Dustin Hoffman to Receive Hollywood Film Awards 'Breakthrough Director' Prize

The 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Times, is pleased to announce that Dustin Hoffman will be the recipient of this year's "Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award," at this year's awards gala.

"It is a great honor to recognize Dustin Hoffman for his directorial debut for the movie 'Quartet.' His exquisite work and directorial skills are remarkable," said Carlos de Abreu , Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Awards.

The 2012 Hollywood Film Awards has also announced that it will honor actor Richard Gere with the "Hollywood Career Achievement Award"; Bradley Cooper with the "Hollywood Actor Award"; Academy Award-nominated writer/directorQuentin Tarantino with the "Hollywood Screenwriter Award"; Ben Affleck , Alan Arkin , Bryan Cranston , and John Goodman with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award" for "Argo"; director David O. Russell with the "Hollywood Director Award"; Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award"; Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard with the "Hollywood Actress Award"; three-time Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams with the "Hollywood Supporting Actress Award"; producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner with the "Hollywood Producers Award"; writer/director Judd Apatow with the "Hollywood Comedy Award"; actor John Hawkes with the "Hollywood Breakout Performance Award" for "The Sessions"; and Quvenzhane Wallis with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Other honorees include cinematographer Wally Pfister , editor Dylan Tichenor , production designer Sarah Greenwood , and visual effects supervisor Jeff White . In addition, director Peter Ramsey 's "Rise of the Guardians" will be honored with the "Hollywood Animation Award," along with additional honorees to be announced.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 22, 2012. The event honors cherished stars and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance.

"We are very proud to be the first stop of the awards season. In the last nine years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards," said de Abreu.

Last year's awards show reached a total TV audience of more than 41 million media impressions, in addition to more than 300 million online and print readers' impressions.

Aside from celebrating accomplishments on screen, the Hollywood Film Awards established the "Hollywood Gives Back" program to expand and continue highlighting and assisting important local and national charities to raise funds. Over the years, the Hollywood Film Awards has contributed to such charities as the following: The Art of Elysium, Artists For Human Rights, Artists for Peace and Justice, MatchingDonors.com, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the Enough Project, and Variety The Children's Charity of So. CA, among others.

Further, the Hollywood Film Awards selects individuals to be recipients of their "Hollywood Humanitarian Awards" in recognition of their contribution to the betterment of their communities or society at large. Prior recipients include Nobel Peace Prize winner and ex-President of East Timor, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta , Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Father Rick Frechette , and actor and activist Sean Penn .

ABOUT Dustin Hoffman :
Dustin Hoffman has long harbored a desire to direct a film, and having only ever done so on stage, he can officially call himself a Director this year with the release of his first feature film "QUARTET." Debuting at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, "QUARTET" stars Dame Maggie Smith , Sir Tom Courtenay , Pauline Collins , Billy Connolly , and Sir Michael Gambon . Based on the play by Ronald Harwood , the film follows four retired opera singers as they attempt to put on a concert to save their beloved home -- and celebrate Verdi's birthday in the process. Of his experience with the first time director, Connolly explains, "Dustin's a brilliant director because he's such a brilliant actor, so he directs like an actor." "QUARTET" is due out in limited release on December 28.

With a career spanning more than five decades in front of the camera, Dustin Hoffman is one of the world's most accomplished and highly regarded actors. Garnering 2 Academy Awards (and 7 nominations), 5 Golden Globes, 4 BAFTAs and an EMMY, Hoffman's impressive resume boasts such critically acclaimed and commercial hits as "THE GRADUATE," "ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN," "RAINMAN," "MIDNIGHT COWBOY," "KRAMER VS. KRAMER," "TOOTSIE," "WAG THE DOG," "MEET THE FOCKERS," and "LAST CHANCE HARVEY. "

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 1.6 million and 2.7 million on Sunday, more than 16 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.4 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 130 years.

The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates include the Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News and Hoy Los Angeles and reach approximately 5.2 million or 39% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News, as well as Tribune Direct's west coast division and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. Additional information is available at http://latimes.com/aboutus.

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS
The Hollywood Film Awards were created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera, and launch the awards season. The criteria is: recipients are selected to be honored for their body of work and/or a film(s) that is to be released between January 1 and December 31 by an advisory team. In addition, for the recipients of our "film awards craft categories" (aside from evaluating their body of work), our Advisory team takes into consideration the recommendation of their guilds/societies. Last year alone, our recipients received 12 nominations and 5 Oscars. In the last 9 years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to our honorees.

The Hollywood Film Awards are presented in conjunction with Presenting Sponsor the Los Angeles Times, Premier sponsors ArcLight Cinemas and Hollywoodnews.com, exclusive Regional Print Media sponsor Los Angeles Confidential and trade Media sponsors the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Special support is provided by American Cinema Editors - A.C.E., American Society of Cinematographers - A.S.C., The Art Directors Guild - A.D.G., Celebrity Services, The Casting Society of America - CSA, Costume Designers Guild - CDG, Columbia Pictures, Creative Artists Agency, DreamWorks SKG, Entertainment Tonight, Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, ICM, ILM, Motion Picture Editors Guild, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., The Weinstein Company, WME. Getty Image is the Official Photography Agency.