LOS ANGELES - DreamWorks’ ‘Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron;’ ABC’s ‘The Practice,’ ‘8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter,’ ‘World News Tonight With Peter Jennings’ and ‘Nightline;’ WB’s ‘Everwood;’ music legend Peter Gabriel; The New York Times and syndicated newsmagazine show ‘Celebrity Justice’ head the distinguished line-up of 23 winners of the Seventeenth Annual Genesis Awards, presented for the first time by The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS). The gala ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 15, 2003 in the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, CA.

The Genesis Awards, an international distinction bestowed upon members of the news and entertainment media for spotlighting animal issues with courage, creativity and integrity, will be handed out to this year’s distinguished awardees by celebrity presenters that include:

Melissa Rivers, Eric Roberts, Amy Smart, James Cromwell, Shannon Elizabeth, Doris Roberts, Michelle Phillips, Chynna Phillips-Baldwin, Michael Feinstein, Wendie Malick, Matt Gallant, Charlotte Ross, AJ McLean, Catherine Oxenburg, Aisha Tyler, Steve Valentine, Karle Warren, Linda Blair, Tippi Hedren, Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson, Moondoggie and many more. And as a tribute to her valiant work in providing a safe haven for Thailand’s abused elephants, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, will be Guest of Honor.

Guided by the philosophy that “Cruelty Can’t Stand The Spotlight,” The HSUS Hollywood Office, formerly The Ark Trust, Inc., is dedicated to increasing awareness of animal issues through the awesome power of the major media, which it honors and celebrates each year with the Genesis Awards. The show will be taped and edited for a two-hour special, airing on Animal Planet in May.

“Over the past seventeen years, I have watched animal-protection issues gain widespread attention in the news and entertainment media,” says Gretchen Wyler, Vice President of The (HSUS) Hollywood Office and creator of The Genesis Awards. “Now, we have primetime comedies such as ABC’s ‘8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter’ touching on circus cruelty, hunting and companion animal adoption. The effect this has on raising public consciousness of the treatment of animals is immeasurable.”

A complete list of winners of the Seventeenth Annual Genesis Awards follows:

FILM

Feature Film: ‘Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron’ (DreamWorks)

For a magnificent family feature that captures the plight of wild horses by drawing us into the heart and soul of a brave mustang, and compelling us to understand his quest to live in freedom.

TELEVISION

Dramatic Series: ‘The Practice’ – “Small Sacrifices”- (ABC)

For daring to examine in sharp focus the ugly reality of American factory farming, forcing the audience to confront its own complicity in animal suffering and to recognize that our ‘civilized’ society is not above reproach.

Family Series: ‘Everwood’ – “Deer God” - (WB)

For a thoughtful and poignant depiction of father and son bonding, and the meaning of male unity, realized through the preservation – as opposed to the destruction – of wildlife.

Comedy Series: ‘8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter’ – (ABC)

For demonstrating a keen awareness of animal issues, and having the courage and creativity to integrate them into entertaining storylines with intelligence and compassion, thus bending the “rules” of a primetime comedy series.

News Feature: ‘World News Tonight With Peter Jennings’ – Multiple Segments – (ABC)

For consistently spotlighting a wide range of pressing animal issues, including “Whale Watching,” explaining the unpredicted harm inflicted on whales by this popular tourist activity, and “Animal Rights,” a look at the argument for the legal representation and protection of animals.

Network Newsmagazine: ‘Nightline’ - “Land Grab: The Corridors of Power” – (ABC)

For an illuminating report on the visionary work of Conservation International, a diverse group of influential men, committed to the creation and financing of wildlife “corridors,” enabling the natural migration of animals, and ensuring the preservation of countless species.

Syndicated Newsmagazine: ‘Celebrity Justice’ – “Cruelty On Catalina?”

For a tenacious two-part investigation, revealing the shocking and little known practice of hot iron branding seals for marine research; and, in its coverage of the Farm Sanctuary Gala, for showing the cruel treatment of animals used for food.

Cable Documentary: ‘Vanishing Giants’ – (National Geographic Channel)

For focusing on the horrific suffering of Thailand’s working elephants in never seen before footage, revealing the cruel and barbaric methods used to “break the spirit’ of baby elephants forced into a life of inhumane servitude as pawns in the tourist industry.

Cable Documentary Series: ‘National Geographic Explorer’ - “America’s Big Cat Crisis” and “Jane Goodall: Chimps in Crisis” – (MSNBC)

For “America’s Big Cat Crisis,” an unprecedented hour-long enquiry into the growing and dangerous trend of keeping exotic cats as companion animals; and “Jane Goodall: Chimps in Crisis,” for an alarming assessment of the current threat to the few remaining wild chimpanzees.

