The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organization established in 1972 dedicated to the advancement of science fiction, fantasy, and Horror fiction, horror in film, television, and home video. The Aca ...

. The awards were created to honor

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films belonging to

genre fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...

, as well as television and home media releases. The Saturn Awards were created in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and were originally referred to as Golden Scrolls.

History

The Saturn Awards were devised by Donald A. Reed in 1973, who felt that work in films in the genre of science fiction at that time lacked recognition within the established Hollywood film industry's award system. Initially, the award given was a Golden Scroll certificate. In the late 1970s, the award was revamped to a representation of the planet

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

, with its ring(s) composed of a film reel. The Saturn Awards are voted upon by members of the presenting Academy. The Academy is a non-profit organization with membership open to the public. Its president and executive producer is Robert Holguin, and producer/writers Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus. Its members include filmmakers J. J. Abrams,

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed, as well as multiple television series. After graduating from the Univ ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...

, Mark A. Altman,

Vince Gilligan George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as the creator, primary writer, executive producer, and occasional director of the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Brea ...

and

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

, among others. Although the Awards still primarily focus on films and television in the science fiction, fantasy and horror categories, the Saturns have also recognized productions in other dramatic genres. There are also special awards for lifetime achievement in film production. Following the 46th ceremony held in 2021, the decision to rebrand what would have been the 47th as the " 50th Saturn Awards" was made in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Saturn Awards, which were founded in 1973. Subsequent ceremonies have continued with the new numbering. The television categories were majorly overhauled at the 50th ceremony, with several categories being split to recognise both network/cable and streaming series. These changes were reverted at the following ceremony, however. In 2023, the nominations announcement and awards process for the 51st Saturn Awards was postponed by several months in solidarity with the

2023 Hollywood labor disputes From May 2 to November 9, 2023, a series of long labor disputes within the Cinema of the United States, film and Television in the United States, television industries of the United States took place, mainly focused on the strikes of the 2023 W ...

Award categories

Film

Television

Home video

* Best DVD or Blu-ray Release (since 2001) * Best DVD or Blu-ray Special Edition Release (since 2001) * Best Classic Film DVD Release (since 2001) * Best Television DVD Release (since 2002) * Best DVD or Blu-ray Collection (since 2003) * Best Retro Television Series on DVD (since 2014)

Special awards

The George Pal Memorial Award The George Pal Memorial Award is presented each year, by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, in conjunction with their annual Saturn Award ceremony. The award is given to those who have shown exemplary work in the respective f ...

* The Life Career Award *

The President's Memorial Award The President's Memorial Award or President's Award is presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, in conjunction with their annual Saturn Award ceremony. The award is given for quality genre entertainment, and is named ...

* Special Recognition Award * Breakthrough Performance Award * Lance Reddick Legacy Award

Discontinued awards

Records

Criticism

The Saturn Awards has been criticized for having broadened its scope, nominating and awarding prestige movies genre awards (sci-fi, fantasy, or horror) and thereby stretching the meanings of the genres too far.Francisco Salazar
Saturn Awards 2015 Date & Nominations
Latinpost, March 5, 2015
"However, sometimes the Saturn Awards choose prestige films and ignore some of the more important science fiction, fantasy and horror films of the year."

Notes

Year-by-year results

''The year indicates the year of release of the films eligible.'' * 1972: 1st Saturn Awards * 1973: 2nd Saturn Awards * 1974–1975: 3rd Saturn Awards * 1976:

4th Saturn Awards The 4th Saturn Awards were awarded to media properties and personalities deemed by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films to be the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror released in the year 1976. They were awarded on Jan ...

* 1977: 5th Saturn Awards * 1978: 6th Saturn Awards * 1979: 7th Saturn Awards * 1980: 8th Saturn Awards * 1981: 9th Saturn Awards * 1982: 10th Saturn Awards * 1983: 11th Saturn Awards * 1984: 12th Saturn Awards * 1985: 13th Saturn Awards * 1986: 14th Saturn Awards * 1987: 15th Saturn Awards * 1988: 16th Saturn Awards * 1989–1990: 17th Saturn Awards * 1991: 18th Saturn Awards * 1992: 19th Saturn Awards * 1993: 20th Saturn Awards * 1994: 21st Saturn Awards * 1995:

22nd Saturn Awards The 22nd Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television in 1995, were held on June 25, 1996.23rd Saturn Awards * 1997: 24th Saturn Awards * 1998:

25th Saturn Awards The 25th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television in 1998, were held on June 9, 1999. Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold. Winners and nominees Fil ...

References

External links

* * {{Fantasy fiction 1973 establishments in the United States Awards established in 1973 P Fantasy awards Mass media science fiction awards Science fiction awards