Women's Media Awards 2016
Women’s Media Center Announces Sally Field as the 2016 Host at the Women’s Media Awards
Gayle King to Give Opening Remarks at the September 29th event in New York
Honorees include Samantha Bee, Salma Hayek Pinault, Joy Reid, Anita Sarkeesian & Regina K. Scully
Host Sally Field; Special Appearance by Gayle King
Honorees Samantha Bee, Salma Hayek Pinault, Joy Reid, Anita Sarkeesian & Regina K. Scully
New York, NY, September 21, 2016 — The Women's Media Center is proud to announce our host and honorees for the 2016 Women’s Media Awards, to be held on September 29, 2016, at Capitale in New York City.
The event will be hosted for the first time by Sally Field, the two-time Academy Award-winning and multiple Emmy-winning star of “Hello, My Name is Doris,” who will be returning to Broadway in March 2017 starring as Amanda in Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” Gayle King, co-anchor of “CBS This Morning” and three-time Emmy winner, will give the opening remarks at the awards.
The honorees will be:
Samantha Bee, host of TBS' “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”; longtime correspondent on “The Daily Show”; co-creator of the upcoming sitcom “The Detour”; and author, who will receive the Women's Media Center History Making Award.
Salma Hayek Pinault, Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA nominated actor; Emmy-winning director; award-winning producer; co-founder of CHIME FOR CHANGE; and activist, who will receive the Women's Media Center Sisterhood is Global Award.
Joy Reid, political analyst for MSNBC; host of “AM Joy”; and author, who will receive the Women's Media Center Carol Jenkins Visible and Powerful Media Award.
Anita Sarkeesian, award-winning creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency; host of video series “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”; media critic; blogger; and public speaker, who will receive the Women's Media Center Digital Media Award.
Regina K. Scully, three-time Emmy-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated producer; executive producer, founder and CEO of Artemis Rising Foundation; founder and CEO of RPR Marketing Communications; and activist, who will receive the Women's Media Center Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award.
The announcement was made by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, co-founders of the Women’s Media Center.
The Women’s Media Awards recognize and honor game-changers for women in media. By deciding who gets to talk, what creates the debate, who writes, and what is important enough to be visible, the media shapes our understanding of who we are and what we can be. The Women’s Media Awards shine a light on this important issue.
“I am delighted that Sally Field will be joining us to host our gala this year,” says Women's Media Center co-founder Robin Morgan. “Not only is Sally a brilliant actor who has been deservedly honored with awards for her unforgettable portrayals of women whose strength shines through the most trying of circumstances, she is also a director and producer who has created outstanding work, and a consistent, outspoken activist for women's rights. I can't wait to welcome Sally and am proud to have her take the stage for our Women's Media Awards.”
The Women's Media Center History Making Award will be presented to Samantha Bee. “I am so glad that we will be honoring Samantha Bee, a center of energy, enlightenment and intelligence in political comedy," says Gloria Steinem, a co-founder of the Women's Media Center. "The power to make people laugh is also a power, which means comedy hasn't always been equally open to women. Samantha brings with her the rarest of powers -- she makes us laugh and learn at the same time."
The Women's Media Center Sisterhood is Global Award will be presented to Salma Hayek Pinault. “Salma Hayek Pinault is an amazing example of the worldwide impact that can be made by a woman of talent, generosity, and courage,” says Women’s Media Center co-founder Jane Fonda. “Even beyond her beautiful and deeply vulnerable work as an actor, Salma has broken so many barriers with her bold enterprise as a producer, pushing through fierce challenges to bring to fruition works of deep integrity and meaningful impact. In addition, Salma continues to bravely speak out for women and the underserved around the globe, fighting powerfully against discrimination and domestic violence. I can't imagine a better example of an honorable, empowered woman than Salma Hayek Pinault.”
The Women's Media Center Carol Jenkins Visible and Powerful Media Award will be presented to Joy Reid. “Joy Reid is an outstanding journalist,” says Carol Jenkins, founding and former president of the Women’s Media Center. “In a tough political season, she is one of the few who asks the hard questions and insists on honest answers. Talk about visible and powerful--she has carved out and offers a rare space of truth for viewers and voters. Brava!”
