The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that its Board of Governors voted to present Academy Honorary Awards to Quincy Jones and Juliet Taylor, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Richard Curtis and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s Governors Awards event on Sunday, November 17, 2024, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood.
“The recipients of this year’s Governors Awards have set the bar incredibly high across their remarkable careers, and the Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to recognise them with Oscars,” said Academy President Janet Yang. “The selection of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli is a testament to their success as producers of the fan-favourite Bond series and their contribution to the industry’s theatrical landscape. Richard Curtis is a brilliant comedic storyteller whose tremendous charitable efforts embody the meaning of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Quincy Jones’s artistic genius and relentless creativity have made him one of the most influential musical figures of all time. Juliet Taylor has cast iconic and beloved films and paved a new path for the field. Their profound love of cinema and indelible contribution to our art form make these five individuals truly deserving of these honors.”
Curtis’s film credits include Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually and About Time. He earned an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Four Weddings and a Funeral. Curtis is the co-founder of Comic Relief UK and USA, and his fundraising work over 40 years has helped raise more than $2 billion and supported over 170 million people. In 2005, he co-created Make Poverty History and helped produce the Live 8 concerts. Most recently, he co-founded the group Project Everyone, giving practical support to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and established the ethical investment campaign Make My Money Matter, which has helped transfer £1.3 trillion into sustainable pensions.
A prominent figure with an illustrious musical career spanning seven decades, Jones has produced and composed an expansive body of work. His film credits include “In the Heat of the Night” and he has earned a total of seven Oscar nominations for his work on such films as “In Cold Blood,” “The Wiz” and “The Color Purple,” receiving a Best Picture nomination for the latter. In 1967, Jones was the first Black composer to be nominated in the Original Song category. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, among others. Jones was the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.
Taylor is a prolific casting director who is behind some of the most acclaimed casts in film history. Some notable credits from her 50-year career include Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, Big, Sleepless in Seattle, Schindler’s List, Interview with the Vampire, Angela’s Ashes, Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine. She has worked with directors including James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, to name a few.
Wilson and Broccoli of EON Productions are producers of the James Bond film series. They have produced some of the most successful 007 films ever including Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die. Wilson and Broccoli have produced and executive produced independent film projects such as Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Nancy, The Rhythm Section, Till and The Accidental Getaway Driver. They are directors of the Broccoli Foundation, founded by Dana and Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli to support the arts, medicine and education. Cubby Broccoli received the Thalberg Award in 1981. Barbara Broccoli is the second woman to receive the Thalberg Award.
The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honour extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences of any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, now an Oscar statuette, is presented to creative producers “whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
The 15th Governors Awards is proudly supported by Rolex, the Exclusive Watch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
