Mary Parent will be honored with the Producers Guild of America’s (PGA) 2022 David O. Selznick Achievement Award. She will accept the honor at the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
The PGA’s Selznick Achievement Award recognizes producers for their outstanding body of work in motion pictures. The honor has a rich and distinguished history with past recipients including such legendary producers as Steven Spielberg, Barbara Broccoli, Gale Anne Hurd, Brian Grazer, David Heyman, Kevin Feige, as well as Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B.
“Mary has been at the forefront of bold, breakthrough studio projects for decades, and we both felt that the time has come to shine a light on Mary’s trailblazing career as a producer,” read a joint statement from PGA presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher. “Her vision for a strong global theatrical market and a future of films filled with grand visuals and imaginative stories creates an optimistic and exciting picture of what’s next, and we’re thrilled to honor her and her many achievements this year at the PGA Awards.”
Parent said, “I am very humbled to be recognized alongside so many legendary producers who have received this honor before me right down to the award’s namesake, David O. Selznick. The films they have produced not only impacted cinematic history but also global culture in ways only true storytelling can achieve. As the PGA continues to further and protect the craft of producing, I am thankful for its existence as well as all the many talented and creative individuals I have been so fortunate to work with. Without my trusted team of colleagues, success would not be possible.”
Parent is the vice chairman of worldwide production at Legendary Entertainment overseeing all aspects of film. Parent has actively been involved in films amassing over $20 billion at the global box office. She most recently produced Dune, directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, and featuring an all-star cast, as well as Godzilla vs Kong.
While at Legendary, Parent also produced films such Enola Holmes, starring Millie Bobby Brown as the famous detective’s younger sister, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, starring Ryan Reynolds, as well as Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s virtual reality masterpiece, Carne y Arena, which received a rare Special Achievement Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its groundbreaking exploration into fully immersive storytelling.
Before joining Legendary, Parent was founder and CEO of Disruption Entertainment, where she produced a prolific slate of films including Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, Kong: Skull Island and The Revenant, for which Parent received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, a PGA Awards nomination for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, and won a BAFTA for Best Film. Prior to that, she served as vice chairman of worldwide production at Universal Pictures and chairman of MGM.
Parent also co-founded the production company Stuber/Parent. Parent began her career as an agent trainee at ICM before joining New Line Cinema as a creative executive.
Parent is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the PGA.
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More