Cast of "Argo" to be Honored with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award" at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony

Ben Affleck leads an ensemble cast that also includes Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Times, is pleased to announce that the feature "Argo," directed by Ben Affleck, will receive the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award."

"We are very proud to recognize the ensemble cast of "Argo," for their dramatic and outstanding performances," said Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Awards.

The 2012 Hollywood Film Awards has also announced that it will honor director David O. Russell with the "Hollywood Director Award"; Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award"; Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard with the "Hollywood Actress Award"; three-time Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams with the "Hollywood Supporting Actress Award"; producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner with the "Hollywood Producers Award"; writer/director Judd Apatow with the "Hollywood Comedy Award"; actor John Hawkes with the "Hollywood Breakout Performance Award" for "The Sessions"; and Quvenzhane Wallis with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Other honorees include cinematographer Wally Pfister, editor Dylan Tichenor, production designer Sarah Greenwood, and visual effects supervisors Janek Sirrs and Jeff White. In addition, director Peter Ramsey's "Rise of the Guardians" will be honored with the "Hollywood Animation Award," along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 22, 2012. The event honors cherished stars and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance.

"We are very gratified to be the first stop of the awards season. In the last nine years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards," said de Abreu.

Last year's awards show reached a total TV audience of more than 41 million media impressions, in addition to more than 300 million online and print readers' impressions.

In addition to celebrating accomplishments on screen, the Hollywood Film Awards established the "Hollywood Gives Back" program to expand and continue highlighting and assisting important local and national charities to raise funds. Over the years, the Hollywood Film Awards has contributed to such charities as The Art of Elysium, Artists For Human Rights, Artists for Peace and Justice, MatchingDonors.com, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the Enough Project, and Variety The Children's Charity of So. CA, among others.

Further, the Hollywood Film Awards selects individuals to be recipients of their "Hollywood Humanitarian Awards," in recognition of their contribution to the betterment of their communities or society at large. Prior recipients include Nobel Peace Prize winner and ex-President of East Timor, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta; Nobel Laureate Jody Williams; Father Rick Frechette; and actor and activist Sean Penn.

ABOUT ARGO:
"Argo" is a dramatic thriller based on true events. Ben Affleck leads an ensemble cast that also includes Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, and Kerry Bishe.

On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top "exfiltration" specialist, Tony Mendez, to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country.  A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

ABOUT BEN AFFLECK:
Ben Affleck, directed, produced and stars as Tony Mendez in "Argo," has been recognized for his work as an actor, writer, director, and producer.

Affleck made his directorial debut in 2007 with the feature "Gone Baby Gone," for which he won several critics groups' awards, including the Best Directorial Debut Award from the National Board of Review.  He also won the Breakthrough Director of the Year Award at the 2007 Hollywood Film Festival.  Ben also co-wrote the screenplay for the film, adapted from the Dennis Lehane novel.

In 2010, he directed and starred in "The Town," in addition to co-writing the screenplay.  The film was named a Movie of the Year by the American Film Institute (AFI), and the cast won the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble.  In addition, Affleck earned a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for "The Town," which also brought Oscar®, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® nominations to Jeremy Renner.  Also in 2010, Affleck starred alongside Tommy Lee Jones in John Wells' drama "The Company Men."

This summer, Affleck shot a starring role in "Runner, Runner," directed by Brad Furman and slated for release next year.  He is next set to direct a film about notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, in which he and Matt Damon will star.  The film will be produced by their production company, Pearl Street Films.

Affleck first came to prominence in 1997 with the acclaimed "Good Will Hunting," which he starred in and co-wrote with Matt Damon.  For their work, they won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay, as well as a Golden Globe Award and Humanitas Prize.  The following year, Affleck starred in John Madden's Academy Award®-winning "Shakespeare in Love," winning a SAG Award® as part of the ensemble cast.

His subsequent film credits include "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor," both directed by Michael Bay; "Forces of Nature"; Ben Younger's "Boiler Room"; Roger Michell's "Changing Lanes": "The Sum of All Fears"; the screen adaptation of Marvel Comics' "Daredevil"; Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl"; and Kevin Macdonald's "State of Play."

