Hollywood, U.S.A. — The 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Times has announced 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/director Quentin 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 Hawkeswith 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 onOctober 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 two Academy Awards (and seven nominations), five Golden Globes, four 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’.

Image Courtesy of  Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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London, U.K. – On September 24, 2012, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced Harvey Elliott as the new Chairman of its Games Committee.  Harvey replaces Ray Maguire whose term as Chairman ended in July, but remains on the Committee as an elected member.  Harvey is the Managing Director and COO of Marmalade, a leading cross-platform software technology business, and oversees the Ideaworks Game Studio under the same company group.

Starting September 24, 2012 the British Academy Games Awards in 2013 open for entries. The Awards include one new category, Best British Game, that celebrates the best game across all platforms created by a British development studio.

For the first time this year, studios and developers will qualify for one complimentary game entry if they enter their games into the Awards before Monday October 22, 2012, helping the Awards to be as inclusive as possible.

Campaigning has also been introduced, which brings the Awards into line with BAFTA’s other annual Awards ceremonies.  More information on this and the entry process, rules and guidelines can be found at www.bafta.org/games.

Harvey Elliott, Chairman of the BAFTA Games Committee, said: “I am looking forward to developing BAFTA’s games strategy during my new Chairmanship.  As part of this, I am very excited to announce our new Best British Game category, giving us the opportunity to reward thegreat wealth of British talent in our industry.

In addition, we are offering a complimentary entry to each company, making the Awards more accessible, particularly to those smaller developers, and hopefully seeing more games being put forward for consideration than ever before.”
Comedian and gamer Dara O’Briain will host the Awards ceremony for the fifth year running, which takes place on Tuesday March 5, 2013 at the London Hilton, Park Lane.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the artforms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public.

In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.

Harvey joined Ideaworks3D Ltd in June 2012 as Managing Director & COO, overseeing the Ideaworks Game Studio, and the Marmaladetechnology; that enables game and app developers to create rich content to release across a multitude of mobile devices, phones, tablets smart TVs anddesktop computers. Prior to joining Marmalade, Harvey was VP, General Manager of Bright Light at Electronic Arts (EA) driving intellectual properties targeting family and mainstream audiences including the Harry Potter game franchise.

Harvey has been in the games industry for nearly 20 years in a number of studio leadership roles and with a title roster which has included multiple Harry Potter titles, Crazy Taxi, Alias, Dakar Rally 2 and Burnout 3: Takedown amongst many more. Prior to joining EA in 2003, he was Studio General Manager of the Cheltenham Studio for Acclaim Entertainment, with overall responsibility for Acclaim’s Teesside and London studios.  Harvey is also Chair of the BAFTA Children’s Committee.

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It’s that time of year again, when British actors, directors, screenwriters and producers come together for the British Independent Film Awards. Get ready for an amalgamation of glamor, grandeur and great talent at the 14th ceremony on Sunday 4 December at Old Billingsgate, London.

It has been announced that the ceremony will be hosted by Chris O’Dowd, Irish comedy actor and star of the hit of the summer, ‘Bridesmaids.’ First-time host O’Dowd commented: “It’s a ceremony which cherishes innovation, elegance and class so I’m humbled that they’ve chosen a host who so clearly lacks any of these things. Expect dancing girls.”

Created in 1988, the British ceremony celebrates and honors great talent within the British Film Industry, as well as promoting promising new talent set to contribute more to the future of the industry.

A Jury is also now in place for the ceremony, chaired by producer Andrew Eaton (The Killer Inside Me). Other members include actress Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans), casting director Lucy Bevan (An Education), art director Neil Lamont (Harry Potter), actor David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and editor Justine Wright (Touching the Void).

One of the most prestigious acting awards is the Richard Harris award, introduced in 2003 and dedicated to the late actor, known most famously for portraying Oliver Cromwell and Albus Dumbledore. Fellow Harry Potter star Ralph Fiennes has been announced as the latest to receive the award, marking an Outstanding Contribution to the British Film Industry.

Previous winners were Helena Bonham-Carter (2010), Daniel Day-Lewis (2009), David Thewlis (2008), Ray Winstone (2007), Jim Broadbent (2006), Tilda Swinton (2005), Bob Hosking (2004) and John Hurt (2003).

The nominations for other awards include:

Best British Independent Film
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tyrannosaur
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Director
Ben Wheatley – Kill List
Steve McQueen – Shame
Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Paddy Considine – Tyrannosaur
Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actress
Rebecca Hall – The Awakening
Mia Wasikowsa – Jane Eyre
MyAnna Buring – Kill List
Olivia Colman – Tyrannosaur
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actor
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard
Neil Maskell – Kill List
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Peter Mullan – Tyrannosaur.

Best Foreign Independent Film
Animal Kingdom
Drive
Pina
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

The awards themselves are an impressive 1kg of Swarovski crystal called ‘Eternal Objects’ designed by Tokujin Yoshioka. For people living within the UK wanting to watch the event, it will be streamed live on Sunday 4 December on www.lovefilm.com

Entertainment Press / Shutterstock.com

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