Ava DuVernay to Receive Casting Society’s Career Achievement Award

Ava DuVernay will receive the Lynn Stalmaster award for Career Achievement at the 39th Annual Artios Awards on March 7 in Los Angeles, the Casting Society of America announced on Thursday. Her latest, the already acclaimed “Origin,” opens Jan. 19.

In a statement, CSA President Destiny Lilly said, “Ava DuVernay is a visionary storyteller who has staunchly championed casting professionals and the art of casting throughout her impactful career. Her passion for inclusive and progressive casting throughout her career has catapulted careers and made her a leader in the industry. We are thrilled to honor her with the Lynn Stalmaster Award at this year’s ceremony.”

DuVernay, who is featured in the Awards Preview issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine and spoke with Sharon Waxman last month at the Power Women Summit, released a statement: “In my film ORIGIN, the process of casting became the primary brushstroke on the canvas. Working with my casting director Aisha Coley to surround our leading lady Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor was a joy and a thrill.

“Each of the actors in the ORIGIN ensemble are stellar in their experience, energy, intellect and enthusiasm. They are the latest in a series of extraordinary casts that I’ve had the great honor of guiding over the years. To be recognized for those efforts by this esteemed organization is a true gift for which I’m abundantly grateful.”

DuVernay’s impressive filmography includes “A Wrinkle in Time,” the highest-grossing film directed by a Black woman; “Selma,” which was nominated for Best Picture at the 2015 Oscars and won for Best Original Song; “13th,” nominated for Best Documentary at the 2017 Academy Awards; and “Middle of Nowhere,” for which she won the Sundance Best Director Award in 2012.

On the small screen, she exec-produced four-part limited series “When They See Us” about the Central Park Five, which received 16 Emmy nominations, and exec-produces her long-running OWN series “Queen Sugar.” Her nonprofit collective Array champions films by people of color and women — it won a Peabody Institutional Award.

As the CSA noted, DuVernay represents the director’s branch on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a vice president of the Directors Guild of America and an advisory board member of the American Film Institute.

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