The Women's Media Center Digital Media Award will be presented to Anita Sarkeesian. “Anita Sarkeesian is a powerful example of a woman boldly challenging and changing our culture,” says Julie Burton, president of the Women’s Media Center. “In exposing misogyny in video game culture and promoting alternatives, she has bravely taken on the multi-billion dollar gaming industry, a highly influential media form in the shaping of imaginations. Despite being sexually harassed, doxed, and subjected to mob attacks that include violent rape and death threats, she continues to challenge media sexism and to produce innovative story-telling content depicting strong women characters. Anita is doing crucial work re-examining and creating today's media.”
The Women's Media Center Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Regina K. Scully. “For over 30 years, Regina K. Scully has been a shining light and a true leader in the media field,” says Pat Mitchell, founding co-chair of the Women’s Media Center. “The incredible range of films that she has boldly produced have led us to essential and challenging truths about our society, while her insightful philanthropy has continually looked to build new opportunities for reform in education, women in film, and transformative art. Regina is truly a powerhouse, whose outstanding life's work we are proud to honor.”
“I am so proud that the Women's Media Center will be honoring such a diverse range of accomplished women this year,” says Women's Media Center co-founder Robin Morgan. “These women, in the courage and skill of their achievements, and in their bold speaking out against bigotry and for empowerment, have been challenging how we all see the world and are changing the world itself for the better.”
Samantha Bee is the host of TBS' new satirical topical show, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” Prior to assuming her role as the lone female in late night, Bee was a correspondent on “The Daily Show” from 2003 through 2015. She and her husband, Jason Jones, are also co-creators of the upcoming sitcom “The Detour.” Bee is currently writing a young adult novel for Farrar, Straus Giroux. She also has a collection of personal essays, titled “I Know I Am, But What Are You?”
Sally Field is a two-time Academy Award winner who was most recently seen starring in “Hello, My Name is Doris,” a witty and compassionate later-in-life coming-of-age story co-starring Max Greenfield. The film is written and directed by Michael Showalter. Field previously starred in Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed “Lincoln” as Mary Todd, for which she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best supporting actress and was also nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, BAFTA, and Academy Award. Field previously won Academy Awards for her performances in Robert Benton’s “Places in the Heart,” for which she also received a Golden Globe, and Martin Ritt’s “Norma Rae,” for which she received a Golden Globe, along with the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the National Board of Review Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, the National Society of Film Critics honor, and Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
Field has also received Golden Globe nominations for her work in “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Absence of Malice,” “Kiss Me Goodbye,” “Steel Magnolias,” and “Forrest Gump.” Her many film credits include “An Eye for An Eye,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Soapdish,” “Not Without My Daughter,” “The End,” “Hooper,” “Stay Hungry” (her first major film role), as well as “Punchline” and “Murphy’s Romance,” both of which were produced by her production company, Fogwood Films.
Born in Pasadena, California, and raised in a show business family, Field began her career in 1964 in the television series “Gidget.” She went on to star in the “The Flying Nun” in 1967. She starred in three television series by the age of 25. She received Emmy Awards for her title role in the landmark miniseries “Sybil” and for her performance on “ER.” She also received Emmy nominations for her role in Showtime’s “A Cooler Climate” and the NBC miniseries “A Woman of Independent Means” which she co-produced and for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Field co-starred in the ABC series drama “Brothers & Sisters” from 2006 to 2011 and, for her role as Nora Walker, she received a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Emmy Award, as well as two Golden Globe nominations.
Field made her directorial debut in 1996 with the ABC telefilm “The Christmas Tree,” which she co-wrote and which starred Julie Harris. She directed an episode of the HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon” and in 2000 made her feature film directorial debut with “Beautiful,” starring Minnie Driver.
In 2002, Field made her Broadway debut in Edward Albee’s “The Goat” and in 2004, received rave reviews for her role as Amanda in Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” at the Kennedy Center. She will return to Broadway in “The Glass Menagerie” in March 2017.
In September 2015, Field was honored by President Obama with the National Medal of Arts. She has served on the Board of Directors of Vital Voices since 2002, and has served as Mistress of Ceremony at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards gala held at the Kennedy Center from 2002 through 2011. Field also served on the Board of Directors of the Sundance Institute from 1994 to 2010. She has three sons and five grandchildren.
