Top L-R: Sandra Stern, President, Lionsgate Television Group, Joseph “Rev Run” of RUN DMC & Justine Simmons, and Chas. Floyd Johnson, Executive Producer, CBS’s NCIS series. Bottom L-R: Jake Rademacher, Director & Producer, award-winning Brothers at War film, and Penny Rieger, and Caucus Controller and Foundation Administrator.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Caucus
Beverly Hills, CA — The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors’ 36th Annual Caucus Awards Dinner is gearing up for an enchanting night on Friday, November 30, 2018, 6:30 PM at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049.
Sandra Stern, President, Lionsgate Television Group will be presented the Executive of the Year Award. She has helped guide Lionsgate’s television business to record-breaking revenue growth during nearly every year of her tenure and has been instrumental in tripling the size of the television slate, which encompasses nearly 90 series on 40 different U.S. networks.
Emmy Award winner and seven-time nominee, Chas. Floyd Johnson currently serves as an Executive Producer for the CBS Television Studios’ one-hour dramatic television program, NCIS. Among his many credits are Jag, First Monday, Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, B.L. Stryker and the award winning series The Rockford Files. Charles will receive The Caucus Lifetime Achievement Award.
Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of RUN DMC, Actor, Musician, Hip-hop Artist and Justine Simmons, Actress, are this year’s Entertainers of the Year Awardees. Beginning in 2005, the Simmons’ television shows have included MTV’s Run’s House , HGTV’s Rev Run’s Renovation, Cooking Channel’s Rev Run’s Sunday Suppers, Travel Channel’s Rev Runs Around the World and OWN’s It’s Not you, It’s Men with Tyrese Gibson and recently Netflix’s All About The Washingtons. Many know Rev Run as the front man of the seminal hip-hop group RUN DMC. This Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, has sold tens of millions of records and is widely credited for ushering rap music into mainstream culture.
Jake Rademacher founded of Metanoia Films and co-founded Perseverance Productions with Norman S. Powell. He raised financing, directed and with Powell produced of the award-winning Brothers at War film. Jake will receive the Distinguished Service Award,
Penny Rieger, began as the Administrator for The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors for over 43 years. Rieger duties encompassed from the tiniest of details to working with Homeland Security, the IRS, insurance companies, CPAs, planning and executing smaller seminars to major fundraising events and bookkeeping. Currently, she is the Caucus Controller and Foundation Administrator and will receive the Chair’s Award.
In addition, The Caucus will honor the 2018 Outstanding Producers, Directors and Writers of the year with awards at the Dinner.
James Pickens, Jr. star of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, will be the host for this wonderful evening and young, actress Ainsley Ross will be the Trophy Hostess at this year’s event.
Most importantly, The Caucus Foundation will present grants and awards to film students. The Caucus Foundation’s student Gold Circle Award is presented to two grant recipients for their 2017/18 student films. In promoting the upcoming generation of television and new media content creators, The Caucus will also present the Television and New Media Award to a university’s creative team for an exceptional project. A portion of the proceeds from the dinner will benefit The Caucus Foundation, which has provided grants and awards of $1.8 million to 172 worthy students to complete their film, television or new media projects.
The Caucus Awards committee members who make all this happen include Executive Producer/Awards Chair Chuck Fries along with Co-chairs Robert Papazian and Tanya Hart, Producers/Awards Vice Chairs Dennis Doty, James Hirsch and Vin Di Bona and Executive Director Deborah Leoni.
About The Caucus For Producers, Writers & Directors
The Caucus is leading the evolution of television by providing a creative forum for
Writers and Directors to explore the issues of the ever-changing landscape of content and exhibition. The Caucus is proud of its rich history and esteemed membership of television innovators. For over 40 years, The Caucus has provided an opportunity for the best and the brightest talent to network and voice the ‘creative conscience’ of the Television Industry. Today, we continue to stand for better and meaningful content across all platforms. As Producers, Writers and Directors we support a working environment that fosters, through our various programs, the best content that we can create for our audiences.
In addition to its professional membership, The Caucus is proud of its non-profit work through The Caucus Foundation. Established in 2000 to help launch the careers of future entertainment professionals in film, television and emerging media; The Foundation provides completion grants to student thesis productions from accredited universities and colleges. To date The Caucus Foundation Grant Program has given over $1.8 million dollars in cash and in-kind awards.
Current members of The Caucus also include: JJ Abrams, Kevin Bright, James Burrows, Suzanne de Passe, Vin Di Bona, Dennis Doty, Chuck Fries, Tom Hanks, Tanya Hart, Chas. Floyd Johnson, Bob Papazian, Norman Powell, Herman Rush and other leading producers, writers and directors. For additional information on The Caucus visit: www.caucus.org
https://www.facebook.com/caucus.org
https://twitter.com/tvcaucus
