Outfest announced the upcoming Los Angeles Summer Festival’s events and special awardees, including Amandla Stenberg and Madame Gandhi. The event will take place July 13 – 23 around Los Angeles.
The events include a special centerpiece screening of Ira Sachs’ “Passages,” the documentary centerpiece with “Kokomo City” documentarian D. Smith, the U.S. centerpiece conversation with “Fancy Dance” star Lily Gladstone and director Erica Tremblay, the late night spotlight screening of “Down Low” starring Zachary Quinto, Lukas Gage, Simon Rex, Judith Light, and Audra McDonald and the Family Day celebration.
The festival’s honorees include Amandla Stenberg, who will be receiving the Platinum Maverick Award for their artistry, advocacy and activism. Stenberg will receive the award on July 13 at the Orpheum Theatre. After a screening of “My Animal” on July 15, there will be a music showcase that will present Madame Gandhi with the Platinum Alchemy Award and host musical acts Mega Bog, Praise Kink and Maude Vós & Marie Nyx.
‘Twilight’ Location Scout Beth Tate Receives Trailblazer Award from LMGI
Location scout Beth Tate will receive this year’s Trailblazer Award from Location Managers International (LMGI) at the 10th Annual LMGI Awards. The event is set to take place Aug. 26 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif.
Tate is best known for her work on “Twilight” and “Flashforward.”
“The LMGI is extremely honored to recognize Beth Tate as one of its founding forces. She has been supporting location professionals over the past two decades and is most deserving to be recognized with this year’s LMGI Trailblazer Award,” said LMGI committee chairs John Rakich and Robin Citrin.
The LMGI Trailblazer Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and innovations elevate the status of location professionals.
Sundance Institute Gifted $4 Million Endowment From the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
Sundance Institute announced the nonprofit has received a $4 million endowment from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR).
The endowment will support Indigenous artists from California-based tribes and allow the Institute to expand the offerings to the current Indigenous Program.
Greg Sarris, FIGR Tribal chairman and Sundance screenwriters lab alum, facilitated the endowment gift, which will gift the Graton fellows with a grant of $25,000. In addition to the grant, the recipients will receive a yearlong creative mentorship from the Indigenous Program staff, access to development opportunities and support to attend the annual Sundance Film Festival.
“We are excited to see the creative breakthroughs from future fellows and scholarship recipients. Supporting and nurturing these artists will open up pathways to success for the entire California Indigenous creative community and enable us to tell our stories,” said Sarris.
“As a nonprofit, the Institute is so grateful to Greg Sarris and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria on this incredibly generous gift that will ensure we are able to continue meaningfully supporting the development of the careers of Indigenous storytellers from tribes throughout the state of California,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO.
Applications are open from now until August 28.
Naomi Campbell to Be Honored at HollyRod’s DesignCare Gala
HollyRod’s annual DesignCare Gala will return on July 15 in Los Angeles to honor Naomi Campbell with the inaugural Jacqueline Avant HollyRod Humanitarian Award, the nonprofit announced on Monday.
The HollyRod Foundation is committed to raising awareness and providing resources for those who have a loved one who has been diagnosed with autism or Parkinson’s disease.
“Celebrating the 25th anniversary of HollyRod Foundation fills my heart with immense gratitude and pride,” said Holly Robinson Peete, founder of the nonprofit. “We are especially thrilled to be honoring our amazing friend Naomi Campbell with the inaugural Jacqueline Avant Award this year. Jacqueline was like a second mother to me as well as my philanthropic mentor. She and her husband Clarence were founding donors to get HollyRod started and supported us unwaveringly for the entire 25 years. We will never stop speaking Jacqueline’s name or honoring her legacy.”
Campbell will be presented with the award in honor of the advocacy work of the late philanthropist. Alongside Campbell, additional honorees include Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kodjoe with the Muhammad Ali Trailblazer Award.
“We are absolutely delighted and touched that Naomi Campbell is receiving the first Jacqueline Avant HollyRod Humanitarian award at the 25th annual DesignCare gala. Our mother loved Naomi dearly and was a founding donor to HollyRod,” said Alex and Nicole Avant. “We couldn’t think of someone who is more worthy of this inaugural honor as Naomi captures the very essence of our mother with her grace, elegance, love for humanity and her philanthropic heart.”
The HollyRod Foundation was created in 1997 by actress Holly Robinson Peete and her husband, Rodney Peete, in honor of Holly’s late father, Matthew T. Robinson Jr., who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 45. Two years prior to Matthew’s passing, Holly’s son received an autism diagnosis, to which the mission of the foundation expanded.
