Wednesday, October 23, 2013 4:25 PM
HOLLYWOOD, CA: The Los Angeles Press Club is proud to announce that Academy Award winner and humanitarian activist Forest Whitaker will accept the Visionary Award at a gala celebration on November 24 at the Biltmore Hotel, downtown Los Angeles.
The Visionary Award was instituted last year to honor an individual within the Entertainment Industry who uses their high-profile status to make the world a better place and to spread information about issues of freedom and importance.
“Mr. Whitaker represents the best, most generous and thoughtful model Hollywood has to offer,” says Press Club Executive Director Diana Ljungaeus.
Besides being a universally acclaimed actor, Mr. Whitaker has given his passionate support to others in The United States and around the world. He is the founder of PeaceEarth Foundation, co-founder and chair of the International Institute for Peace and is the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation. Whitaker is an avid supporter and public advocate for Hope North, an education and healing center in northern Uganda for the young victims of Uganda’s civil war, including orphans and former child soldiers, empowering them to become voices for peace and development.
Mr. Whitaker has sponsored and promoted young filmmakers through Junto Box Films, an organization for funding, producing and distributing films. He serves as the co-chairman.
Mr. Whitaker can be seen in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. His portrayal of Cecil Gaines is again the subject of an avalanche of Oscar buzz. He stars with Angela Bassett in the upcoming Black Nativity and with Christian Bale in Out of the Furnace. He produced Fruitvale Station through his Significant Productions. The thought-provoking film won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize earlier this year and is also creating a lot of buzz.
The Los Angeles Press Club has a long and storied history as one of the oldest and most prestigious journalist organizations in the country. We stand as an organization devoted to improving the spirit of journalism and journalists, raising the industry’s standards, strengthening its integrity and improving its reputation all for the benefit of the community at large. Serving the Southland since 1913, it is the only Southern California journalism group that speaks for all journalists working for daily and weekly newspapers, radio & TV, magazines, documentary films and online.
The NEJ Visionary Award is bestowed by the Los Angeles Press Club at the National Entertainment Journalism Awards to an individual within the Entertainment Industry who has used their high-profile status to make the world a better place and spread information about issues of freedom and importance. Jane Fonda was the first recipient of The Visionary Award for her creation of the “I Am Your Child Foundation” and co-founding of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. She was introduced by Robert Redford.
The Los Angeles Press Club established the NEJ awards in 2008 to recognize the quality journalism being produced in the fastest growing segment in modern media. It remains the sole award of its kind in the nation.
To sponsor this event, buy advertising, tickets or donate to our silent auction, please contact Diana Ljungaeus at Diana@LApressclub.org or call 323.669.8081.
