The Academy Board of Governors voted to award Academy Honorary Awards to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and editor Carol Littleton and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter. will accept the four Oscars at the 14th Academy Governors Awards event on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
“The Academy’s board is thrilled to honor four pioneers who transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie enthusiasts,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “Throughout her decade-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor and his legacy has had a lasting impact on every aspect of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a role model for those who will come after her. A pillar of the independent film community, Michelle Satter has played an integral role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.
Bassett earned a second Academy Award nomination for her Fierce Queen in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, following her first, for her lead role as Tina Turner in ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’. His other film credits include “Boyz N the Hood”, “Malcolm X”, “Waiting to Exhale”, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”, “Black Panther”, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”, “Avengers: Endgame , ” and “Soul”. Her television credits include ‘The Jacksons: An American Dream’, ‘The Rosa Parks Story’, ‘American Horror Story’ and ‘9-1-1’.
Multi-hyphenated director-producer-writer-actor Mel Brooks began his career writing television comedies for Sid Caesar and co-created the television series “Get Smart.” In 1967, he wrote and directed his feature film debut “The Producers,” which earned him an Academy Award for original screenplay and which he later adapted into a successful Broadway musical. His films include “The Twelve Chairs”, “Blazing Saddles”, “Young Frankenstein”, “Silent Movie”, “High Anxiety”, “History of the World – Part I”, “Spaceballs”, “Life Stinks”, “ Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”.
Littleton’s career as an editor spans nearly fifty years. In 1982, he earned an Academy Award nomination for film editing for “ET The Extra-Terrestrial.” His other credits include “Body Heat”, “The Big Chill”, “Places in the Heart” and “The Manchurian Candidate”. She has served as governor of the Film Editors Branch of the Academy, president and vice president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and serves on the board of directors of American Cinema Editors.
Satter is the Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at the Sundance Institute, having nurtured and supported countless emerging filmmakers in her writing and directing workshops for more than 40 years. Alumnae have made the workshops famous, from Quentin Tarantino (1991) to Chloé Zhao (2012) and Taika Waititi (2005) to Marielle Heller (2012). Many of them, like Marvel director Ryan Coogler, still turn to Satter for feedback or return to the labs as consultants.
Satter and his team never stop looking for potential colleagues and advisers. Satter pursued Paul Thomas Anderson to Sundance 1993 after seeing his short film “Cigarettes and Coffee” and invited him to the summer Directors Lab. He brought in “Sydney”, which later became “Hard Eight”. Satter invited John Cameron Mitchell to the Directors Lab after seeing “Hedwig & the Angry Inch” off-Broadway, but he didn’t want to direct himself. He brought in Tom Kalin to direct two scenes, he asked Mitchell to do the third, and the rest is history.
He has also led the Sundance Institute’s international initiatives in Asia, Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East. She founded and oversees the vision and content of Sundance Collab, a global digital storytelling community and learning platform.
The Honorary Award, an Academy Award statuette, is presented “to honor outstanding career distinction, outstanding contributions to the state of the motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to the Academy.”
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Academy Award statuette, is presented “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”