In 2006, Affleck earned widespread praise for his portrayal of ill-fated actor George Reeves in the noir drama "Hollywoodland."  The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Affleck won the coveted Volpi Award for Best Actor.  He also received Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Actor, as well as the Best Actor Award at the Hollywood Film Festival.  Affleck appeared in the ensemble casts of "Extract" and "He's Just Not That Into You," and starred in Kevin Macdonald's crime thriller "State of Play," alongside Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams.

In 2000, Affleck partnered with Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey to form LivePlanet, Inc.  Their first endeavor, "Project Greenlight," aired on HBO and drew critical, audience and industry attention for its behind-the-scenes look at the challenges faced by a first-time filmmaker.  The second season of "Project Greenlight" aired on HBO at the beginning of 2003, with a third season on Bravo.  All three series were nominated for Emmy Awards.

In addition to his successful film career, Affleck is also a passionate advocate and philanthropist.  In March 2010, he founded the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), an advocacy and grant-making initiative with the mission of helping the Congolese people support local community-based approaches that create a sustainable and successful society in the long-troubled region.  ECI is the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo.  Affleck is also a longtime political activist and strong supporter of many charitable organizations, such as Feeding America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, A-T Children's Project and The Jimmy Fund.

ABOUT BRYAN CRANSTON:
Bryan Cranston plays Jack O'Donnell in "Argo."  Cranston has won three Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his portrayal of Walter White on AMC's "Breaking Bad," now in its fifth season.  Cranston has the distinction of being the first actor in a cable series, and only the second actor in Emmy history, with three consecutive Best Actor wins.  His performance on "Breaking Bad" has also brought him two Golden Globe nominations and four Screen Actors Guild Award® nominations, and he most recently received another Emmy nomination.      Cranston previously starred for seven seasons on the hit comedy series "Malcolm in the Middle."  He earned three Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for his role as the dad, Hal Wilkerson.

On the big screen, Cranston will next be seen in the comedy "Get a Job."  He also starred this summer as villain Vilos Cohaagen in the remake of the sci-fi thriller "Total Recall."  His recent film work also includes Adam Shankman's "Rock of Ages," "John Carter," "Red Tails," Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive," and Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion," in which he joined an all-star ensemble cast.  He also lent his voice to the animated hit "Madagascar 3."  Cranston's many other film credits include the Tom Hanks-directed films "Larry Crowne" and "That Thing You Do!"; The Lincoln Lawyer"; "Little Miss Sunshine"; "Seeing Other People"; and Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan."

Born and raised in Southern California, Cranston began pursuing his acting career after college, starting on the stage in community theater and summer stock.  He went on to appear in numerous television shows, including a recurring role on "Seinfeld."  Among his longform credits, he portrayed astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the award-winning HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon."

Cranston continues to return to the stage whenever possible.  His theatre credits include productions of "The God of Hell," "Chapter Two," "The Taming of the Shrew," "A Doll's House," "Eastern Standard," "Wrestlers," "Barefoot in the Park," and "The Steven Weed Show," for which he won a Drama-Logue Award.

Cranston has also enjoyed success behind the camera, most recently directing several episodes of "Breaking Bad," on which he serves as a producer.  He earlier wrote the original romantic drama "Last Chance" as a birthday gift for his wife, Robin Dearden, and also directed, produced and starred in the film.  In addition, Cranston directed several episodes of "Malcolm in the Middle" and the Comedy Central pilot "Special Unit."  In early 2011, Cranston served as executive producer of an exclusive online series called "The Handlers" for Atom.com, in which he played Jack Powers, campaigning to win a seat in the State Senate.

ABOUT ALAN ARKIN:
Alan Arkin plays Lester Siegel in "Argo."  Long one of the most respected artists of the stage and screen, Arkin won an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 2006 hit "Little Miss Sunshine."  For his role, Arkin also won an Independent Spirit Award and a BAFTA Award, and shared in a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast, in addition to receiving an individual SAG Award® nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

Following "Argo," Arkin has a range of films forthcoming, including "Stand Up Guys," and "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone."  His latest credits include the family hit "The Muppets," the comedy "The Change-Up," the heartwarming "Marley & Me" and the action comedy "Get Smart."

