HOLLYWOOD, CA—(Marketwired – October 26, 2016) – dick clark productions announced today that Academy Award–winning actress Natalie Portman will be honored with the “Hollywood Actress Award” for her role in “Jackie” and artist Janelle Monáe will receive the “Hollywood Spotlight Award” for her breakout role in “Hidden Figures.” Additionally, the cast of the film “Gold,” including Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey, Golden Globe Award–nominated actress Bryce Dallas Howard, Golden Globe Award–nominated actor Edgar Ramirez and Golden Globe Award–winning actor Stacy Keach will receive the “Hollywood Ensemble Award” at the 20th Annual “Hollywood Film Awards® Presented by Virginia Black.”
The awards ceremony, celebrating its 20th anniversary as the official launch of the awards season®, will be hosted by actor and comedian James Corden, and will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, on November 6, 2016. The Hollywood Film Awards honors some of the most acclaimed films and actors, as well as previews highly anticipated films and talent for the upcoming year. Additional artists are also honored in the categories of Cinematography, Visual Effects, Film Composing, Costume Design, Editing, Production Design, Sound and Makeup & Hairstyling. Its honorees over the past 20 years have included the world's biggest stars and more than 110 have gone on to garner Oscar nominations and/or wins.
Natalie Portman is being recognized for her role as Jacqueline Kennedy in the film “Jackie,” a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman). “Jackie” places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband's assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband's legacy and the world of “Camelot” that they created and loved so well. “Jackie” is directed by Pablo LarraÃn and written by Noah Oppenheim. In addition to Academy Award® winner Portman, the film stars Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and Academy Award® nominee John Hurt. “Jackie” is produced by Juan De Dios LarraÃn, Darren Aronofsky, Mickey Liddell, Scott Franklin, and Ari Handel. The film opens December 2, 2016.
Janelle Monáe is being recognized for her role as Mary Jackson in the 20th Century Fox film “Hidden Figures.” In the film Monáe plays a part of a team of African–American women who provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.
“Gold,” inspired by actual events, is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream and everything he'll do to keep it from falling apart. Oscar© winner Matthew McConaughey stars as Kenny Wells, a man raised in the mining business and desperate for a lucky break. He teams up with a mythic geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. When they make the largest gold find in history, they realize this dream is only the beginning of the adventure. They battle nature, Wall Street, conspiracies inside of conspiracies, but most of all they test their faith in themselves. Directed by Oscar© winner Stephen Gaghan (“Traffic,” “Syriana”), the film stars Oscar© winner Matthew McConaughey (“Interstellar,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”) and Golden Globe© nominees Edgar Ramirez (“Hands of Stone,” “The Girl on the Train”) and Bryce Dallas Howard (“Jurassic World,” “Pete's Dragon”). “Gold” opens wide Christmas Day.
An Academy–Award winning actress, filmmaker and philanthropist, Natalie Portman first charmed audiences at the age of eleven in Luc Besson's “The Professional.” Since then she has starred in over 25 films, including “Beautiful Girls,” “Cold Mountain,” “Garden State” and “Closer.” In 2011, she received an Oscar for her performance in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed film, “Black Swan.” Portman has also taken on a variety of roles behind the lens including “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” which she wrote, directed, and starred in. She will be soon be seen as Jacqueline Kennedy in Pablo Larrain's “Jackie,” to be released by Fox Searchlight in December 2016. When Portman isn't working, she serves as Ambassador of WE and FINCA, in addition to working with Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. A Harvard graduate with a degree in psychology, Portman has also studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Janelle Monáe is a Grammy–nominated singer–songwriter, performer, producer and CoverGirl spokesperson known for her unique style and groundbreaking sound. Immersed in the performing arts at a young age, she founded her record label the Wondaland Arts Society releasing the EP “Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase).” In 2010, Monáe released the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed “ArchAndroid,” which reached No. 17 on the Billboard Charts and earned her two Grammy nominations, including one for the hit single “Tightrope.” 2013 saw the release of the critically acclaimed album “The Electric Lady” featuring Prince and Miguel, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. In February of 2015, Janelle launched her very own label, Wondaland Records. Most recently, Monáe was featured in the Super Bowl 50 Pepsi commercial titled, the “Joy of Dance,” wherein she pays homage to some of the greatest musical acts of past and present.
In 2017, Janelle takes her talent to the silver screen, in which she will star as a lead actor in the upcoming dramas “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight.” “Hidden Figures” centers around the true story of three African–American women who work for NASA and help make John Glenn the first person to orbit the Earth in 1962. The film also stars Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, and Kevin Costner. “Moonlight,” produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and A24, chronicles the coming–of–age of Chiron (Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes), a young man facing an uphill battle with his sexuality during Miami's turbulent war–on–drugs era in the 1970s. “Moonlight” also stars Naomi Harris, André Holland and Mahershala Ali.
Previously announced honorees for this year's show include: “Hollywood Career Achievement Award,” Eddie Murphy; “Hollywood Actor Award,” Tom Hanks; “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award,” Hugh Grant; “Hollywood Supporting Actress Award,” Nicole Kidman; “Hollywood Breakout Actress Award,” Naomie Harris; “New Hollywood Award,” Lily Collins; “Hollywood Blockbuster Award,” “The Jungle Book”; “Hollywood Animation Award,” “Zootopia”; “Hollywood Director Award,” Mel Gibson; “Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award,” Tom Ford; “Hollywood Producer Award,” Marc Platt; “Hollywood Screenwriter Award,” Kenneth Lonergan; “Hollywood Cinematography Award,” Linus Sandgren; “Hollywood Film Composer Award,” Mychael Danna; “Hollywood Editor Award,” John Gilbert; “Hollywood Visual Effects Award,” Stephane Ceretti and Richard Bluff; “Hollywood Sound Award,” Christopher Boyes and Frank Eulner; “Hollywood Costume Design Award,” Albert Wolsky; “Hollywood Make Up & Hair Styling Award,” Shane Thomas, Angela Conte, Bec Taylor and Noriko Waztanabe; and “Hollywood Production Design Award,” Wynn Thomas.
Additional honorees for the 20th Annual Hollywood Film Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 20th Annual Hollywood Film Awards are presented by Virginia Black. Virginia Black. Rich. Decadent. Smooth. Whiskey redefined.
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ABOUT DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS
dick clark productions (dcp) is the world's largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Hollywood Film Awards,” “Miss America” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group and dcp. dcp also owns one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of award–winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.
ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS®
The Hollywood Film Awards®, founded in 1997, were created to celebrate Hollywood and launch the awards season. The recipients of the awards are selected by an Advisory Team for their body of work and/or a film(s) that is to be released during the calendar year. For additional information, visit www.hollywoodawards.com.