The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles CRYSTAL QUILL AWARDS

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles CRYSTAL QUILL AWARDS

Blockbuster Film Director Roland Emmerich and Entertainment Attorney and Author Bert Fields to be Honored for their Contributions to the Shakespeare Authorship Debate

Evening to Include Exclusive Advance Screening of Roland Emmerich's Soon to be Released Film, Anonymous

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., Sony Studios

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA), a professional theater and arts education nonprofit organization that builds communities around the appreciation and production of Shakespeare, will present blockbuster film director Roland Emmerich and entertainment attorney and author Bert Fields with the Crystal Quill Award for their contributions to the Shakespeare authorship debate. A special Crystal Quill Award will also be awarded to Martha Andresen, Professor Emerita of English from Pomona College for her stellar international reputation for Shakespeare scholarship, publications and teaching. The awards will be presented at an exclusive advance screening of Emmerich's upcoming film ANONYMOUS, to be released in theaters October 28th, followed by a dessert reception catered by Wolfgang Puck at Sony Studios on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. The awards will be presented immediately after the screening followed by the reception. Tickets are $250 and can be purchased by calling Levy, Pazanti and Associates at (310) 201-5033.

The 2011 Crystal Quill Awards co-chairs are Pamela Robinson, Principal, The Robinson Company and Michael Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Western Region, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. Past Crystal Quill Awardees have included filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, Producer Mark Gordon, Harvard University's Project Zero Steve Seidel, and former First Lady Laura Bush. For more information on the Crystal Quill Awards, SCLA's programs, and how to support SCLA's mission to enchant, enrich and build community through professional theatrical traditions that are accessible to all, please visit www.ShakespeareCenter.org.

Roland Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. He studied film at the Munich's Film School and his student project The Noah's Ark Principle went on to be shown in competition at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. The debut feature was sold in more than 20 countries around the world and earned the director his initial credit. Subsequently, he established his own production company, Centropolis Film Productions and under its banner has both produced and directed a number of projects. In 1992 his film-making platform moved to the States with the hits such as Universal Soldier, Stargate, and Godzilla and Emmerich made box office history in 1996 with Independence Day, which grossed over $800,000,000 worldwide. A few years later he directed and executive produced The Patriot, which starred Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger, and more recently the box office smash hits The Day After Tomorrow with Jake Gyllenhaal and co-wrote, directed, and executive produced 2012 with John Cusack and Thandie Newton. Among his producing credits is Trade. Directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner the gripping drama portrayed the trauma of human trafficking across the Mexican border into the US.

Bert Fields is one of the nation's leading entertainment attorneys and an author. He represents the industry's top performers, directors, writers, producers, studios, talent agencies, book publishers and record companies. Clients have included DreamWorks, MGM, United Artists, The Weinstein Company, Toho, James Cameron, Tom Cruise, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joel Silver, The Beatles, Madonna, Sony Music and many others. In addition, he has represented such major authors as Mario Puzo, James Clavell, Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler and Richard Bach. Fields has represented virtually every major Hollywood studio and talent agency, and he has tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries over the past 30 years. Fields' practice is international in scope and extends beyond the field of entertainment, having represented such diverse clients as Arizona cotton farmers, Las Vegas hotels and casinos, real estate developers and regional shopping centers, clothing designers, manufacturers, boxing promoters, investment firms and even a Japanese Bank. Fields is also an author of four books. His fourth book is an analysis of the Shakespeare authorship question, published by ReganBooks/HarperCollins entitled Players: The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare. In this provocative and convincing book, Fields presents a stunning, and highly plausible, new theory of the case. Mastering four centuries of evidence and argument, Fields revisits all the critical facts and unanswered questions.

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Columbia Pictures' Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage. Directed by Crystal Quill Awardee Roland Emmerich, Anonymous is written by John Orloff and produced by Roland Emmerich, Larry Franco, and Robert Leger.

ABOUT THE SHAKESPEARE CENTER OF LOS ANGELES

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles strives to enchant, enrich, and build community through professional theatrical traditions that are accessible to all. Whether SCLA reaches audience members through professionally acted performances, or enabling young people to make life-transforming decisions through opportunities to create and perform in their own versions of Shakespeare plays, participation in live theater is the perfect catalyst for creating positive change in the community.

In 1986, The Shakespeare Center, then operating as Shakespeare Festival/LA, presented the first Summer Festival, with performances of Twelfth Night in Pershing Square. The audience included friends, a few earnest theatergoers, and the homeless residents of the Square. The homeless took great pride in the production, and each night they became more and more involved in its promotion and management, showing the audience where to sit, handing out programs, answering questions and thanking everyone for coming. One night, our gracious hosts presented founder Ben Donenberg with four large trash bags filled with aluminum cans. Wanting to contribute, they explained that the actors could take the cans to a recycling center and get a nickel a piece. Deeply touched, Artistic Director Ben Donenberg declined their offer, but instead created the Food for Thought admission policy in response, requesting that audience members donate food to gain admission instead of buying a ticket.

In 1993, the organization expanded to include outreach programs such as Will Power to Youth, an academic enrichment program that combines hands-on artistic experience with paid job training, specifically created to provide arts education to at-risk youth. In 2005, First Lady Laura Bush attended a Will Power to Youth performance in Los Angeles as part of a regional tour of exemplary youth programs. More than 25 years later, The Shakespeare Center continues to create accessible theater that serves and builds community in innovative, unexpected ways.

EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: CALENDAR LISTING
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WHO: The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles
WHAT: Crystal Quill Awards
The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles,
a professional theater and arts
education organization that builds
communities around the appreciation
and production of Shakespeare, will
present blockbuster film director
Roland Emmerich and entertainment
attorney and author Bert Fields with
the Crystal Quill Award for their
contributions to the Shakespeare
authorship debate. The awards will be
presented at an exclusive advance
screening of Emmerich's soon to be
released film ANONYMOUS, followed by
a dessert reception.
DATES: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Sony Studios
10202 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
TICKET
PRICES: $250.00
INFO & (310) 201-5033,
TICKETS: www.ShakespeareCenter.org

SOURCE The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles

CONTACT: Interviews & Photos Available, Susan Gordon of The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, +1-310-871-0621, sgordon823@aol.com

Web Site: http://www.ShakespeareCenter.org

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