Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and Zhang Yimou

An exponential magnification of what was once known in television as a “spectacular,” the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony was the most ambitious, enthralling and expansive in the history of the modern Games. It was staged from the beginning with television in mind. The creative director of the ceremony, famed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who shares this award with NBC, worked closely with the network’s Dick Ebersol, David Neal, and Bucky Gunts to orchestrate and choreograph this gargantuan undertaking so that it played with maximum effect both to the stadium crowds and to the cameras that carried the ceremony worldwide. In addition to the standard pool feed, NBC supplemented coverage with 26 of its own unilateral cameras, giving director Gunts an unprecedented multitude of images with which to work. For creating a spell-binding, unforgettable celebration of the Olympic promise, featuring a cast of thousands, a Peabody Award goes to the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and Zhang Yimou.