NYWIFT to Honor Martha Stewart, Claire Danes at 31st Annual Muse Awards
By: BWW
News Desk Dec. 07, 2011
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), which has supported the advancement of women in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years, will present their 31th annual Muse Awards at a gala luncheon to be held Wednesday, December 7th at the New York Hilton. The Muse Awards honor the outstanding vision and achievement of women in the film, television and digital media industries.
The 2011 NYWIFT Muse honorees include some of the most talented women in the entertainment industry:· Christine Baranski-Emmy and Tony award-winning actress acclaimed for her work on stage and screen. Baranski currently plays the role of Diane Lockhart, a top litigator and senior partner of a Chicago law firm on THE GOOD WIFE.· Marcie Bloom-co-founder and former co-president of Sony Pictures Classics and partner of Orion Classics. In 2011, Bloom and IFP (Independent Feature Project) together formed a mentoring program, The IFP-Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film.
· Claire Danes-one of Hollywood's leading actresses, Danes is acclaimed for her work in film, television and theatre. An Emmy and Golden Globe winner, Danes has appeared in diverse roles including Angela Chase in MY SO CALLED LIFE, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET and as TEMPLE GRANDIN in the HBO biopic. Danes currently stars as CIA agent Carrie Matheson on the Showtime series HOMELAND opposite Mandy Patinkin.
· Nadine Schramm-President of Budd Enterprises, a family-owned trucking and equipment company. Under Schramm's leadership, Budd Enterprises has become the leading trucking and labor service provider for television, theater, movie and concert productions in the New York metropolitan area.
· Martha Stewart-America's most trusted guide to stylish living, Stewart shares her expertise through award-winning magazines, innovative Web sites, national radio programs and best-selling books. The sixth season of the Emmy Award-winning daily "how-to" series, THE Martha Stewart SHOW, premiered in September 2010; the show anchors a full slate of programming from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSLO) on Hallmark Channel.
NYWIFT will also bestow the sixth annual Loreen Arbus Award to the Independent Television Service (ITVS) for its Women and Girls Lead initiative. ITVS brings independently-produced, high-quality public broadcast and new media programs to local, national and international audiences. Women and Girls Lead is a multiyear public media initiative to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls. The Loreen Arbus Award was created with the generous support of NYWIFT member Loreen Arbus and recognizes the contributions of individuals, organizations or corporations in the entertainment industry who have been activists for change that has benefitted women.
One of the entertainment industry's most honored actresses, Christine Baranski, has achieved acclaim in every medium in which she has performed. Christine is a two-time Tony, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy Award winner.A native of Buffalo, Baranski attended the Juilliard School. She received her big break being cast in Tom Stoppard's hit Broadway comedy THE REAL THING, directed by Mike Nichols for which she won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award.Baranski went on to earn a second Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her performance in Neil Simon's RUMORS and a Drama Desk Award for LIPS TOGETHER TEETH APART. She also appeared in BOEING-BOEING, HURLYBURLY, THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, THE LOMAN FAMILY PICNIC, REGRETS ONLY, the Encores! productions of FOLLIES and PROMISES, PROMISES, and the Kennedy Center productions of SWEENEY TODD and MAME. In addition to the Emmy for the hit CBS comedy CYBILL, Baranski received an American Comedy Award as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy," as well a Screen Actors Guild Award as "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy." She also received three additional EMMY and three Golden Globe nominations. She was also seen as a guest on FRASIER, for which she received a fifth EMMY nomination. She has appeared twice on the CBS series THE BIG BANG THEORY, and was nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Guest Actress in A Comedy Series" for each appearance. She is currently starring in the hit CBS series THE GOOD WIFE, for which she received two Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series".Her film credits include MAMMA MIA!, CHICAGO, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, BOWFINGER, BULWORTH, CRUEL INTENTIONS, THE BIRDCAGE, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, LEGAL EAGLES, THE REF, THE ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT, THE GURU, 9 ½ WEEKS and JEFFREY.
