DE SOUZA SCORES
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Copyright 2004 www.jamaicaobserver.com
[ October 3rd 2004 ]
This
year's Doctor Bird Awards lifetime achievement
honouree is Jamaican born Steven E de Souza, whose
body of work spans over 30 years of producing,
directing and writing major blockbuster movies.
De Souza's credits include the milestone action
films Die Hard and 48 Hours as well as such hits
as Commando, The Running Man, Ricochet, Die Hard
2 and The Flintstones. His most recent films are
the suspense thriller Possessed, which he also
directed, and last year's Lara Croft Tomb Raider:
The Cradle of Life.
According
to Cheryl Ryman, board member of the Doctor Bird
Awards Foundation, the awards ceremony this year
would change in format somewhat from previous
staging. "The difference this year is that we're
focusing on a major lifetime achievement awardee,"
Ryman told the Sunday Observer. The fourth staging
of the biennial Doctor Bird Awards in Film and
Television will be held on Tuesday, November 2,
at the Sovereign Palace Cineplex. It will take
the form of an exclusive awards ceremony and the
screening of one of the works of the distinguished
Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
The
event will be beamed live to a nationwide audience
courtesy of CVM TV on the same day of the awards.
A film and television reasoning featuring the
works and thoughts of the awardee will take place
on the morning of Sunday, October 31 at the Hilton
Hotel. Ryman also disclosed that certificates
of recognition will be given to five stalwarts
in the Jamaican film and television industry.
The
Doctor Bird Awards Foundations (DBAF) was established
in 2000, and by 2001 was incorporated and fully
operational. The DBAF completes the transition
from a 25th Anniversary celebration initiative
of Mediamix and its founder, Lennie Little-White
in 1998 with the inaugural staging of the Doctor
Bird Awards in film/TV. The Doctor Bird Awards
remains the flagship project of the DBAF honouring
the achievements of Jamaican sons and daughters
who have distinguished themselves in this area.
A
primary aim of these awards is to unearth and
celebrate these super-achievers and their work
for the benefit and encouragement to the local
industry as well as the larger society. Previous
DBAF Lifetime Achievement Awardees are Evan Jones,
Martin Rennalls and Chris Blackwell.
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