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Arkin launched his career with Chicago's improvisational revue "Second City."  This led to his 1963 Broadway bow in the play "Enter Laughing," based on Carl Reiner's book, for which Arkin won a Tony Award.  The following year, he starred on Broadway in Murray Schisgal's hit "LUV."  In 1966, Arkin made his major feature film debut, starring in Norman Jewison's comedy smash "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming."  For his performance in the comedy, Arkin earned his first Oscar® nomination, for Best Actor, and won a Golden Globe Award.  He garnered a second Best Actor Oscar® nomination for his performance in the 1968 drama "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," for which he also won a New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Award and received a Golden Globe nomination.  He gained another Golden Globe nomination for the title role in "Popi."

With more than 70 films spanning over 45 years, his long list of credits also includes "Wait Until Dark"; "Catch-22"; "Little Murders," which marked his feature film directorial debut; "Hearts of the West," for which he won an NYFCC Award; "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution"; "The In-Laws"; "Edward Scissorhands"; "Havana"; "Glengarry Glen Ross"; "Mother Night"; "So I Married an Axe Murderer"; "Grosse Point Blank"; "Gattaca"; "Slums of Beverly Hills"; "Jakob the Liar"; "America's Sweethearts"; "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing," receiving another Spirit Award nomination; "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause"; "Rendition"; "Thin Ice"; "City Island"; and "Sunshine Cleaning."  He has also directed several short films, including "People Soup," which was Oscar®-nominated for Best Live Action Short.

Arkin has also been recognized for his work on television, earning four Emmy Award nominations, the most recent for his performance in the telefilm "The Pentagon Papers."  He also earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his work in the true-life Holocaust drama "Escape from Sobibor."  His other Emmy nods came for his guest role on "Chicago Hope" and the drama "ABC Stage 67."  Among his many other television credits, Arkin starred in the acclaimed A&E series "100 Centre Street," created, written and directed by Sidney Lumet and also appeared in the Showtime movie "Varian's War."  In addition, Arkin directed the television adaptation of the Broadway play "Twigs," starring Carol Burnett, and two episodes of the PBS series "Trying Times."

Arkin began directing for the stage in 1966 with the much-acclaimed "Eh?," starring Dustin Hoffman at the Circle in the Square.  He then won an Obie for directing Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders," followed by Feiffer's "The White House Murder Case."  He won Drama Desk Awards for his direction of both plays, also presented at Circle in the Square.  On Broadway, Arkin directed the Neil Simon hit "The Sunshine Boys," for which he was nominated for a Tony for Best Direction of a Play.  In 1998, he directed, starred in and co-wrote, with Elaine May, the hit production of "Power Plays" at the Promenade Theatre.  His directing work also includes the Broadway musical "Molly"; "Rubbers and Yanks Three," at The American Place Theater; "Joan of Lorraine," at the Hartman in Stamford; "The Sorrows of Stephen," at the Burt Reynolds Theatre, starring his son Adam; and "Room Service," at the Roundabout in New York.

Arkin has also written several books, including eight children's books, the latest entitled Tony's Hard Work Day.  An earlier book, The Lemming Condition, was honored by The Book Sellers of America by being placed in the White House Library.  In 2011, Arkin released a memoir entitled An Improvised Life.

ABOUT JOHN GOODMAN:
John Goodman plays John Chambers in "Argo."  Well known to both film and television audiences, Goodman recently starred in the Best Picture Oscar® winner "The Artist," writer/director Michel Hazanavicius's homage to Hollywood's silent film era.  Goodman shared in both Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® and Critics' Choice Award nominations for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast as a member of the film's ensemble.

Goodman is currently co-starring with Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake in "Trouble With the Curve."  Later this fall, he stars with Denzel Washington in Robert Zemeckis' drama "Flight."  Among his other upcoming films are the Coen brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis"; the Will Ferrell comedy "The Internship"; and Todd Phillips' "The Hangover Part III," completing the blockbuster comedy franchise.

On television, Goodman starred with Al Pacino in the 2010 HBO biopic "You Don't Know Jack," earning Emmy and SAG Award® nominations for his portrayal of Jack Kevorkian's longtime associate Neal Nicol.  Goodman won an Emmy Award in 2007 for his guest role on Aaron's Sorkin's series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."  He earlier received two Emmy nominations for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Special, for his work in the television adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" and for his performance in the title role of "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long."

