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    Jeffrey Wright to receive Montecito Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1218 Views
    Jeffrey Wright in a scene from "American Fiction." (photo by Claire Folger/courtesy of MGM-Orion)
    SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --

    Jeffrey Wright will be honored with the Montecito Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Wright will receive the award on Thursday, February 15, at an in-person conversation about his career leading up to this year’s performance in Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios’ American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson. Wright has received lead actor nominations from the Gotham Awards, Spirit Awards, Golden Globe Awards and the Critics Choice Awards thus far for his wonderful performance as protagonist, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison.

    “I’ve been a fan of Mr. Wright since I first saw him in 1993 in the original Broadway production of ‘Angels In America.’ I’ve since admired that he brings a high level of class and integrity to every role he does. Yet, no film had capitalized on his extraordinary range and virtuosity until American Fiction. It is about time,” said Roger Durling, executive director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

    Wright is a Tony, Emmy, AFI, and Golden Globe Award-winning actor who has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning the worlds of theatre, film, and television. Wright was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed role of Bernard Lowe in HBO’s Westworld, for which he earned three Emmy nominations. He can currently be seen in the George C. Wolfe-directed Civil Rights pic, Rustin, portraying Adam Clayton Powell. Rustin is produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. In June 2023, Wright was seen as part of the all-star ensemble cast in the Wes Anderson film Asteroid City. In March of 2022, Wright portrayed the iconic character Jim Gordon in the latest installment of The Batman franchise directed by Matt Reeves. In April 2021, Wright reprised his role of CIA agent Felix Leiter in the James Bond film, No Time To Die. In October 2021, he starred in another all-star ensemble cast in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. 

    The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Angela Bassett, Penélope Cruz, Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Javier Bardem.

    The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place February 7-17. The film lineup and schedule will be announced in January.

    Tags:American FictionJeffrey WrightSanta Barbara International Film Festival



    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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