The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced that longtime television and film producer, James L. Brooks, will be honored with the Guild’s 2017 Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television. The award will be presented to Brooks at the 28th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on January 28, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.
Brooks has won 22 Emmys® and is a three-time Academy Award®-winner. He is the creative force behind such era-defining shows as The Simpsons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Taxi. His current project, Edge of Seventeen, starring Hailee Steinfeld, will be in theaters this month.
Producers Guild Awards Chairs Donald De Line and Amy Pascal stated, “For decades, Jim Brooks has brought memorable characters, big laughs and above all, a profound sense of humanity into our homes. Jim is a producer whose work has influenced multiple generations of storytellers, so it’s an incredible privilege to be able to honor him with our Guild’s Norman Lear Achievement Award.”
Shonda Rhimes was the 2016 recipient of the PGA’s Norman Lear Award. Previous honorees include Mark Gordon, Chuck Lorre, J.J. Abrams, Dick Wolf, Jerry Bruckheimer, Lorne Michaels, David L. Wolper, Aaron Spelling, Carsey/Werner/Mandabach, Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, Mark Burnett, and Norman Lear, himself.
Brooks began his television career as a writer who then later produced television hits such as Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Lou Grant, Room 222, The Tracy Ullman Show, and The Simpsons.
Brooks began working in film in 1979 when he wrote the screenplay for Starting Over which he co-produced with Alan J. Pakula. In 1983, Brooks wrote, produced, and directed Terms of Endearment for which he earned three Academy Awards. In 1987, he wrote, produced, and directed Broadcast News which won the New York Dramas Critics Award for best picture and best screenplay. In 1997, Brooks co-wrote, produced, and directed As Good As It Gets starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear. The film garnered 7 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, and won Oscars for both Nicholson and Hunt for their performances.
Currently, Brooks is an executive producer on The Simpsons which debuted on Fox in 1989 and is the longest running primetime animated television series airing in the U.S. The influential, groundbreaking show has garnered 32 Emmy Awards to date and is the first animated program to earn a Peabody Award. Other recent TV credits include The Critic, another primetime animated series starring Jon Lovitz; Phenom starring Judith Light, William Devane and Angela Goethals; and What About Joan, starring Joan Cusack.
Brook’s feature film credits also include Say Anything, War of the Roses, Big, Bottle Rocket, Jerry Maguire, Spanglish and The Simpsons Movie. He recently produced Edge of Seventeen written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig for STX Productions. It stars Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, and Kyra Sedgwick and will be released in November 2016.