"Midnight In Paris" Producer Letty Aronson, Screenwriter Diablo Cody, Film Composer Alberto Iglesias and Director Michel Hazanavicius Will Be Honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, are pleased to announce honorees who will be recognized for their achievements at the festival's Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 24, 2011.

Producer Letty Aronson will receive the "Hollywood Producer Award" for "Midnight in Paris," director Michel Hazanavicius will be honored with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award" for "The Artist," screenwriter Diablo Cody will be honored with the "Hollywood Screenwriter Award" for "Young Adult" and film composer Alberto Iglesias will be recognized with the "Hollywood Film Composer Award" for "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" and "The Skin I Live In."

"We are very proud to recognize the films and work of these talented filmmakers," said Carlos de Abreu, Founder of the Hollywood Awards Gala.

The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has also announced that they will honor five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with the "Hollywood Career Achievement Award," Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Williams with the "Hollywood Actress Award" for "My Week with Marilyn," Academy Award-nominated actor Christopher Plummer with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award" for "Beginners," actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award" for "50/50," actress Jessica Chastain with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award" for "The Tree of Life," "Coriolanus," "The Debt," "The Help," and "Take Shelter," and actress Felicity Jones with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Like Crazy." Other honorees include the cast of "The Help" (Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel), Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor Stephen Mirrione, Production Designer James Murakami, and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar at their annual Awards Gala. In addition, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" will be honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.

ABOUT LETTY ARONSON

Letty Aronson latest film was Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris." She previously produced Woody Allen's "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger," "Whatever Works," Golden Globe winner "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "Cassandra's Dream," "Scoop," "Match Point," "Melinda," "Hollywood Ending," and "The Curse of The Jade Scorpion."

She is producing "Relatively Speaking," three one-act comedies by Woody Allen, Ethan Cohen, Elaine May and directed by John Turturro which opens in September 2011.

Her extensive film, television, and stage experience includes numerous other collaborations with Mr. Allen. She co-executive-produced such films as "Don't Drink The Water," which marked Mr. Allen's first foray into television moviemaking; "Bullets Over Broadway," which garnered seven Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Supporting Actress (Dianne Wiest); "Mighty Aphrodite," for which Mira Sorvino was awarded the Best Supporting Actress Oscar; and "Sweet and Lowdown," for which Sean Penn and Samantha Morton both earned Oscar nominations. Her other credits as a co-executive producer include Mr. Allen's highly acclaimed musical comedy "Everyone Says I Love You," and his "Celebrity," "Deconstructing Harry, and "Small Time Crooks."

In addition, she co-executive-produced "The Spanish Prisoner," written for the screen and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and critically acclaimed filmmaker David Mamet. Critics universally praised the film when it was released in 1998. She also co-executive-produced "Into My Heart," which was written and directed by two newcomers, Sean Smith and Anthony Stark; and Coky Giedroyc's "Women Talking Dirty," which marked Ms. Aronson's first European co-production with Elton John's Rocket Pictures.

ABOUT DIABLO CODY
Diablo won a WGA Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay for her film "Juno," which was released by Fox Searchlight. Following "Juno," she wrote the horror film, "Jennifer's Body" which was released by Fox in September 2009.

Cody was the creator and executive producer of the SHOWTIME hit series "United States of Tara" for which Toni Colette took home the Emmy® and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

Currently, Cody wrote and is producing a big screen version of Francine Pascal's New York Times best-selling book series Sweet Valley High with Universal/Marc Platt. Diablo is writing/executive producing a new comedy series in development for Fox Network and Warners Studios. She recently completed a rewrite for the new "Evil Dead" movie, produced by Sam Raimi. Her newest and much buzzed about feature with Mandate, Young Adult, is set to be released in December of 2011. It is directed by Jason Reitman, who also directed "Juno."

Cody has been profiled in countless publications and was formerly a columnist for Entertainment Weekly. Her critically acclaimed memoir Candy Girl was published in 2004. Diablo has also launched an internet show "Red Band Trailer" which is a talk show that features celebrities in her Airstream trailer.

ABOUT ALBERTO IGLESIAS

Perhaps best known for his landmark collaborations with director Pedro Almodovar, Alberto Iglesias is Spain's most acclaimed composer. In addition to his work with Almodovar, Iglesias has received Oscar nominations for his scores for Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardener" and Marc Forster's "The Kite Runner." Iglesias also received BAFTA nominations for both "The Constant Gardener" and "The Kite Runner" and a Golden Globe nomination for "The Kite Runner." For Almodovar's "Volver," Iglesias won the European Film Award for Best Original Score and the World Soundtrack Award for Composer of the Year. He has received nine Goya awards (Spain's top film honor) and numerous other European accolades.

Iglesias' most recent score is for Tomas Alfredson's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt. The film received its world premiere to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival and will be released by Focus Features in December. He has also completed his most recent collaboration with Almodovar, "The Skin I Live In" starring Antonio Banderas, which premieres at the Toronto and New York Film Festivals and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. This year also saw the release of Iglesias' critically acclaimed "Tambien La Lluvia," directed by Iciar Bollain, and the French production "The Monk," directed by Dominik Moll.

Iglesias has also collaborated with American directors Steven Soderbergh (the two films about Che Guevara starring Benicio Del Toro), Oliver Stone ("Comandante") and John Malkovich ("The Dancer Upstairs"). His work with Almodovar includes 2009's "Broken Embraces," starring Penelope Cruz, as well as "All About My Mother," "Bad Education" and the Oscar-winning "Talk to Her" and "Volver," He has also worked with such top Spanish directors as Julio Medem and Carlos Saura.

Iglesias' classical studies included piano, guitar and electronic music as well as composition. In addition to his film scores, his work has been performed in concert halls around the world as well as in several notable ballets for renowned choreographer Nacho Duato and the Spanish National Dance Company. His concert pieces include "Cautiva", "Tabulae", "Cero Sobre Cero" and "Self" as well as his most recent, "In the Land of the Lemon Trees", which received its world premiere featuring celebrated soprano Dawn Upshaw in Chicago in 2009.

The festival and awards will mark their return on October 20 for a week long series of screenings, competitions and awards. The Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 24, 2011.

ABOUT MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS

Michel Hazanavicius is a French screenwriter, producer and director. In addition to THE ARTIST, his other credits include OSS 117: LOST IN RIO (2009), OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES (2006), MES AMIS (1999) and LA CLASSE AMERICAINE (1993).

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 17 premium channels including the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® brands with approximately 19 million and 32.9 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 (NASDAQ: LSTZA).

SOURCE Hollywood Film Festival