Lee Daniels, director of "Lee Daniels' The Butler," to be feted with the "Hollywood Director Award" at the 17th Annual Hollywood Film Awards

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carlos de Abreu, founder and executive producer of the 17th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, announced today that director Lee Daniels will be honored with the "Hollywood Director Award." The honor will be bestowed at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, October 21st, 2013, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

"It's a great honor for us to recognize Lee's outstanding work with this top directing honor of the year. His tremendous vision and versatility provides us with films that are both critical and box office successes," said de Abreu.

The Hollywood Film Awards honors cherished stars, filmmakers, and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance. Past "Hollywood Director Award" honorees have included Kathryn Bigelow, Clint Eastwood, Marc Foster, Tom Hooper, Ron Howard, Michael Mann, Sam Mendes, Bennett Miller, Martin Scorsese, and Olive Stone among others.

The 2013 Hollywood Film Awards has also announced that it will be honoring the prolific and legendary producer Jerry Weintraub with the "Hollywood Legend Award," Academy award-nominated actor Harrison Ford with this year's "Hollywood Career Achievement Award," actor Matthew McConaughey with the "Hollywood Actor Award," Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock with the "Hollywood Actress Award," Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award," Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts with the "Hollywood Supporting Actress Award," actor Jared Leto with the "Hollywood Breakout Performance Award" for "Dallas Buyers Club," actress Lupita Nyong'o with the "New Hollywood Award" for "12 Year A Slave," actor David Oyelowo for "Lee Daniels The Butler,"  director Steve McQueen with the "Hollywood Breakout Director Award," producer Michael De Luca with the "Hollywood Producer Award," and screenwriters Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater with the "Hollywood Screenwriter Award." Other honorees include director Dan Scalon for "Monsters University" with the "Hollywood Animation Award," and the movie "Pacific Rim" for visual effects.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 21, 2013.

The Hollywood Film Awards honors cherished stars, filmmakers, and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance.

Last year's awards show received more than 41 million media impressions, in addition to more than 300 million online and print readers' impressions.

ABOUT LEE DANIELS

Lee Daniels is perhaps best known for his Academy Award winning film PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE. The film was adapted from the New York Times- bestselling novel Push by Sapphire (a.k.a. Ramona Lofton). PRECIOUS was nominated for six Academy Awards, including nominations for Daniels in the category of "Achievement in Directing" and "Best Motion Picture of the Year, and wins in the categories of "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role" and "Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay."

Daniels was the first African American to be nominated for a Director's Guild of America Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film" on behalf of PRECIOUS. The film won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, only the third film in Festival history to do so. It was also nominated for three Golden Globe awards including "Best Picture Drama," and was nominated for eight NAACP Image Awards, six of which it won, in categories including "Outstanding Motion Picture" and "Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, Theatrical or Television." The film also garnered a total of five 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, including "Best Feature" and "Best Director."

Daniels' production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, made its feature film debut with MONSTER'S BALL, making Daniels the sole African-American producer of an Oscar®- winning and Oscar®-nominated film. Daniels also produced THE WOODSMAN which was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. The film received the CICAE Arthouse Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Jury Prize at the Deauville International Film Festival, and Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review.

ABOUT DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 1957, dick clark productions, Inc. (DCP) is a leading independent producer of television programming. DCP produces perennial hits such as the "American Music Awards," "Golden Globe Awards," "Academy of Country Music Awards," and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest." DCP also produces popular weekly television programming, including "So You Think You Can Dance," and owns and maintains one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment libraries, which includes more than 30 years of "American Bandstand" footage. 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. In the last 10 years, a total of 96 Oscar® nominations and 34 Oscars® were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards. For additional information, visit www.hollywoodawards.com.

SOURCE Hollywood Film Awards