MICHAEL DE LUCA AND PAMELA ABDY TO RECEIVE
THE MILESTONE AWARD AT 2023 PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS
LOS ANGELES (November 3, 2022) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is pleased to announce that film producers Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will be honored with the 2023 Milestone Award for their countless contributions to the film industry, both as individual producers and as a collaborative executive team. They will accept the prize at the 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at The Beverly Hilton.
The Milestone Award is the PGA’s most prestigious honor, recognizing an individual or team who has made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The Guild most recently honored George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy with the award in 2022. Early recipients of the Milestone include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as contemporary innovators Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, James Cameron, Ted Sarandos, Donna Langley, and more.
“Michael and Pam are an incredible team, excelling as both trusted creative producers and successful studio heads,” said Producers Guild of America Presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line in a joint statement. “As individual producers, they’re responsible for some of the most celebrated and memorable films of the 21st century. Together, their instincts and talent for producing mid-budget studio titles has proven these films can still attract a theatrical audience. They are so deserving of this award and we can’t wait to honor them as they start their new roles with Warner Bros.”
“We are so grateful and humbled by this incredible honor. We want to thank Stephanie, Donald and every member of our precious family of Producers at the PGA, an organization we hold in the highest esteem for its tireless work in maintaining the very integrity of what it means to be a producer,” said Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy in a joint statement. “We also are especially thankful to all the filmmakers and storytellers over the years who’ve allowed us to be part of their artistic journey. We wouldn’t be here without each and every one of them.”
Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy serve as Co-Chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, encompassing Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Warner Animation Group.
Prior to joining Warner Bros. in June 2022, De Luca served as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.’s (MGM's) Motion Picture Group Chairman, responsible for all aspects of the studio’s global film operation, including oversight of development, production, marketing and distribution of MGM’s film slate, as well as Orion Motion Pictures. Additionally, De Luca oversaw MGM's On-Stage production division. He also served on the board of United Artists Releasing, the studio's domestic theatrical distribution joint venture with Annapurna Pictures.
An esteemed and prolific producer with three decades in the film business, De Luca has been nominated three times for an Academy Award® for Best Picture of the Year (for The Social Network, Moneyball, and Captain Phillips) and three times for an Emmy Award (for producing both the 89th and the 90th Academy Awards® and for producing the Showtime series Escape At Dannemora). Additionally, he has been nominated four times for a Producers Guild of America Award. De Luca also produced the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as its two sequels – Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed for Universal Pictures.
Over the course of his career, De Luca has held several key positions in the film industry as appointed President and COO of New Line Productions, where he helped to launch lucrative franchises including Friday, Blade, Austin Powers and Rush Hour. During his tenure, he championed such groundbreaking sleeper hits as Seven, Wag the Dog, Pleasantville, Magnolia, I Am Sam and Boogie Nights, and helped to launch the directing careers of Jay Roach, Gary Ross, Alan and Albert Hughes, F. Gary Gray, the Farrelly brothers, David Fincher and Paul Thomas Anderson. From New Line, De Luca went on to serve as DreamWorks’ Head of Production from 2001 to 2004, overseeing the live-action division and the production of such films as Old School and Anchorman, which continued the rise of both Will Ferrell and Todd Phillips.
Prior to joining Warner Bros., Abdy served as MGM’s Motion Picture Group President, overseeing development, production and post-production for all MGM and Orion films including studio hits House of Gucci, Licorice Pizza, The Addams Family 2, and 13 Lives, as well as the upcoming Creed 3.
Abdy also previously served as Partner and Head of Film at Makeready alongside Brad Weston where she led the finance and production of Queen & Slim and A Million Little Pieces; President of Production at New Regency where she oversaw the release of The Revenant, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Big Short, Assassin’s Creed, and Cure For Wellness; President of Scott Stuber’s Bluegrass Films where she produced features for the company’s diverse slate including 47 Ronin, Identity Thief, Kill the Messenger and Endless Love; and Executive Vice President at Paramount Pictures where she oversaw films including Shutter Island, The Love Guru, Babel, Drillbit Taylor, World Trade Center, Aeon Flux, Freedom Writers and Mean Girls.
The 2023 Producers Guild Awards Event Chairs are Mike Farah Chief Executive Officer at Funny Or Die and Joe Farrell, Chief Creative Officer at Funny Or Die. The 2023 Producers Guild of America Awards are produced by Anchor Street Collective for the Producers Guild of America. Branden Chapman is Executive Producer, Carleen Cappelletti is Co-Executive producer, Matt Ullian and Jane Sarkin of Boldface Partners are talent executives, and Jim Piccirillo is Director. The PGA Awards team also includes Diane Salerno (Six Degrees Global) managing sponsorship, and the PGA’s PR agency of record, Sunshine Sachs Morgan and Lylis for PR.
Any questions regarding the 2023 PGA Awards can be submitted to pgaawards@sunshinesachs.com.
About the Producers Guild of America (PGA)
The Producers Guild of America represents over 8,500 producers. It is a non-profit trade organization that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media.
The Guild invests in its core values that benefit the industry at large. These values are rooted in facilitating employment of its members, advocating for sustainable practices in production that minimize human and environmental harm, ensuring a set culture that advances safety and creates viable pathways into the guild for the next generation of producers, particularly those from populations underrepresented in the industry. Year-round it hosts a number of educational, mentoring and professional networking programs, as well as industry events that honor excellence in producing.
Website: https://www.producersguild.org/
Instagram: @producersguild
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/producers-guild-of-america/
Twitter: @producersguild
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/producersguild
Media Contacts
Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis
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