Marcie Bloom
Marcie Bloom's introduction to and immersion in the film industry began with a college internship at The Film Society of Lincoln Center during the summer of 1978, where she learned to spell, and more importantly, pronounce, names such as Pedro Almodovar, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Istvan Szabo, Louis Malle, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, Maria Luisa Bemberg, Atom Egoyan, Luc Besson, Claire Denis and Nikita Mikhalkov. Over time she worked with every one of these directors. Says Marcie: "I always dreamt of a career where I would have a reason to be around talented, creative people without being just a ‘groupie.' "I see this as a way of ‘giving back' to a community which has been extremely kind and generous to me, and supportive of me for a long time." Following her graduation from Cornell University in 1979, she returned to Lincoln Center, where she ultimately became the Film Coordinator of the annual New York Film Festival.In the spring of 1984, Marcie became Director of Publicity at Triumph Films, a partnership between Columbia Pictures and Gaumont, the legendary French production, distribution and exhibition giant responsible for films such as Francesco Rosi's BIZET'S CARMEN, Luc Besson's LE DERNIER COMBAT and Wolfgang Petersen's DAS BOOT. Marcie continued in publicity at the firm of Smith and Siegal, where she met her own mentor, Lois Smith, and began her long and ongoing relationship with then-Orion Classics partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard. Among the many Orion Classics projects in which Marcie was involved were Stephen Frears' MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, Louis Malle's AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS, Pedro Almodovar's WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, Akira Kurosawa's RAN, Bruno Nuytten's CAMILLE CLAUDEL, Richard Linklater's SLACKER, Jim Jarmusch's MYSTERY TRAIN, Claude Berri's JEAN DE FLORETTE and MANON OF THE SPRING, and Gabriel Axel's Oscar-winning BABETTE'S FEAST, for which she conceived and executed the "see the movie, eat the meal" campaign. Marcie continued in publicity by moving with Lois Smith to PMK Public Relations, where she became a Vice President, maintained her position as the publicist of all Orion Classics releases, and also represented films released by the Samuel Goldwyn Company and Warner Bros.In the fall of 1989, Barker and Bernard invited Marcie to join them as their partner at Orion Classics, where she became Vice President of Acquisitions. Marcie became a well-known "player" at the Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Edinburgh, Venice, Montreal, and Toronto Film Festivals, (and at Milan's MIFED and L.A.'s AFM Film Markets respectively). In January 1992, Marcie, along with her partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, founded Sony Pictures Classics, the specialized film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. SPC released its first film, Merchant Ivory's HOWARDS END, on March 13, 1992 to nearly unanimous acclaim, $26 million in domestic box office, and three Academy Awards. As of 2009, Sony Pictures Classics has gone on to be nominated for 97 Academy Awards (including three for Best Picture: HOWARDS END, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and CAPOTE), and achieved 24 wins, including for INDOCHINE, BELLE EPOQUE, BURNT BY THE SUN, Anne Frank REMEMBERED, POLLOCK, ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER and ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER. Over the next few years, Barker, Bernard and Bloom received an Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from the Independent Feature Project, a special award handed to them by Francis Ford Coppola from the Directors Guild of America, and soon afterwards each of the trio was decorated with a Chevalier des Arts and Lettres by the French Government in recognition of the dozens of French-language films they had promoted and released during the course of their association at Orion Classics and Sony Pictures Classics.In the fall of 1996, Marcie suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, leaving her partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair but amazingly enough, cognitively intact. She stays in close contact with SPC; she cheers their successes, mourns their losses, and has shared the benefit of her many international relationships with her successor at SPC, EVP Dylan Leiner, whom Marcie had hired as her own assistant in 1994. In the fall of 2004, Marcie was selected to receive the first "Industry Toast" at the Hamptons International Film Festival, where she was joined by friends, family and colleagues to celebrate her unique contribution to the international film community over the previous twenty years. In 2011 the IFP-Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film was established. The first of its kind, The IFP-Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film is a New York-based mentoring program designed to introduce up to four college seniors and recent graduates each year to the world in which Marcie has become an integral figure and has helped define over the past twenty