The 21st Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 17, 2016 at the Barker Hangar at the

Santa Monica Airport Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles area. It opened on April 15, 1923, making it one of the United States' oldest a ...

, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2015. The ceremony was simulcast on A&E, Lifetime and LMN, and hosted by T.J. Miller. The nominees were announced on December 14, 2015. This year marked the first time the awards were combined with the

Critics' Choice Television Awards The Critics' Choice Television Awards were accolades that were presented annually by the Critics Choice Association (CCA). They were established in 2011, and the first ceremony was held on June 20, 2011, and streamed live on VH1.com. The fou ...

into one event onward.

Winners and nominees

Film

Television

Louis XIII Genius Award

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

Critics' Choice MVP Award

Amy Schumer Amy Beth Schumer (born June 1, 1981) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. Schumer ventured into comedy in the early 2000s before appearing as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition ...

''Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' addition

The film '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' screened too late for the vast majority of the

Broadcast Film Critics Association The Critics Choice Association (CCA), formerly the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is an association of television, radio and online critics. Their membership includes critics who review film and television. Founded in 1995, it is the l ...

to see it in time for consideration for the awards. But after what an email to members called "an unprecedented cry out" from its membership, the BFCA's board of directors called a "special

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

" on adding the movie to the ten candidates for

Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, which it won. (A similar situation happened for the 6th Critics' Choice Awards in 2001, in which the film ''

Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island after his plane cras ...

'' was voted by referendum to be included among the nominees for Best Picture.) The BFCA faced immediate

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

, including from its own members, over what many saw as an attempt to increase ratings for the awards ceremony's broadcast on A&E (which, is 50% owned by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, the company behind ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'') on January 17, 2016. Two members—Eric Melin (

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of Scene-Stealers.com, a film critic of ''

Lawrence Journal-World The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers. History Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the ...

'', and the president of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle) and Scott Renshaw (editor of ''

Salt Lake City Weekly ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (usually shortened to ''City Weekly'') is a free alternative weekly tabloid-paged newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began as ''Private Eye''. ''City Weekly'' is published and dated for every Thursday by C ...

'')—resigned in protest. Melin, in an open letter, wrote: Similarly, in another open letter, Renshaw wrote:

Films with multiple nominations and wins

The following twenty-six films received multiple nominations: The following five films received multiple awards:

Television programs with multiple nominations and wins

The following programs received multiple nominations: The following programs received multiple awards:

References

External links

21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards – Winners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critics' Choice Awards, 21 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2015 film awards 2016 in California January 2016 in the United States