Warner Bros.' Barry Meyer & Alan Horn to Receive Motion Picture Showmen of the Year Award at Publicists Awards Luncheon
“It’s important for senior industry executives to be recognized for their contributions to the success of entertainment products,” said Henri Bollinger, Awards Committee Chairman. “Studio publicists and marketers look to their leadership for business vision, inspiration and guidance. Barry Meyer and Alan Horn have done an outstanding job of creating an environment that promotes both blockbuster crowd-pleasers and critically acclaimed award-winning films. ” Messrs. Meyer and Horn assumed their current posts at the helm of Warner Bros. in October, 1999. Among the films produced under their aegis are the entire Harry Potter series, as well as the Academy-Award winning “Million Dollar Baby,” and such other critical and popular hits as “Training Day,” the second and third movies in the Matrix trilogy, “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” “Troy,” “The Last Samurai,” “Mystic River,” “The Polar Express,” “Ocean’s 11” and “Ocean’s 12,” “Batman Begins,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Syriana,” “Good Night and Good Luck” and “March of the Penguins.” This year Warner Bros. Pictures finished in first place in market share both domestically and internationally, crossing the billion-dollar mark in each of those categories for the fifth consecutive year, which marks an industry record. Meyer and Horn have overseen the development of a multi-event film strategy, expansion of the international marketplace, the creation of Warner Independent Pictures, a series of production relationships with acclaimed filmmakers, and innovative financing agreements that allow the studio to remain the pre-eminent force in motion pictures across the globe. Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman shared the 2005 award. Others who have previously been honored with the award include Lew Wasserman, Clint Eastwood, Dick Cook, Robert Daly, Terry Semel, Sherry Lansing, Alfred Hitchcock and Jack Warner. Stephen McPherson, President of ABC Entertainment, will be named 2006 Television Showman of the Year at the luncheon. Variety columnist Army Archerd, who recently retired from his daily column but continues as one of the paper’s reporters, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; Bob Dowling, who just retired as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Hollywood Reporter, will receive a Special Award of Merit; and ABC late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel will emcee the luncheon. Other awards to be presented are the Press Award; the International Media Award; the Maxwell Weinberg Awards, which recognizes outstanding accomplishment in the field of publicity; the Les Mason Award, given to a publicist for lifetime achievement; and the Bob Yeager Award, which recognizes significant community service. 1-18 |
Barry Meyer, Chairman and CEO, and Alan Horn, President and COO of
Warner Bros., will be honored with the Motion Picture Showmanship Award
at the ICG 43rd Annual Publicists Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, March
1, 2006 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The studio chiefs are being recognized
for their outstanding leadership and especially for their accomplishments
during the 2005 calendar year.