33RD AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE LUCAS Premieres on USA Network June 20, 2005

33RD AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE LUCAS Premieres on USA Network June 20, 2005

Steven Spielberg to Present Award to Lucas Tom Hanks, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford Among Colleagues and Friends Expected at Tribute Gala to Honor Lucas

LOS ANGELES, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- George Lucas will receive the American Film Institute's (AFI) 33rd Life Achievement Award on June 9, at a gala event, which will be taped for a television broadcast later in the month. Filmmaker and past recipient Steven Spielberg will present Mr. Lucas with the award at the tribute, which will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. THE 33rd AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE LUCAS will air on USA Network on Monday, June 20, 2005, at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

The event will feature tributes from a number of Lucas' friends and colleagues-including Richard Dreyfuss, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, past recipients Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford, as well as intergalactic celebrities C3PO, Chewbacca and R2D2. Additionally, clips from Lucas' films will be presented with commentary from four Academy Award winning directors -- Spielberg, James Cameron, Ron Howard and Peter Jackson.

During the past 33 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. As the first award in the film community to acknowledge career achievement, the honor has been bestowed upon many of the greatest film artists in history such as Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, Gregory Peck, Barbara Stanwyck, Billy Wilder, Fred Astaire, James Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, James Cagney and John Ford.

THE 33rd AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE LUCAS is executive produced and written by Bob Gazzale and directed and co-produced by Louis J. Horvitz. The event is sponsored by Microsoft.

About AFI

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through AFI's New Media Ventures. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival and SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, while offering year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 33 years, AFI'S Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.

About USA NETWORK

USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows, and blockbuster theatrical films. USA Network is available in 82% of all U.S. homes and is seen in over 88 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Web site is located at www.usanetwork.com.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.

For photos and other press materials, log on to Universal TV's digital pressroom at www.universaltvpressroom.com. If you have not already registered, please click on "New User Registration," to complete the registration form for approval to access the entire library of photos for all USA Network projects.

Contacts:
Maria Stasi/USA Network, West Coast/818-777-6679 / maria.stasi@nbcuni.com
Kristin Schulman/ USA Network, East Coast/212-664-4140 /
kristin.schulman@nbcuni.com

Alison Deknatel / AFI / 323-856-7896/ adeknatel@AFI.com
Erin Hurff / AFI/ 323-856-7603/ ehurff@AFI.com

Source: USA Network; American Film Institute

CONTACT: West Coast, Maria Stasi, +1-818-777-6679,
maria.stasi@nbcuni.com, or East Coast, Kristin Schulman, +1-212-664-4140,
kristin.schulman@nbcuni.com, both of USA Network; or Alison Deknatel,
+1-323-856-7896, adeknatel@AFI.com, or Erin Hurff, +1-323-856-7603,
ehurff@AFI.com, both of AFI

Web site: http://www.universaltvpressroom.com/

Web site: http://www.afi.com/

Web site: http://www.usanetwork.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: PLEASE NOTE: FOR GALA EVENT COVERAGE, ALL MEDIA MUST APPLY FOR CREDENTIALS BY JUNE 1, TO MARIA STASI, 818.777.6649 OR maria.stasi@nbcuni.com

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