SAG-AFTRA Foundation to honour Jeffrey Katzenberg and Spike Lee with its “Patron of the Artists Awards”

 The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced today it will present its Patron of the Artists Awards to entertainment industry leader, WndrCo Co-founder and NewTV (working title) Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and trailblazing Director/Producer/Writer Spike Lee whose most recent film BlacKkKlansman opened earlier this year. The award honors industry leaders who are champions of the arts and whose history of fostering creativity and creating opportunities for actors has made a positive impact on the acting profession and the performing arts. The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s 3rd annual Patron of the Artists Awards benefit takes place Thursday, November 8 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

“The SAG-AFTRA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a vital safety net for artists throughout their careers. We believe that the contributions made by performing artists to our society are not only valuable, but essential, and it’s not only the arts, but the artists who need a community of support,” said SAG-AFTRA Foundation President JoBeth Williams. “Jeffrey Katzenberg and Spike Lee are two leaders within our industry who have created opportunities, opened doors, nurtured careers and provided jobs to countless artists. 

They understand the value of artists - and the arts - to transport us to worlds that we have never seen before and tell stories that have never been told before. Mr. Lee and Mr. Katzenberg are innovators, leaders and champions of the arts, and of artists, and could not be more deserving of our Patron of the Artists Awards.”


                                           

In addition to honoring Jeffrey Katzenberg and Spike Lee with Patron of the Artists Awards on November 8, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation will also recognize Harrison Ford and Lady Gaga with Artists Inspiration Awards for their philanthropic work.

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 The 3rd Annual Patron of the Artists Awards benefits the Foundation’s vital assistance and performers programs for SAG-AFTRA artists, as well as its Emmy® nominated children’s literacy program Storyline Online®.


Previous recipients of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Patron of the Artists Awards are Director/Writer/Producer Judd Apatow, Director/Producer Kathryn Bigelow, Director/Writer/Producer Lee Daniels, Producer Megan Ellison, Director/Producer Rob Marshall, and Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. 


The Patron of the Artists Awards event includes musical performances with ticket sales benefitting the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s vital assistance and performers programs for SAG-AFTRA artists, as well as its Emmy®-nominated children’s literacy program Storyline Online®.



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About the SAG-AFTRA Foundation

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides vital assistance and free educational programming to SAG-AFTRA artists and families while serving the public at large through its Emmy® nominated children’s literacy program Storyline Online®. The Foundation relies solely on support from gifts, grants and sponsorships to maintain its free programs. For more information, visit sagaftra.foundation.


About Jeffrey Katzenberg

Jeffrey Katzenberg is a co-founder and managing partner of WndrCo, a holding company that invests in, acquires, develops and operates consumer technology businesses for the long term. He is the founder and chairman of the board of NewTV (working title), a mobile-first media platform incubated at WndrCo. Katzenberg draws on more than 40 years of experience as an entertainment industry leader. 

After serving as President of Production at Paramount Studios, he became Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, overseeing a renaissance of animation and helping to usher the studio’s transition to digital production, releasing top-grossing beloved animated classics such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King. In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG. 

A decade later, DreamWorks Animation became a publicly-traded company, with Katzenberg serving as CEO. Under Katzenberg’s leadership, DreamWorks Animation moved into all-CG production, becoming the largest animation studio in the world and a global branded entertainment company, releasing 32 animated feature films and 24 television series that brought to life Shrek and Donkey, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, and How to Train your Dragon, which have been embraced around the world. In 2013, DreamWorks made a major expansion into online media with its acquisition of AwesomenessTV. In August 2016, DreamWorks Animation SKG was sold to Comcast for $3.8 billion. 

In 2017, Katzenberg received an Honorary Palme D’Or from the Cannes Film Festival in recognition of his outstanding achievements in film and he was inducted into the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor. Katzenberg also received the Motion Picture Academy’s prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board for the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation, Katzenberg sits on the Boards of AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Museum of the Moving Image, California Institute of the Arts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Geffen Playhouse, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and The Simon Wiesenthal Center.  



About Spike Lee

Spike Lee has created an iconic body of storytelling that has left an indelible mark on Filmmaking and Television. His career spans 30 years and includes She’s Gotta Have It,  Do The Right Thing,  Malcolm X, Chi-Raq, and 2018’s BlacKkKlansman. 

Lee’s outstanding Feature Documentary work includes the double Emmy Award® -winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, a follow-up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P Newton Story. In the television arena, Lee is currently in pre-production on Season 2 of his Netflix Original Series She’s Gotta Have It, a contemporary update of the classic film. Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael Jordan for Nike. In 1997, he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural and millennial audiences. 


In addition to his films, TV series and commercials, Lee has directed Music Videos and Shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis and Anita Baker. Spike Lee is a two-time Oscar® nominee (Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay and 4 Little Girls for Documentary Feature) and was awarded an Honorary Oscar® in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences.