George Washington’s Mount Vernon Wins Prestigious Telly Award for Innovative Guest Orientation Film

George Washington’s Mount Vernon is the proud winner of the 2022 Gold Telly Award for its latest production, George Washington's Mount Vernon: Orientation Film. This top award was received in the General Museums and Galleries (non-broadcast) category. 

“Our goal for this new film was to provide our guests with the highest quality experience when visiting George Washington’s Mount Vernon,” said Doug Bradburn, president and chief executive officer of Mount Vernon. “This prestigious award signals that we succeeded. This innovative film provides our guests with a brief but in-depth overview of how to navigate the 180-acre property and its rich history so visitors can fully experience all that Mount Vernon has to offer.”

The ten-and-a-half minute film was produced by Wide Awake Films exclusively for Mount Vernon. The film can be viewed at the beginning of the visitor experience in the Ford Orientation Center, as well as online.

“We are honored to receive another Telly Award for our work at Mount Vernon,” said Shane Seley, film director at Wide Awake Films. “Mount Vernon is vitally important to American history and democracy. The work of our talented cast and crew has played an important role in ensuring that upon arrival, visitors are engaged, informed and prepared to optimize their time at the Mount Vernon estate.”

The orientation film depicts the important legacy of George and Martha Washington and the estate, recognizes Mount Vernon’s enslaved community and where visitors can connect to this history, and the role of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association in saving and preserving Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon includes a mansion, a museum and education center, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery and gristmill. It also includes the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. It is maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon has received accolades for its other digital offerings. In 2018, Mount Vernon landed a Gold and two Bronze Telly Awards for Washington’s War: General George Washington and the Revolutionary War. And in 2017, A More Perfect Union won a Telly Award. Washington’s War: General George Washington and the Revolutionary War joins Mount Vernon previous award-winning films, The Winter Patriots and Yorktown: Now or Never, both of which feature important Washington victories during the Revolutionary War.

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards is a premier award honoring the finest video and film productions, and web commercials, videos and films. The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from video platforms, television and streaming networks, agencies, and production companies including Vice, Vimeo, Hearst Digital Media, and BuzzFeed.