Producers Guild to Honor George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy With Milestone Award
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George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy will be honored by the Producers Guild of America with its 2022 Milestone Award honoring the pair’s contributions to the film industry as Lucasfilm marks its 50th anniversary year.
The kudo will be presented March 19 as part of the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
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Lucas and Kennedy will be recognized as individuals and for their collective leadership of Lucasfilm, the crucible of the “Star Wars” franchise that Lucas created in the 1970s. Lucas led the Bay Area-based production banner — that he likened to a “rebel base” outside Hollywood — from its inception in 1971 until October 2012, when he sold the studio and its golden vault of “Star Wars” IP to Disney for $4 billion.
“Together, George and Kathleen have carved out a fantastic empire of entertainment that inspires and entertains billions, all with the highest levels of both creative and technical achievement,” PGA presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher said in a joint statement. “What George has built through his movies and through Lucasfilm has enriched every facet of filmmaking, and his colossal creativity and technical genius amazed the world. Kathleen has ascended to the highest levels of our industry, facing ever-changing challenges each time she succeeded in producing one of the brilliant and boundary breaking films she is known for. And since joining Lucasfilm as president, she has expertly exalted its IP to be even more influential and treasured around the world.”
The Milestone nod from the PGA amounts to a “celebration of all that goes into bringing stories to life across a lifetime — protecting creativity while balancing business, moving technology forward to make real what you can see in your mind’s eye and doing it all from scratch most of the time,” Lucas said. “Being recognized alongside my longtime friend and fellow producer Kathleen Kennedy makes this honoring of our shared and individual works even more meaningful.”
A veteran producer, Kennedy was partnered in Kennedy/Marshall Co. with producer Frank Marshall for 20 years before she became president of Lucasfilm. Before that, Kennedy and Marshall co-founded the Amblin production banner with Steven Spielberg.
“I am very honored to share this award with George Lucas who has inspired a generation of filmmakers who were coming of age, not only through his storytelling but through technological innovation that unlocked our imagination,” Kennedy said.
The Producers Guild Awards were postponed earlier this month from their original date of Feb. 26 out of concerns about the surge in COVID-19 infection rates in Los Angeles County.
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