years.Up to four people were chosen in a rigorous application process. During their fellowship year (which started in September 2011), the Fellows meet with Marcie once a month at her Upper West Side apartment. These monthly gatherings (eight to ten in total) involve guests (directors, writers, distribution professionals, producers, festival programmers, etc.) and general community building. In addition, the Fellowship will provide support and direction for the young people entering the film world.Along with the highly prized networking opportunities the fellowship provides, it also allows the Fellows to more precisely define their particular areas of interest within the film industry - be it development, screenwriting, production, distribution, advertising, marketing or publicity - in an intimate, creative and supportive environment. If possible, Fellows will be tracked into independent film projects, internships or entry-level positions (depending on their previous experience) at a wide range of New York film companies and organizations. Claire Danes
Claire Danes has established herself as one of Hollywood's leading actresses.Claire currently stars on the Showtime series HOMELAND opposite Mandy Patinkin. She plays ‘Carrie Mathison', a driven CIA officer battling her own psychological demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to his re-capture was a setup and that this national hero may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. She has received rave reviews for her performance and the show airs Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m.She recently starred in HBO's critically acclaimed TEMPLE GRANDIN biopic. The film is based on the extraordinary life of Temple Grandin and chronicles how she turned her unique talent into a behavioral tool that revolutionized the cattle industry and laid the groundwork for her successful career as an author, lecturer, and pioneering advocate for autism and autism spectrum disorder educations. Danes won the 2010 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie" and the film won for "Outstanding Made for Television Movie." She also won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television" and the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries." Claire starred in Richard Linklater's critically acclaimed film, ME & Orson Welles opposite Zac Efron and ChristIan McKay. The screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. is based on the novel by Robert Kaplow and is set in the heady world of Orson Welles' famed Mercury Theater. The National Board of Review named the film as one of 2009's Top Independent Films.In 2007, Claire made her Broadway debut starring in George Bernard Shaw's PYGMALION opposite Jefferson Mays. Her performance as 'Eliza Doolittle' was well reviewed by critics.Claire garnered critical acclaim for her performances in Anand Tucker's SHOPGIRL opposite Steve Martin and Jason Schwartzman, Richard Eyre's STAGE BEAUTY opposite Billy Crudup, Burr Steer's IGBY GOES DOWN opposite Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Ryan Phillippe and Kieran Culkin, Baz Luhrman's William Shakespeare'S ROMEO & JULIET opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.Claire first caught critics' and audiences' attention in Ed Zwick and Marshall Hershkovitz's acclaimed series, MY SO CALLED LIFE, which earned her an Emmy Nomination and she was awarded the Golden Globe for her leading role as 'Angela Chase.' Claire's other film credits include: Matthew Vaughn's STARDUST opposite Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer; Lajos Koltai's EVENING opposite Toni Collette, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Natasha Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave; Thomas Bezucha's THE FAMILY STONE opposite Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker; Jonathan Mostow's TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nick Stahl; Stephen Daldry's Academy Award winning drama, THE HOURS opposite Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Allison Janney, Ed Harris and Toni Collette; Jonathan Kaplan's BROKEDOWN PALACE opposite Kate Beckinsale; Billie August's LES MISERABLES; Theresa Connelly's POLISH WEDDING; Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAINMAKER opposite Danny DeVito and Matt Damon; Oliver Stones' U TURN opposite Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix; Michael Pressman's TO GILLIAN ON HER 37th BIRTHDAY opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Peter Gallagher; Jocelyn Moorhouse's HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT opposite Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft and Ellen Burstyn; Billy Hopkins' I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU NOT opposite Jude Law; Jodie Foster's HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS opposite Robert Downey Jr., Holly Hunter and Anne Bancroft; and Gililan Armstrong's LITTLE WOMEN opposite Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon and Kirsten Dunst.Claire is also an accomplished dancer and has received critical acclaim for her performances in EDITH AND JENNY and CHRISTINA OLSON: AMERICAN MODEL both choreographed by Tamar Rogoff at P.S. 122. Nadine Schramm
