PGA names 'Harry Potter' producer as 2016's Selznick award winner
AFP RELAXNEWS
November 13, 2015 01:59 MYT
November 13, 2015 01:59 MYT
British producer David Heyman (R) with Alfonso Cuaron (L) and Oprah Winfrey at the 2014 BAFTAs.
The long-serving producer behind all eight "Harry Potter" films as well as upcoming prequel "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is to receive the 2016 David O. Selznick award from the Producer's Guild of America this coming January.
The award ceremony, which is to take place January 23rd, honors David Heyman, a London-born producer who can also count "Gravity," "Paddington," "I Am Legend," and "Testament of Youth" among his career achievements.
"David Heyman set the standard for contemporary franchise filmmaking, demonstrating an unerring ability to translate a cherished literary universe to the screen, with all of its depth, humor and heart intact," PGA co-chairs Michael DeLuca and Jennifer Todd said in a prepared statement.
"He has embraced innovation, taking the technical production challenges of ‘Gravity' as a mandate to imagine and execute wholly new ways of shooting film. His work has consistently elevated our profession and our industry; in his hands, the movie screen offers the same satisfactions as the literature that often inspires his stories."
Heyman joins a distinguished line of previous Selznick award recipients including 2015's winner Gale Anne Hurd ("Aliens," "Terminator" trilogy, "The Walking Dead") as well as Billy Wilder, Laura Ziskin, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barbara Broccoli.
The award itself is named after the producer of both the highest grossing film of all time in "Gone with the Wind," and of Alfred Hitchcock's Hollywood debut "Rebecca."