Hollywood Awards® Kicks Off the Awards Season

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hollywood Awards®, presented by Starz, announced today that the 15th Annual Hollywood Awards® Gala ceremony, honoring excellence in motion pictures, both in front of and behind the camera, will take place on Monday, October 24, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Through the years, the Hollywood Awards® Gala has become a bellwether for the Oscars® and it has become known as the first event that launches the awards season. "The New York Times" says that the Hollywood Awards® Gala is the first mandatory stop in the awards season. In the last 8 years, a total of 73 Oscar® nominations and 27 Oscars® were given to the nominees and honorees of the Hollywood Awards®.

"We are very excited to be having our fifteenth annual Hollywood Awards® Gala ceremony on October 24. Last year's event was one of the best yet, with our awards going to Oscar® nominees Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Jesse Eisenberg, Jennifer Lawrence, and the films "Inception," and "The Social Network," as well as the Oscar® winners "The King's Speech" director Tom Hooper, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, cinematographer Wally Pfister, editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, production designer Robert Stromberg, and "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich, among other esteemed Hollywood talent," Hollywood Awards® founder Carlos de Abreu announced.

The first-ever Hollywood Awards® Gala ceremony took place in October 1997 in the historic Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas took home the inaugural Hollywood Career Achievement Award.

The criteria for our recipients are based on their body of work and/or one or more films that are to be released between January 1 and December 31 of each year.

The Hollywood Awards® Gala ceremony is comprised of national and international media coverage, both online and offline, and last year generated more than 300,000,000 media impressions in a mix of broadcast and cable/network television, Internet, and print.

About the Hollywood Awards®:

The Hollywood Awards® were created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, as well as creative talent within the global creative community. The "Hollywood Film Awards®," "Hollywood Breakthrough Awards®," "Hollywood Movie Awards®," and "Hollywood Spotlight Awards®" are bestowed during the prestigious Hollywood Awards® Gala ceremony, which takes place in October in Hollywood.

About Starz Entertainment, LLC:

The festival and awards presenter is Starz Entertainment, LLC, a premium movie and original programming entertainment service provider operating in the United States. The company offers 16 premium channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 18.2 million and 32.8 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs in total more than 1,000 movies and original series every month across its pay TV channels. Starz Entertainment is recognized as a pay TV leader in providing HD, On Demand, HD On Demand and online advanced services for its Starz, Encore and MoviePlex brands. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation and is attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group.

For more information please go to www.HollywoodAwards.com

SOURCE Hollywood Awards Gala