Nadine Shelby Schramm was born in Charleston, Arkansas where she was raised in a large, loving family during the Depression Era. Her father, five siblings, and nieces and nephews (14 family members in all) suffered from a rare and incurable eye condition known as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which progresses throughout life, often leading to blindness, as is demonstrated by her family. Though Nadine does not have RP, she learned from her family's perseverance and strong-held attitude that "can't" simply is a word never to be used.Nadine holds that belief as a core value in everything she does, which she attributes to her success throughout life. In her 30s, Nadine moved to New York where she started to produce promotional perfumes, boxed with company logos. Five years later, Nadine's entrepreneurial spirit inspired her to buy an antique refinishing company, which grew to incorporate woodwork restoration in brownstones in New York. Nadine went on to become partner in the Village Stripper, an antique shop. She then ventured into the jewelry industry, where she represented five fine jewelry manufacturers.Her business acumen proved indispensable when Nadine's husband, Louis C. Schramm a.k.a. "Budd" sold his family business, Chelsea Warehouses, an agent for Allied Van Lines. Seizing the opportunity, Budd and Nadine formed a theatrical trucking company called Budd Enterprises. Budd would later supply trucking and personnel to such important entertainment venues as CBS, The Metropolitan Opera and The New York Philharmonic Annual Concerts in the Parks. In addition to this, Budd Enterprises has handled the trucking and labor requirements for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for 45 years.Sadly Budd died in 1990, and faced with the decision to let the business die with her husband, Nadine invoked that same determination that walking away is simply not an option. Since then, Nadine has expanded the fleet from seven to 74 trucks, tractors, and trailers. Nadine negotiated contracts with Radio City Music Hall and handled their labor requirements for 15 years. She has also greatly expanded the leasing business and now supplies trucks to numerous movie production companies. Budd Leasing supplied trucks to the SOPRANOS for its entire run. It has also handled trucking for many shows including LAW & ORDER, SEX AND THE CITY, and such current shows as BOARDWALK EMPIRE, WHITE COLLAR, PERSON OF INTEREST, BLUE BLOODS and SMASH. The company has also handled trucking for movies, such as the BOURNE IDENTITY and SPIDERMAN franchises.She was an honoree at 2006 STAR Breakfast for New York Women's Agenda (NYWA) at The New York Hilton where she received their first standing ovation in 16 years, which still holds today.
Nadine was an honoree at The Lighthouse International Golf Tournament, helping to raise over $300,000. She was the Chairperson for the 2008 outing. Nadine was keynote speaker at the Miami Dade College Entrepreneurship Symposium for three groups of students in 2007, each session lasting 1 hour each.Nadine has sat on the boards for the National Hypertension Society and Peace Links, and has sat on the board of the Local 817 Theatrical Teamsters Pension, Welfare and Scholarship Fund for 20 years. She is also a mentor for the College of Mount St. Vincent. She is also a member of NYWA.She also maintains an active position in many philanthropic organizations, including Police Athletic League. She is an advocate for the visually impaired, those in situations of domestic abuse, entrepreneurs and women's rights. Most important, Nadine encourages all people to adopt the attitude that they can rather than they can't.Martha Stewart
From the award-winning magazine, Martha Stewart Living, to the bestselling product lines that bear her name, Martha Stewart shares the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America's most trusted guide to stylish living. Millions of consumers rely on Martha Stewart as their guide to all aspects of everyday living-from cooking and entertaining to decorating and home renovating and much more.
Martha has always drawn inspiration from her surroundings. Raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a family with six children, Martha developed her passion for cooking, gardening, and homekeeping in her childhood home on Elm Place. Her mother, a schoolteacher and homemaker, taught her the basics of cooking, baking, canning, and sewing; her father, a pharmaceutical salesman and avid gardener, introduced her to gardening at the age of three in the family's small but orderly backyard plot.
While earning a bachelor's degree in history and architectural history at Barnard College, Martha worked as a model to pay her tuition. She was married in her sophomore year, and upon graduating, became a stockbroker on Wall Street, where she gained her early business training. After moving to Westport, Connecticut, in 1972 with her husband and daughter, Alexis, she developed a catering business that showcased her remarkable talent and originality. Her unique visual presentation of food and the elegant recipes she created for her catered events were the basis for her first book, Entertaining, published in 1982.
