IPA Stands Behinds Union, Changes 15th Satellite Award Venue

In an unprecedented move, The International Press Academy (IPA) has relocated the 15th Satellite Awards presentation as a demonstration of support for UNITE HERE! Local 11.

UNITE HERE!, a Union advocate group for hospitality workers, has placed Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on their BOYCOTT WATCH list due to contract disputes with hospitality workers dating back months.

In response, IPA has moved its annual awards gala back to its former home at the Grand Salon of the InterContinental Hotel, 2151 Avenue of the Stars, in Los Angeles, Calif. (The date remains the same, Sunday, Dec. 19.)

"We support all of the local and international guilds, unions, and associations," said Mirjana van Blaricom, IPA President. "Ultimately, we stand united with 'below-the-line' crew of the hotel, just as we are known for recognizing not only marquee talent, but below-the-line creative artists with our Satellite Awards."

"For our 15th Anniversary presentation, we'd planned some unusual twists, such hosting a luncheon rather than a dinner, and announcing the Mary Pickford winner during the show -- but we had not anticipated moving the entire production and amending our printed material. But the show must go on."

The daytime 15th Satellite Awards are slated for 2 hours in InterContinental's Grand Salon, with Special Achievement Awards included.

For 2010, The Auteur Award will be presented to Alex Gibney (CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER). Gibney is an Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy award-winner.

Gibney's ability to take a searing look at tough subjects from the boardroom (ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM) to the locker room (UNTITLED LANCE ARMSTRONG DOCUMENTARY 2011) have earned him a reputation as a fearless non-fiction auteur and meticulous filmmaker.

His 2008 Best Documentary Academy Award for TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE shined a spot on US human rights violations in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq by focusing on the torture death of an Afghani cab driver in 2002.

Alex Gibney will receive the 2010 Auteur Award during the gala luncheon. Past Auteur honorees include Roger Corman (2009), Baz Lurhmann, Julian Schnabel, Robert Altman, and George Clooney.

Robert A. Harris, who produced Stephen Frears' neo-noir classic THE GRIFTERS, will be honored for his work as a hands-on champion of film preservation for more than 30 years. He will receive the 2010 Nikola Tesla Award for Visionary Achievements in Filmmaking Technology during the Satellite awards.

David Lean, esteemed director of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, described Harris' patient restoration of a 1962 print of his epic film as "a phoenix risen from the ashes." Harris also restored Francis Ford Coppola's GODFATHER and GODFATHER PART II.

Robert A. Harris's legacy includes developing industry-unique technologies and techniques for film restoration that began during his early career, with his preservationist pursuits "green-lit" by Dawn Steel at Columbia Pictures.

The 2009 Tesla was presented to inventor/cinematographer Roger Deakins (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). Previous honorees include Rick Baker, Dennis Muren, Richard Donner, Stan Winston, Jerry Lewis, James Cameron, and George Lucas.

In celebration of the 15th Annual Satellite Awards, IPA will announce the 2010 Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment during the show.

Past recipients of the International Press Academy's Pickford include: Michael York, Louis Gossett, Jr., Kathy Bates, Martin Landau, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Arnon Milchan, Robert Evans, Karl Malden, Francis Ford Coppola, Maximilian Schell, Alan J. Pakula, Jodie Foster, and Rod Steiger.

The 15th Satellite Awards gala luncheon will take place Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, at the Grand Salon of the InterContinental Hotel, 2151 Avenue of the Stars, in Los Angeles, Calif.

IPA is among the largest and most diverse associations of professional entertainment journalists representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, broadcast, cable, radio, in traditional and new media outlets. Please see www.pressacademy.com for more information.


by Quendrith Johnson