Joe Wright To Receive Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award

Darkest Hour director Joe Wright will receive the Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award at the 54th Annual CAS Awards on February 24th, at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.

"I am delighted to announce Joe Wright as the CAS Filmmaker Honoree for our 54th CAS Awards. The CAS recognized Joe's commitment to sound when we nominated his film Hannafor Outstanding Sound Mixing Motion Picture," said CAS President Mark Ulano. "His current film, Darkest Hour, with an amazing performance by Gary Oldman also exhibits Joe's passion for all the crafts involved in filmmaking. With the director as conductor, Joe knows how to get the best out of every instrument in the filmmaking orchestra which makes him an excellent choice for Filmmaker."

Born to a family of puppeteers, Joe Wright grew up in the theatre his parents founded, The Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London.

Wright studied Fine Art, Film and Video at Central St Martin's College of Art. After college, he worked on music videos and short films until 1997 when he was commissioned to direct Nature Boy, a four-part mini-series for BBC2. Nature Boy was awarded Best Drama Serial by the Royal Television Society. This was followed by several other highly acclaimed, nominated, and awarded mini-series, including Bob and Rose written by Russell T Davies, Bodily Harm starring Timothy Spall, George Cole and Lesley Manville; and Charles II for the BBC1, starring Rufus Sewell, which won the BAFTA for Best Drama Serial.

Wright made his feature film directorial debut in 2005 with Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and with Carey Mulligan, in her first screen appearance. The critically-acclaimed film won Wright BAFTA's Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in Their First Feature Film. He was also honored with the London Critics' Circle Film Award for British Director of the Year and the Boston Society of Film Critics' award for Best New Filmmaker. Pride & Prejudice was nominated for five additional BAFTA Awards, four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Wright's second feature Atonement, based on Ian McEwan's novel, stars Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Saoirse Ronan. The film received thirteen BAFTA Award nominations, and won for Best Film and Best Production Design; received seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score; received seven Golden Globe Award nominations, winning awards for Best Picture [Drama] and Best Original Score.

Wright next directed The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, followed by the sleeper hit Hanna with an electro music score by The Chemical Brothers, starring Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett.

In 2011, Wright directed Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law, Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander - in her first English-speaking role - from a screenplay penned by Tom Stoppard. The film was nominated for six BAFTA awards and four Academy Awards, taking home both trophies for Best Costume Design.

In 2015, Wright directed Pan, an origin story of the beloved Peter Pan characters, starring Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara and Levi Miller.

In 2016, Wright directed the acclaimed "Nosedive" episode of the television series Black Mirror, which starred Bryce Dallas Howard in the leading role and earned her a Screen Actors Guild nomination.

Wright made his debut in the theatre world in 2013 at The Donmar Warehouse with Trelawny of the Wells, an Arthur Pinero play re-worked by Patrick Marber. This was followed by the critically acclaimed A Season in the Congo at the Young Vic Theatre starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and most recently Life of Galileo at the Young Vic Theatre, featuring music by The Chemical Brothers.

Wright is a director of Shoebox Films, a London based film and television Production Company which, among other work, produced Steve Nights' critically acclaimed and multi-award winning thriller Locke starring Tom Hardy.

Wright lives in London with his wife, classical sitarist Anoushka Shankar, and their two sons.

Wright will be the 13th CAS Filmmaker Honoree. Past honorees have been: Jon Favreau, Jay Roach, Richard Linklater, Edward Zwick, Jonathan Demme, Rob Marshall, Taylor Hackford, Henry Selick, Paul Mazursky, Bill Condon, Gil Cates and Quentin Tarantino.

Also being honored that evening with the CAS Career Achievement Award is previously announced recipient Re-recording Mixer Anna Behlmer. During the awards ceremony the CAS will also present the CAS Student Recognition Award to one of five student finalists.

The 54th CAS Awards will honor Outstanding Achievements in Sound Mixing in seven categories: Motion Pictures, Animated Motion Pictures, Documentary Motion Pictures, Television Movies and Mini-Series, Television Series-One Hour, Television Series-Half Hour and Television-Non-Fiction, Variety, Music Series or Specials.

The Cinema Audio Society, a philanthropic, non-profit organization, was formed in 1964 for the purpose of sharing information with Sound Professionals in the Motion Picture and Television Industry.

On the evening of the awards the Cinema Audio Society website will be updated in real time as the winners are announced. http://cinemaaudiosociety.org/

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