Television Movie: ‘A Ring Of Endless Light’ – (Disney Channel)

For a captivating and intriguing tale of the sublime connection between children and animals, bringing to center stage the devastating effect of illegal driftnets that randomly trap and kill thousands of dolphins.

Children’s Programming – Television Movie: ‘Kermit’s Swamp Years’ – (Starz)

For a delightfully ingenious and entertaining condemnation of class room dissections with the inimitable Kermit and his Muppet friends taking on the teacher, and “speaking” out on behalf of frogs everywhere.

Children’s Programming – Series: ‘Braceface’ - “Vanity Fur” – (ABC Family)

For a timely anti-fur statement, delivered to a young audience in a cleverly conceived episode that deals with cruelty in fashion, while touching on the themes of loyalty and friendship, moral conviction and personal empowerment.

Reality Programming – ‘Animal Cops’ – (Animal Planet)

For a hard-hitting series that drives home the unpalatable truth about companion animal abuse at its worst, interwoven with life-affirming moments when the grateful animals are delivered into the safety of caring hands.

Brigitte Bardot International: Arte-Reportage – “Les Mustangs”

For an unsettling investigation into the inadequacies of the Bureau of Land Management’s wild mustang round-ups and adoption programs which seem unable to prevent thousands of horses from winding up at auctions, bought by killer buyers and sent to their deaths in Canadian slaughterhouses.

Doris Day Music Award: ‘Animal Nation’ - Peter Gabriel – from “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” – (Paramount/Nickelodeon)

For an enlightened and beautiful lyric, expressing the undeniable link between all living creatures and man’s blindness in the face of the animal intelligence we refuse to see.

Local News Service: KATU-TV News (Portland) – “Inside The Cage”

For a probing and uncompromising 3-part expose of the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, citing the physical and psychological suffering of the animals used in experiments behind closed doors, bringing into serious question the scientific credibility of its research projects.

Local News Feature: KCAL 9 News (Los Angeles)

For shattering the myth of the “Happy Cows” commercials with “A Beef with Dairy,” a searing indictment of the appalling real conditions endured by hundreds of thousands of dairy cows; and “Big Top Beating,” a disturbing report, featuring undercover footage of the brutality routinely inflicted on circus elephants.

Periodical: US News & World Report – “Cruel and Usual” by Michael Satchell

For a momentous in-depth feature, laying bare the horrendous and shameful conditions of America’s roadside zoos and the inadequate regulations that permit them to exist.

Newspaper Magazine Feature: New York Times Magazine – “Power Steer” and “An Animal’s Place” by Michael Pollan

For two ground-breaking cover stories: one following the unnatural, diseased-prone life of a typical food animal that ends up on millions of dinner plates, and the other for exploring the complex debate over animal rights – two landmark stories, calling for radical improvements in the treatment of farm animals.

Series of Newspaper Articles: Tallahassee Democrat – “Animals Destined for Death” by Kathleen Laufenberg

For a series of sobering articles and images, chronicling the heart-breaking consequences of dog and cat overpopulation experienced on a daily basis in our animal shelters where human irresponsibility is clearly to blame.

Editorial: Tulsa World – Multiple editorials by Janet Pearson, supporting the initiative to ban cockfighting

For emphatically condemning cockfighting, thus informing and propelling public opinion toward a vote in favor of the initiative to ban this gruesome blood sport in Oklahoma.

Cartoonist: Dan Piraro – ‘Bizarro’

For a prolific and inspired collection of humorous cartoons that speak a thousand incisive words on behalf of animals.

Commercial: Kodak – “Animal Shelter” – (Ogilvy & Mather)

For producing a truly precious “Kodak Moment” in a TV commercial encouraging pet adoption, proving that a major advertising campaign can sell both a product and a heart-warming animal-welfare message.

Winners are selected from material released in 2002. Entries are submitted by those in the news and entertainment industry or by “people’s choice,” with finalists voted upon by the 17-member Genesis Awards Committee.

Gretchen Wyler and Robert Halmi, Sr. are the executive producers and Paul Flattery is the producer of the special. Corporate underwriting is provided by Veterinary Pet Insurance, and sponsors include Hallmark Entertainment, Mastercard, AmercianFone, Delta Airlines and JAMI Charity Brands

The schedule for the evening is as follows:

5.00 p.m. No-host cocktails

6.30 p.m Gourmet Vegan Dinner

7.30 p.m. Welcome and Introductions

8.00 p.m Awards Presentation and TV Special taping