Debra Birnbaum
Head of Awards
Amazon and MGM Studios
She’s currently the head of awards for Amazon and MGM Studios, overseeing the global awards strategy for the streaming service’s ever-expanding slate of original films and series around the world. Her purview includes marketing, publicity and promotions, talent relations, advertising, and events. Under her leadership, Amazon Studios has had its most successful awards seasons to date, including 23 Academy Award nominations and 2 wins, 130 Emmy Award nominations and 25 wins, along with the studio’s first-ever International Emmy win.
Birnbaum spent five years as the executive editor of TV, for Variety, leading television news and awards coverage for the trade magazine’s multiple platforms, including the weekly print edition, Variety.com, and special awards season issues. As the president/editor-in-chief of TV Guide Magazine, a position she held for seven years, she revitalized a classic brand with innovations like the annual "Fan Favorites" cover contest, the Comic-Con photo studio, and the "Hot List" party. She has also worked for Redbook, George, More, The New York Post, and Us Weekly, overseeing film, television, theater, music, and entertainment coverage.
She appears frequently on TV and radio as an entertainment expert, and regularly moderates panels for high-profile industry and consumer events at the Television Academy, Screen Actors Guild, Paley Center, Comic-Con, and more. Her work has earned recognition from the L.A. Press Club, the Publicists Guild of America, the Webby Awards, the Clio Awards, Promax, and the Television Academy, notably an Emmy Award of her own for producing “Actors on Actors.”
A graduate of Cornell University, she’s a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women and serves as an alumni ambassador. She also belongs to key industry organizations, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, and the International Academy of Television Arts and