Martha's creative vision is the blueprint for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) and its expansive multimedia and merchandising portfolio. MSLO's media offerings encompass award-winning magazines such as Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings; innovative Web sites, including marthastewart.com, and digital apps; Martha Stewart Living Radio on SIRIUS/XM Channel 110; and best-selling books like Martha Stewart's Cooking School, Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts and Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. The sixth season of the Emmy Award-winning daily, "how-to" series, The Martha Stewart Show, premiered in September 2010; the show anchors a full slate of programming from MSLO on Hallmark Channel.
Martha was a pioneer in bringing high-quality products to mass market with Martha Stewart Everyday products at Kmart. Today, the company's merchandising offerings include the Martha Stewart Collection of products for the home at Macy's; the Martha Stewart Living line of home-improvement products at The Home Depot; Martha Stewart Crafts at Michaels; Martha Stewart Clean home-cleaning solutions with Hain Celestial Group; destination weddings with Sandals Resorts; Martha Stewart Pets products at PetSmart and more.
In 2007, Martha unveiled the new Martha Stewart Center for Living at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The center is an outpatient facility for geriatric medicine, providing clinical care and education for patients, offering training for physicians and coordinating healthy-aging research and practices. Martha was inspired to create the center by her mother, Martha Kostyra, who remained active and engaged in life to the age of 93.
Loreen Arbus AwardThe Loreen Arbus Award for those who take action to effect change was created with the generous support of NYWIFT member Loreen Arbus. The award recognizes the contributions of individuals, organizations or corporations who have been proactive in ensuring equity for women in film, television and new media. Past recipients of the award are producer/writer John Wells, producer Gale Anne Hurd, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Eastman Kodak.Loreen Arbus is President/Executive Producer of Loreen Arbus Productions, Inc., a multi-tiered Production Company that develops nonfiction programming for network, cable, syndication and the Internet. After rising through the ranks at ABC Television, Arbus became the first woman in the United States to become programming head at a television network, both at Showtime and Cable Health Network/Lifetime.Arbus supports the arts, women in business and media and cancer research. Arbus is also a leading national for advocate for people with disabilities. She is co-founder of the Media Access Office for the Employment of the Disabled and a Trustee of United Cerebral Palsy.Arbus has received the Heart of Giving Award (presented by President Bill Clinton), the Headliner Award (Women in Communications), the Lifetime Achievement Award (American Women in Radio and Television) and the Woman of Distinction Award (Hollywood Chamber of Commerce). In December 2006, she was inducted as an honoree into "She Made it: Women Creating Television and Radio" collection at the Paley Center for Media.The Independent Television Service (ITVS)
The Independent Television Service (ITVS) funds, presents, and promotes award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television and cable, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy Award-winning weekly series Independent Lens Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. on PBS.ITVS International is a division of the Independent Television Service that runs the Global Perspectives Project (GPP), an international exchange of documentary films made by independent producers, bringing international voices to U.S. audiences and American stories to audiences abroad.ITVS receives core funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. The GPP is made possible through the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.The Independent Television Service (ITVS) brings independently-produced, high-quality public broadcast and new media programs to local, national and international audiences. The independent producers who create ITVS programs take creative risks, tackle complex issues and express points of view seldom explored in the mass media. ITVS programs enrich the cultural landscape with the voices and visions of underrepresented communities, and reflect the interests and concerns of a diverse society.About New York Women in Film & Television
The preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York City for more than 30 years, NYWIFT is dedicated to helping women reach the highest levels of achievement and promoting equity in film, television and new media. NYWIFT produces over 50 innovative programs and special events annually. Its membership includes almost 2000 women working both above and below the line. NYWIFT is part of a network of 40 women in film organizations worldwide, representing more than 10,000 members. For further information about New York Women in Film & Television, please visit www.NYWIFT.org
Photo Credit: BWW-Staff
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