Academy Award Nominee Salma Hayek Pinault has proven herself a prolific actress, producer, and director in both film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and a BAFTA award for her leading role in Julie Taymor's “Frida.” Most recently, Hayek Pinault has devoted herself as producer and actor to “The Prophet,” an animated feature inspired by the beloved book by Kahlil Gibran, alongside Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Quvenzhané Wallis, and Alfred Molina, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. She also starred alongside Pierce Brosnan and Jessica Alba in the romantic comedy, “Some Kind of Beautiful”; in “Tale of Tales” by acclaimed Italian director Matteo Garrone, which premiered at the 2015 Festival de Cannes to the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history; and in Seth Rogen’s upcoming animated feature “Sausage Party,” in which she voiced the part of “Teresa Taco.”
Hayek Pinault's past roles also include “Grown-Ups 2,” Oliver Stone’s “SAVAGES,” and “Here Comes the Boom,” and NBC's critically acclaimed show “30 Rock.” Hayek Pinault’s other film credits include Alex de la Iglesia’s “La Chispa de la Vida,” Mathieu Demy’s “Americano,” the Academy Award-nominated “Puss In Boots,” Paul Weitz's “The Vampire’s Assistant,” Todd Robinson's “Lonely Hearts,” Robert Towne's “Ask the Dust,” Luc Besson's “Bandidas,” Brett Ratner's “After the Sunset,” Mike Figgis' “Hotel” and “Timecode,” Kevin Smith's “Dogma,” and Robert Rodriguez's “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” and “Desperado.”
Hayek Pinault won an Emmy for her directorial debut, “The Maldonado Miracle,” which she also produced, and has directed music videos for both Prince and Jada Pinkett. She served as Executive Producer on ABC's award-winning “Ugly Betty.” In 2001, she starred in and co-produced Showtime's “In the Time of the Butterflies,” for which she was nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association's Award. Hayek Pinault's Ventanarosa Productions work includes the Mexican feature “No One Writes to the Colonel,” which was selected for official competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Hayek Pinault has also dedicated much of her time to social activism. She has served as spokesperson for the Pampers/UNICEF partnership worldwide to help stop the spread of life-threatening maternal and neonatal tetanus, and for the Avon Foundation's “Speak Out Against Domestic Violence” program. In 2005, she spoke in front of the U.S. Senate, encouraging its members to extend the Violence Against Women Act. In January 2006, the legislation was passed, ensuring that $3.9 billion would be allocated to thousands of domestic violence crises and intervention agencies throughout the U.S. In April 2005, Hayek Pinault visited the Arctic Circle, for Earth Day, to bring attention to the dangers of global warming for the Inuit people and the rest of the world. In November 2005, she served as co-host, alongside Julianne Moore, at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, which honored Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. She was also part of Bono's ONE campaign, and a member of Global Green and YouthAIDS. In 2013, Hayek Pinault, alongside Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Frida Giannini, the then creative director of Gucci, co-founded CHIME FOR CHANGE, an organization dedicated to improving the education, help for, and welfare of women and girls around the world. Born and raised in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, Hayek Pinault studied International Relations in college in Mexico.
Joy Reid is a political analyst for MSNBC and host of “AM Joy,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays from 10 A.M. ET to noon ET. She is also the author of the book “Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide” (William Morrow/Harper Collins 2015) and a columnist at The Daily Beast.
Reid was previously the host of “The Reid Report,” a daily program that offered Reid's distinctive analysis and insight on the day's news. Before that, Reid was the managing editor of theGrio.com, a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences. Reid joined theGrio.com with experience as a freelance columnist for the Miami Herald and as editor of the political blog The Reid Report. She is a former talk radio producer and host for Radio One, and previously served as an online news editor for the NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miramar, Florida.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Reid served as the Florida deputy communications director for the 527 “America Coming Together” initiative, and was a press aide in the final stretch of President Barack Obama's Florida campaign in 2008. Reid's columns and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, New York magazine, The Guardian, the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Times, and Salon.com.
Reid graduated from Harvard University in 1991 with a concentration in film, and is a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and family. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @JoyAnnReid and “like” her on Facebook at Joy Reid Official.
Anita Sarkeesian is an award-winning media critic and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representation of women in pop culture narratives. Her work focuses on deconstructing the stereotypes and tropes associated with women in popular culture as well as highlighting issues surrounding the targeted harassment of women in online and gaming spaces.
