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    Glenn Close, Betty Pecha Madden to be honored at Costume Designers Guild Awards

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2784 Views
    Glenn Close poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, drama for "The Wife" at the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
    LOS ANGELES --

    The Costume Designers Guild announced that Golden Globe Award-winner Glenn Close will be honored with the Spotlight Award, and costume designer Betty Pecha Madden will receive the Distinguished Service Award, at the 21st CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards). Executive Produced by JumpLine, the annual star-studded gala will take place on February 19, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
     
    The Spotlight Award honors an actor whose talent and career personify an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special awareness of the role and importance of Costume Design. Past recipients include Kerry Washington, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, and more.
     
    Costume designer Anthony Powell, who worked with Close on 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians, Hook, and all of her Sunset Boulevard performances, stated, “Glenn Close is a costume designer’s dream. Her commitment to creating character is awe-inspiringly total: nothing fazes her, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable. Time and time again she has said to me, ‘I don’t know if I can manage it, but I’ll try,’ and always she succeeds triumphantly. She inhabits every role she plays, and becomes that person. It is an honor and privilege to have worked with such a unique artist, and to count her as a friend (in spite of the tortures she has suffered at my hands)!”
     
    The Distinguished Service Award honors individuals whose specialties and talents contribute to the craft and art of Costume Design. Past recipients include Maggie Schpak, Sharon Day, Lois DeArmond, Edwina Pellikka, and Mary Rose.

    Over the course of her 40 plus year Costume Designers Guild Local 892 membership, Madden has costume designed over 200 commercials, 32 music videos, 16 films for TV, and 29 feature films. She currently serves as labor delegate to the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees and writes monthly labor reports for the CDG E-board, and quarterly labor reports for the CDG newsletters and magazine. Additionally, she is a CDG representative to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, attending monthly meeting and serving as Sergeant at Arms.  A lifelong political activist, Betty devotes her time to improving the quality of life for working families in the areas of universal health care, a living wage, and affordable housing to end homelessness.
     
    Close and Madden join previously announced honorees Ruth E. Carter and Ryan Murphy who will be honored with the Career Achievement Award and Distinguished Collaborator Award respectively. The ceremony’s host and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.
     
    The annual CDGA gala celebrates excellence in film, television, and short form Costume Design as voted on by the Guild’s membership. The CDG includes more than 1,000 costume designers and illustrators working in motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos, and new media programs throughout the world. 

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    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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