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Variety, TVWeek

Award-Winning MTV Producer Dies at 45

Oct 31, 2016  •  Post A Comment

An MTV producer and executive who won a Peabody Award and was a multiple Emmy nominee has died. Variety reports that Sophia Cranshaw died Monday, Oct. 24, from breast cancer. She was 45.

“Since 2008, Cranshaw worked as vice president of promotion for MTV’s MTVu, a network devoted specifically to programming for college students,” Variety reports. “As part of her job, she worked on many of the network’s public-service efforts to generate more attention to causes including mental illness and genocide.”

The Memphis-born Cranshaw shared in four Daytime Emmy nominations from 2009-2013, including three in the New Approaches categories (for the “Against Our Will” campaign in 2013, “Half of Us” in 2011 and “InDebtEd” in 2010) and one for Outstanding Promotional Announcement for “mtvU International Election” in 2009.

“Cranshaw won a Peabody in 2007 for her work related to a campaign explaining the dangers of depression among college students,” Variety notes. “Her efforts included perspectives from musicians such as Mary J. Blige and Pete Wentz and utilized the slogan ‘The pain is real — don’t ignore the signs.’”

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