Goodman first became a favorite of television viewers when he starred for nine seasons on the smash hit sitcom "Roseanne."  Over the course of the show's run, he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, as well as earning three more Golden Globe nominations, seven Emmy nominations and a SAG Award® nomination.  His numerous credits also include a recurring role on Sorkin's "The West Wing," and starring roles on seasons of HBO's "Treme," FX's "Damages" and NBC's "Community."

On the big screen, Goodman received a Golden Globe nomination for his chilling performance in the Coen brothers' 1991 film "Barton Fink."  He first collaborated with the Coens on the hit comedy "Raising Arizona," and has since reunited with them on the films "The Hudsucker Proxy," "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Goodman was more recently seen in Stephen Daldry's acclaimed drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" and Kevin Smith's indie political thriller "Red State."  His long list of credits also includes "Evan Almighty," "Speed Racer," "Beyond the Sea," "One Night at McCool's," "Coyote Ugly," "What Planet Are You From?," "Bringing Out the Dead," "Fallen," "The Borrowers," "Mother Night," "The Flintstones," "Born Yesterday," "The Babe," "King Ralph," "Arachnophobia," "Stella," "Always," "Sea of Love," "Everybody's All-American," "Punchline," "The Wrong Guys," "The Big Easy," "Sweet Dreams," and "Revenge of the Nerds," to name only a portion.  In addition to his work in front of the camera, he has lent his distinctive voice to numerous animated features, including "Monsters, Inc.," "Cars," "The Emperor's New Groove," "The Jungle Book 2," "Bee Movie," "The Princess and the Frog" and, most recently, "ParaNorman."  He will reprise his "Monsters, Inc." role of Scully in the upcoming film "Monsters University."

A St. Louis native, Goodman earned a BFA in Theatre from Southwest Missouri State, and has appeared in a wide range of plays, musicals and children's theatre productions.  He made his Broadway debut in "Loose Ends," and, in 1985, earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for his work in the Broadway musical "Big River."  In 2001, he starred with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in the Shakespeare in the Park production of "The Seagull," directed by Mike Nichols, followed by the Public Theatre's 2002 presentation of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui."  He more recently starred in the 2009 Broadway revival of "Waiting for Godot."

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES:
The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 1.6 million and 2.7 million on Sunday, more than 16 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.4 million. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 130 years.

The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates include the Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News and Hoy Los Angeles and reach approximately 5.2 million or 39% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News, as well as Tribune Direct's west coast division and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. Additional information is available at http://latimes.com/aboutus.

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS:
The Hollywood Film Awards were created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera, and launch the awards season. The criteria are: recipients are selected to be honored for their body of work and/or a film(s) that is to be released between January 1 and December 31 by an advisory team. In addition, for the recipients of our "film awards craft categories" (aside from evaluating their body of work), our Advisory team takes into consideration the recommendation of their guilds/societies. Last year alone, our recipients received 12 nominations and 5 Oscars. In the last 9 years, a total of 85 Oscar nominations and 32 Oscars were given to our honorees.

The Hollywood Film Awards are presented in conjunction with Presenting Sponsor the Los Angeles Times, Premier sponsors ArcLight Cinemas and Hollywoodnews.com, exclusive Regional Print Media sponsor Los Angeles Confidential and trade Media sponsors the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Special support is provided by American Cinema Editors - A.C.E., American Society of Cinematographers - A.S.C., The Art Directors Guild - A.D.G., Celebrity Services, The Casting Society of America - CSA, Costume Designers Guild - CDG, Columbia Pictures, Creative Artists Agency, DreamWorks SKG, Entertainment Tonight, Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, ICM, ILM, Motion Picture Editors Guild, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., The Weinstein Company, WME. Getty Image is the Official Photography Agency.

Awards Contact:
Hollywood Film Awards®
Ph: 310.288.1882
[email protected]
433 N. Camden Drive, Suite 600
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
http://www.hollywoodfilmawards.com

SOURCE Hollywood Film Awards

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED