Spike Lee, winner of an honorary Oscar in 2016 and three years later a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for BlacKkKlansman, will receive the esteemed Trailblazer Award from the Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) at the 7th Annual LMGI Awards celebrating the theme “2020 Vision: We See It First.” The 2020 Awards, hosted by Isaiah Mustafa, will honor the spectrum of Lee’s extraordinary award-winning work over the past three decades on Saturday, October 24 at 2:00 PM PST during a virtual ceremony.
Awards co-chair and former LMGI president Lori Balton commented, “We are especially grateful that Mr. Lee has brought so much diverse talent into the industry. Actors like Samuel Jackson, Rosie Perez and Giancarlo Esposito, but also so many of us working behind the scenes–Wynn Thomas, Ruth Carter, Ernest Dickerson and Brent Owens to name a few. He is a Trailblazer on a number of levels.”
Lee is an award-winning film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. Lee’s work has continually explored race relations, colorism in the Black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. He has won numerous accolades for his work, including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy® Awards, two Peabody Awards, and the Cannes Grand Prix. He has also received an honorary BAFTA Award, an honorary César, and The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, among many others.
Lee made his directorial debut in 1986 with She’s Gotta Have It and has since written and directed such films as Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, He Got Game, 25th Hour, Inside Man, Chi-Raq, BlacKkKlansman and, most recently, Da 5 Bloods. Lee also acted in 10 of his films.
Lee’s films Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, 4 Little Girls and She’s Gotta Have It were each selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Final online balloting for the LMGI Awards will be held August 1-10, 2020 and winners will be announced at the virtual awards ceremony in October. The LMGI Awards honor the outstanding and creative visual contributions by location professionals in film, television and commercials from around the globe. The LMGI Awards also recognize outstanding service by film commissions for their support “above and beyond” during the production process.
This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 7th Annual LMGI Awards breaks with tradition and will be presented on a digital platform, streaming to a worldwide and more inclusive audience. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian and the Eva Monley Awards, which recognize and honor industry members who support the work of location professionals, will be announced in the near future.
Committee co-chairs of this year’s LMGI Awards are Balton and John Rakich. Mike Fantasia is LMGI president.
Christmas TV movies are in their Taylor Swift era, with 2 Swift-inspired films airing this season
Two new Christmas TV movies have a Taylor Swift connection that her fans would have no problem decoding.
"Christmas in the Spotlight" debuts Saturday on Lifetime. It stars Jessica Lord as the world's biggest pop star and Laith Wallschleger as a pro football player, who meet and fall in love — not unlike Swift and her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
"It's clearly inspired by Taylor and Travis, but I don't know them and I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. I only know what's been put out there," said Eirene Tran Donohue, a longtime, devoted fan who jumped at the opportunity to write a script even loosely based on her favorite musician.
She was inspired by the couple's support of each other's accomplishments, particularly Kelce's ease with dating the star despite the glare of the spotlight, adding, "I love the way that he celebrates her."
Tran Donohue wants fellow Swift fans to know she wrote the script with them in mind.
"There are so many Easter eggs," she said of little details added that a Swift fan would pick up on. "I put in as many as I could."
Then, on Nov. 30, Hallmark will air "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story." Instead of a nod to Swift, it's an ode to family traditions and bonding, like rooting for a sports team. Hallmark's headquarters is also in Kansas City, so it makes sense why the company chose the Chiefs to be highlighted.
In this story, written by Julie Sherman Wolfe, sparks fly when a new employee for the Chiefs organization (Tyler Hynes) meets a woman — played by Hunter King — whose family's dedication to the team goes back generations.
Sherman Wolfe, a San Francisco 49ers fan, said she got the call a week after Super Bowl LVIII, when the Chiefs... Read More