Steven Spielberg Wins 2011 David O. Selznick Award

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today that producer, director, writer and Principal Partner of DreamWorks Studios Steven Spielberg will receive the 2012 David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures. The award will be presented to Spielberg at the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, January 21st at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

The Producers Guild of America's Selznick Achievement Award recognizes a producer's outstanding body of work in motion pictures. The honor has a rich and distinguished history with past recipients including such legendary producers as Stanley Kramer, Saul Zaentz, Clint Eastwood, Billy Wilder, Brian Grazer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Roger Corman, Laura Ziskin, Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall, John Lasseter and last year's 2011 recipient Scott Rudin.

"As one of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, Steven's continued genius, imagination and fearlessness in the world of feature film entertainment is unmatched in this industry," said Producers Guild Awards co-chairs Paula Wagner and Michael Manheim. "Steven has produced some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema and we have no doubt he will continue to bring thrilling adventures, emotionally moving storylines, thought provoking characters and cult classics to audiences across the globe. We're extremely proud to recognize Steven's contributions to the producing craft as well as the entire film industry with the David O. Selznick honor."

"David O. Selznick is a true legend in the producing field, and I am tremendously honored to be associated with his name and to join the company of so many distinguished filmmakers who have received this accolade," said Spielberg. "I am extremely grateful to the Producers Guild."

Spielberg is, collectively, the top-grossing director of all time, having helmed such blockbusters as E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, the INDIANA JONES franchise and JURASSIC PARK. Among his myriad of honors, Spielberg is a three-time Academy Award®-winner, taking home his first two wins for Best Director and Best Picture for SCHINDLER'S LIST, which received a total of seven Oscars® and his third for Best Director for SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

He has also earned Academy Award® nominations for Best Director for MUNICH, E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Additionally, he earned DGA Award nominations for those films as well as JAWS, THE COLOR PURPLE, EMPIRE OF THE SUN and AMISTAD. In 2000, he received the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press's Cecil B. DeMille Award and the Kennedy Center Honor, among other career tributes.

More recently, he was a producer of SUPER 8 directed by JJ Abrams. His upcoming releases include his direction of the 3D animated film THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN, due for release December 23rd in most international territories by Columbia Pictures and domestically by Paramount Pictures. It is produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy. He also directed WAR HORSE, based on an award-winning novel which has been adapted into a major stage hit in London and recently won Broadway's Tony Award for Best Drama. The DreamWorks Studios film opens December 28th. His next film for DreamWorks will be his direction of LINCOLN which begins production in October.

Apart from his filmmaking work and his television projects, Spielberg has devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. The impact of his work on SCHINDLER'S LIST led him to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation; he also founded Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation which became the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education in 2005; and he is the Chairman Emeritus of the Starlight Children's Foundation.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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