She has been a panelist at the United Nations and been a guest speaker at various fan, media, and technology conferences including XOXO, The Media Evolution Conference, Women in the World and GeekGirlCon. Sarkeesian has been interviewed and featured in publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and “The Colbert Report.”
Sarkeesian was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in the world in 2015 and was the recipient of the 2014 Game Developers Choice Ambassador Award. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary PhD from the New School in New York City.
Regina K. Scully is a social-justice entrepreneur, media activist, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. She has a growing legacy of building and producing successful premier brands, projects, and films that integrate cause-related issues, social media, and outreach campaigns.
Scully is an Academy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer of both “The Invisible War,” the powerful 2012 film, and “The Hunting Ground” in 2015. Both documentaries deal with the increasing epidemic of rape—the first, about women and men in the military, and the second, on college campuses across the country. “Til It Happens to You,” sung by Lady Gaga, was “The Hunting Ground”’s Emmy Award-winning and Academy-nominated anthem song. In addition, she has helped produce a number of other award-winning films, such as “Alive Inside” in 2014, about the healing power of music, and “Dreamcatcher” in 2015, a compelling look at trauma as a portal for transformation--both Sundance Award winners. “After Tiller,” a film that explores the complexities of the pro-choice issue, won an Emmy for Best Documentary in 2014. “Fed Up” in 2015 won a Gracie Award for Best Documentary, addressing the growing threat of diabetes and obesity in America. To date Scully has helped produce over 100 documentary films and media projects on some of the most challenging issues of our time. Some of her other memorable films include: “Newtown,” “Audrie & Daisy,” “MissRepresentation,” “Prophet’s Prey,” “Under the Gun,” “Hazing,” “Resilience,” “Trapped,” “The Mask You Live In,” “Be Natural,” “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth,” “Anita Hill: Speaking Truth to Power,” “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
As Founder and CEO of Artemis Rising Foundation, a philanthropic organization, Scully is dedicated to developing and promoting media, education, and the arts that transform our culture. She is the Founder and CEO of RPR Marketing Communications, a premier public relations agency in New York City, specializing in exclusive consumer products and brands. Scully is the Founding Sponsor of the Athena Film Festival, NYC, which supports and highlights women in filmmaking, and of the award-winning radio program and podcast "Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan.” She is also a founding member of TheRepresentationProject.org, which uses film as a catalyst for cultural transformation, as well as a founding sponsor of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
Passionate about education reform, Scully has helped launch and support some of the most successful inner city charter schools in the country: the Success Academy Schools in NY (www.successacademies.org) and the Making Waves Academy Schools in Northern California (www.making-waves.org). She sits on the Boards of Stanford University Board of Philanthropy and Civil Society, Project ALS, Harvard Women’s Leadership Board, V-Day, and the Women’s Media Center.
Past WMC honorees include Luvvie Ajayi, Christiane Amanpour, Amma Asante, Laura Bates, Ursula Burns, Katie Couric, Sady Doyle, Mona Eltahawy, Sarah Hoye, Gwen Ifill & Judy Woodruff, Sheila C. Johnson, Maria Teresa Kumar, Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, Lara Logan, Pat Mitchell, Martha Nelson, Soledad O’Brien, Elianne Ramos, Yanique Richards, Mary Thom (posthumously), Marlo Thomas, Barbara Walters, Padmasree Warrior, Lindy West, and Maggie Wilderotter.
The co-chairs for the 2016 Women’s Media Awards are Loreen Arbus, Lauren Embrey, Jane Fonda, Pat Mitchell, Robin Morgan, Dee Dee Myers, Bonnie Schaefer, Gloria Steinem, and Mary & Steven Swig.
The Women’s Media Center
The Women’s Media Center, co-founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, works to make women visible and powerful in media. The Women’s Media Center trains women leaders to be in the media; promotes women experts to the media through WMC SheSource; conducts groundbreaking research and reporting on media inclusion and accuracy; features women’s voices and stories on our radio broadcast and podcast, “Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan,” and through WMC Features, WMC Fbomb, WMC Speech Project and WMC Women Under Siege.
“The Women’s Media Awards were created to honor champions for women who use their media platforms to tell the stories, facts, and solutions crucial to all viewers, and to advance opportunities for women in media,” says Julie Burton, president of the Women’s Media Center. “Because media tells our stories and influences the role of women in every part of society, we are proud to honor these amazing women who set the standard for what media should look like when it gives voice to the female half of the country.”
