Greg Berlanti, Emmy®-nominated writer, director and producer, will be named Television Showman of the Year at the 56th Annual International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) Publicists Awards. The Awards, celebrating excellence in publicity and promotion for motion pictures and television programs, returns to the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Friday, February 22. More than 900 industry leaders are expected to attend this year’s luncheon, which traditionally occurs the week leading up to the Academy Awards®.
In making the announcement, ICG national president Steven Poster, ASC, noted, “Greg Berlanti has produced a prodigious amount of quality television in the 21st century –almost 30 series, over 1,000 episodes, with many more in the pipeline. This year, he set a new record with 15 current live-action scripted series. This is clearly the right time for us to honor Greg and his growing body of work.”
Berlanti said: “I’m truly honored to be receiving this recognition from the ICG Publicists. Throughout my career, the folks in the publicity departments at the various studios I’ve worked with have been some of my favorite people to collaborate with and I can say first hand that without a smart, strategic publicity campaign, my shows wouldn’t have enjoyed anywhere near the level of success that they have.”
WGA, DGA and Golden Globe nominated writer, director, and producer, Berlanti is the force behind some of the most inventive and acclaimed works in film and television.
Berlanti started in television on the hit show Dawson’s Creek. Since then, Berlanti has served as creator, writer, and producer behind shows such as Everwood, Jack & Bobby, Eli Stone, and Political Animals. He also served as a producer on Brothers & Sisters and Dirty, Sexy, Money.
During Upfronts 2018, it was announced that Berlanti’s company would make television history with a total of 14 scripted series on the air at the same time. He currently works as executive producer and co-creator on Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and You. Additionally, Berlanti serves as executive producer on Riverdale, Black Lightning, Blindspot, Titans, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, All American, God Friended Me, as well as the upcoming The Red Line, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl.
Berlanti made his film directorial debut in 2000 with The Broken Hearts Club. His most recent feature directorial project is the critically acclaimed Love, Simon, an adaptation of the celebrated YA novel Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his husband and son.
Past recipients of the prestigious Television Showman of the Year Award include Ryan Murphy, John Landgraf, Ted Sarandos, Shonda Rhimes, Chuck Lorre, Nina Tassler, Fred Silverman, Steven Bochco, Aaron Spelling and Bob Hope.
As previously announced, the Publicists Awards Luncheon will also honor producer Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) with the Motion Picture Showman of the Year Award and Jamie Lee Curtis with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The ICG Publicists Directory, to be distributed at the luncheon, will be dedicated to Paul Bloch, co-chairman of Rogers & Cowan, who died last year. Awards chair this year is Tim Menke with Sheryl Main serving as co-chair.
Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died
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