” breakout Elliot Heffernan. Longeretta also received an individual nod for her profile of television actress Mariska Hargitay. Kate Aurthur received a nomination in the TV/film related commentary category for her tribute to late actress Shannen Doherty.

Alongside a story in the film-related news feature category about Warner Bros.’ burial of Clint Eastwood’s “Juror No. 2,” J. Kim Murphy was recognized for a story about Lance Oppenheim’s HBO docuseries “Ren Faire.” In the TV/ streaming feature category, Ethan Shanfield received a nomination for his story, “Do Trigger Warnings Need Spoiler Alerts?”

Alongside Joe Toreno, Jennifer Dorn, Jonny Marlow, Mason Poole, Greg Swales and Ted Keller, creative director Haley Kluge helped the publication earn 13 nominations across four categories, including three nods for feature photo, three more for portrait photo, two for cover art and another two for page design. The editorial art department as a whole was nominated for best issue for its edition celebrating composer John Williams. Meanwhile, Rachel Seo and Mark Hayes together received a nomination for best use of social media for the publication’s launch of its “Actors on Actors” series.

In 2024, Variety received eight first-place wins at the SoCal Journalism Awards, including Journalist of the Year for Brent Lang. The year prior, the publication won 14 first-place awards, which marked a historic high.