23RD ANNUAL AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL TO AWARD PAUL FEIG AND NANCY MEYERS
THE WRITERS FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEW PANELISTS FOR THE 2016 SCREENWRITERS CONFERENCE
Austin, TX – April 5, 2016 – Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference (AFF), the premier festival that champions the writers’ contributions to film, television, and new media, announced today its 2016 Extraordinary Contribution to Film and Distinguished Screenwriter award recipients. Paul Feig and Nancy Meyers will be honored at the Festival’s 23rd anniversary this October 13-20. AFF annually recognizes outstanding filmmakers and screenwriters for their accomplished bodies of work and contributions toward furthering the art and craft of storytelling. Last year’s honorees included Chris Cooper, Brian Helgeland, Norman Lear, and John Singleton.
Paul Feig will accept the 2016 “Extraordinary Contribution to Film” award. Most recently, Feig wrote, directed, and produced Spy, and served as the executive producer and director for The Heat and Bridesmaids. His work on Bridesmaids garnered Academy Award® nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Feig’s next film is an all-female reboot of Ghostbusters, to be released in July 2016, which he directed from a script he co-wrote with Katie Dippold. For his first foray into film, Feig wrote, produced and directed the adaptation of I Am David, which won the Austin Film Festival Audience Award in 2003.
Feig created and executive produced the critically acclaimed YAHOO original series Other Space, which premiered in the spring of 2015 and marked Feig’s return to television. A three-time EMMY nominated writer/director and DGA Award winner, Feig is also known for creating the beloved and critically acclaimed series Freaks and Geeks and serving as director and co-executive producer of The Office. Feig has directed multiple episodes of the television series Arrested Development, The Office, Nurse Jackie, Bored to Death, Weeds, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. In addition to his film and television work, Feig is the author of two comedic memoirs released by Random House, and two young-adult science fiction novels.
“Distinguished Screenwriter” award recipient Nancy Meyers will join Feig at the AFF Awards Luncheon, on Saturday, October 15, held at the historic Austin Club. Meyers’ first film was the groundbreaking Private Benjamin, which she co-wrote with Charles Shyer. The film received three Academy Award® nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, as well as earning the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen. Meyers and Shyer’s additional writing credits include Irreconcilable Differences, Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride Part II.
Meyers made her directorial debut with the highly popular update of the Disney Classic The Parent Trap, which she also co-wrote with Charles Shyer, and next directed the blockbuster romantic comedy What Women Want. She went on to write, direct, and produce the subsequent box office hits Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, and It’s Complicated, the latter receiving three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. In 2015, Meyers wrote, directed, and produced The Intern. Meyers was the recipient of the 2004 ShoWest Director of the Year Award; she is the first woman ever to receive this prestigious honor.
Austin Film Festival also revealed new panelists confirmed to speak at the Screenwriters Conference, held the first four days of the Festival, October 13-16. The roster features prominent screenwriters in film and television, including Michelle Ashford (creator Masters of Sex), Max Borenstein (writer Godzilla), Wendy Calhoun (writer Empire), Tim Herlihy (writer Happy Gilmore), David Mandel (showrunner Veep), Mark Medoff (writer Children of a Lesser God), Elizabeth Meriwether (creator New Girl), Matt Selman (writer/executive producer The Simpsons), Mark L. Smith (writer The Revenant), Alan Yang (co-creator Master of None), and many more. The full list can be found here.
ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
Widely known as “The Writers Festival,” Austin Film Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft, and business of storytelling through film, television, and new media. AFF is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Austin Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. All attendees and events are based on permitting schedules and are subject to change and/or cancellation without notice. For media credentials, please contact Lauren Kelcher Stevenson at Kelcher@sunshinesachs.com. Badges and passes are available for purchase here or by phone at 1-800-310-FEST.
