HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 15th
annual Hollywood Film Festival and
Hollywood Film Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, have
announced that director Bennett
Miller will be honored with the "Hollywood Director Award" for his outstanding
direction on "Moneyball."
Miller will be recognized at the festival's Hollywood Film
Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place at the Beverly Hilton
Hotel in Beverly Hills on
October 24, 2011.
"With 'Moneyball,' Bennett Miller
has given us a beautiful film, from what many called an
'unfilmable' book, and we're thrilled to honor him as our
Hollywood Director," said
Carlos de Abreu, Hollywood Film Festival Founder and Executive
Director. "Bennett found the heart in this story of baseball
statistics and guided the remarkable performances of Brad Pitt, Jonah
Hill and Philip Seymour
Hoffman. 'Capote' was a masterful debut, and 'Moneyball'
further proves that Miller has a real gift for breathing life into
complex material."
"Moneyball" is the critically acclaimed story of Oakland A's
general manager Billy Beane (Pitt),
who gambled on an unorthodox and revolutionary method building the
ideal baseball team, based on their unique ability to score runs
and win games. It has proven to be a box-office hit for Sony and is
earning tremendous raves for Mr. Miller's direction and the
performances of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Hill and Mr. Hoffman.
Miller earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for
the 2005 drama, "Capote," starring Philip
Seymour Hoffman in his Oscar® winning performance as
Truman Capote during the research of
his groundbreaking true crime novel, "In Cold Blood." For
"Capote," Miller also earned a nomination for BAFTA's David Lean Award for Direction, and a Directors
Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial
Achievement.
Miller made the acclaimed 1998 documentary-portrait "The Cruise"
about New York City tour guide
Timothy 'Speed' Levitch. The film garnered considerable critical
praise and notable awards, including the top prize of the
International Forum at the Berlin
Film Festival. The film was released theatrically by Artisan
Entertainment and was released on DVD by Lions Gate Films.
The Hollywood Awards Gala launches the awards season. In the
past eight years a total of 73 Oscar nominations and 27 Oscars were
given to the honorees of the Hollywood Awards.
The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has also announced that they
will honor five-time Oscar nominee Glenn
Close with the "Hollywood Career Achievement Award," Oscar
winner George Clooney with the
"Hollywood Actor Award," Academy Award-nominated actress
Michelle Williams with the
"Hollywood Actress Award" for "My Week with Marilyn," Academy
Award-nominated actor Christopher
Plummer with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award" for
"Beginners," Academy Award-nominated actress Carey Mulligan with the "Hollywood Supporting
Actress Award" for "Shame," actor Joseph
Gordon-Levitt with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award"
for "50/50," and actress Felicity
Jones with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Like Crazy." Other
honorees include the cast of "The Help" (Viola Davis, Bryce
Dallas Howard, Allison
Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna
O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer,
Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary
Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson,
and Mike Vogel). Also, Berenice Bejo, Jean
Dujardin, Elle Fanning,
Amber Heard, Andrea Riseborough, Shailene Woodley and Anton Yelchin will receive the "Hollywood
Spotlight Awards," alongside Breakthrough Director Michel Hazanavicius, Producer Letty Aronson,
Screenwriter Diablo Cody, Film Composer Alberto Iglesias,
Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor Stephen Mirrione, Production Designer James
Murakami, and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar will be honored at their annual
Awards Gala. In addition, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" will be
recognized at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony.
About Starz Entertainment, LLC:
The festival and awards presenter is Starz Entertainment, LLC, a
premium movie and original programming entertainment service
provider operating in the United
States. The company offers 17 premium channels including the
flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® brands with approximately 19 million
and 32.9 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs
in total more than 1,000 movies and original series every month
across its pay TV channels. Starz Entertainment is recognized as a
pay TV leader in providing HD, On Demand, HD On Demand and online
advanced services for its STARZ, ENCORE and MOVIEPLEX brands. Starz
Entertainment ( www.starz.com ) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC,
which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation and
is attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group (NASDAQ:
LSTZA).
For more information please go to www.HollywoodFestival.com.
SOURCE Hollywood Film
Festival