The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced this year's Governors Awards honorees: Quincy Jones and Juliet Taylor will receive Honorary Awards, while Richard Curtis will be presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli will be awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
As voted on by the Academy's Board of Governors, the Honorary Oscar statuette is given to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences of any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is given to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is presented to creative producers whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.
"The recipients of this year's Governors Awards have set the bar incredibly high across their remarkable careers, and the Academy's Board of Governors is thrilled to recognize them with Oscars," said Academy President Janet Yang. "The selection of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli is a testament to their success as producers of the fan-favorite Bond series and their contribution to the industry’s theatrical landscape. Richard Curtis is a brilliant comedic storyteller whose tremendous charitable efforts embody the meaning of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Quincy Jones's artistic genius and relentless creativity have made him one of the most influential musical figures of all time. Juliet Taylor has cast iconic and beloved films and paved a new path for the field. Their profound love of cinema and indelible contribution to our art form make these five individuals truly deserving of these honors."
The 15th Governors Awards will be held on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood.
Quincy Jones
A true legend of both the movie and music industry, Quincy Jones is a prolific record producer, composer, and songwriter, as well as an accomplished film and television producer. At the 40th Oscars in 1968, he became the first Black musician to be nominated for Best Original Song for "The Eyes of Love" from Banning; that same year, he was nominated for Best Original Score for In Cold Blood, which also made him the first Black artist to be nominated twice in the same year. In 1971, he served as musical director and conductor of the 43rd Academy Awards.
Across a career that spans more than 70 years, Jones has received seven total Oscar nominations. He was also nominated for Best Original Song for "For Love of Ivy" from For Love of Ivy in 1969, Best Original Score for The Wiz in 1979, and Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Picture for The Color Purple in 1986. (He also served as a producer on 2023's movie musical adaptation of The Color Purple.) In 1994, he was awarded the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Juliet Taylor
As just one example of casting director Juliet Taylor's casting choices, she is the person who gave Meryl Streep her first movie role. Her own first casting credit was for William Friedkin's The Exorcist in 1973. In the decades since, Taylor has cast more than 100 films for numerous esteemed directors, including James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Among others, Taylor is responsible for helping to introduce to the world future Oscar winners such as Joaquin Phoenix and Dianne Wiest.
Taylor is an Emmy winner for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for 2003's Angels in America and the recipient of the Casting Society of America's Golden Apple Award.
Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis is the director, producer and writer behind some of the most beloved romantic comedies in cinema history: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), and Love Actually (2003). For Four Weddings and a Funeral, Curtis received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Oscars. Of note, he also co-wrote Steven Spielberg's War Horse, which received six Oscar nominations — including Best Picture — in 2012.
A longtime philanthropist, Curtis co-founded the British charity Comic Relief, which he created with comedian Lenny Henry. Over nearly 40 years, Comic Relief has raised more than £1 billion to help children around the world, most notably through its annual Red Nose Day.
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
Adapted from Ian Fleming's spy novels, the James Bond film franchise has become one of Hollywood's longest-running and most successful franchises. For nearly 30 years, the keepers of the 007 character have been Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who have produced nine Bond films through their EON Productions. (The half-sibling's father, producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, preceded them; Wilson and Broccoli took over with 1995's GoldenEye.)
The most recent installment in the saga, 2011's No Time to Die, marked the 25th installment in the Bond franchise and the final Bond film starring Daniel Craig. No Time to Die won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.
RELATED CONTENT:
Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, Carol Littleton and Michelle Satter Honored at 14th Governor Awards
