Seven countries competed in the 7th International Digital Emmy Awards held during the MIPTV Opening Party at the palatial Hotel Martinez in Cannes. This year, the event received a record number of 100 submissions. Comparatively, in its inaugural year, there were only 15 submissions.

There were three awards up for grabs – “Children & Young People”, “Fiction” and “Non-Fiction.” In the end, Shujazz FM from Kenya won in the Children & Young People category, Endgame Interactive: Facebook Episode from Canada garnered the Fiction award and Live from The Clinic from the United Kingdom walked away with the Non-Fiction prize.

This is the first Digital Emmy Award win for Kenya. Shujazz FM (produced by Well Told Story), a multi-media communications project, is designed to inspire and motivate millions of Kenyans to take action to improve their lives and engage in urgent issues that shape their future.

Shujazz is delivered simultaneously across multiple interactive channels to inform and involve Kenyans starved of opportunities who are eager to build better futures for themselves.

Endgame Interactive: Facebook Episode (produced by Secret Location/Shaw Media/Thunderbird Films) is one of four nominations from Canada. The transmedia episode is based on the Showcase television drama Endgame.

The audience participates in an interactive mystery where they take on the main role in the narrative, which is populated with information from their Facebook account. Fans interact with the cast and unravel the mystery in a cinematic and personal experience.

Shaw Media’s Head of Online Content, Chris Harris, said: “Tonight’s win marks another stellar collaboration with Secret Location. We were thrilled with the final product – a highly engaging and immersive digital program. To see the project embraced by fans and now the Academy is truly an achievement and honour for all involved.”

A multi-platform medical series, Live from the Clinic (produced by Maverick Television for Channel 4) enables viewers to apply through the show’s website to share their medical conditions and concerns LIVE over webcam during transmission with the show’s resident doctors and leading specialists.

A production team member from Maverick Television, who accepted the award on stage said: “We’re just a really small part of a production team that worked ridiculously hard on the hardest project that I think any of us have ever worked on, to put out LIVE shows on health subjects with people coming on with their health problems using Skype as well at the same time. It was an enormous technical challenge and this makes it all worthwhile – all these sleepless nights.”

“This year’s winners have masterfully woven social media into the fabric of their programs,” said Bruce L. Paisner, President & CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “We congratulate them on their boundary-breaking.”

The International Digital Emmy Awards recognises the global excellence in content created and designed for viewer interaction and/ or delivery on a digital platform. Eligible submissions have to be created and initially broadcast outside of the United States.

In his opening address, Paul Zilk, CEO of Reed MIDEM, said to more than 300 television, broadband and mobile industry executives: “It is the only Emmy Awards ceremony that takes place outside of the United States and we’re very proud that the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is our partner again here year after year.”

Paisner also spoke about the significance of the Digital Emmys in his speech. “These Awards are more cutting-edge than most anything in the industry today. They represent what the media is becoming and where we’re going in these exciting, turbulent and really revolutionary times.”