Edward Asner will Receive the Lifetime Achievement Award

Robin Saban,  Founder and President of the International Student Film Festival Hollywood  (ISFFH) is pleased to announce famed actor  Edward Asner as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 9th  annual International Student Film Festival Hollywood. Schedule permitting,  Edward Asner will be speaking to student filmmakers from around the world at  the awards ceremony taking place on Sunday, November 6, 2011 at Beverly  Garland’s Holiday Inn in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood.

Versatile, committed, eloquent and talented are all adjectives that describe  actor/activist Edward Asner.  Perhaps best known for his comedic and  dramatic crossover as the gruff but soft-hearted journalist Lou Grant, the role  he originated on the landmark TV news room comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show and  continued in the newspaper-set drama Lou Grant, which earned him five Emmys and  three Golden Globe Awards.  Asner received two more Emmy and Golden Globe  Awards for the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man and Roots.  His prolific and  much honored acting career demonstrates a consummate ability to transcend the  line between comedy and drama.

One of the most honored actors in the history of television; Edward Asner has  been the recipient of seven Emmy Awards and 16 nominations, as well as five  Golden Globe Awards and served as National President of the Screen Actors Guild  for two terms.  He was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame in  1996.  Asner received the Ralph Morgan Award from the Screen Actors Guild  in 2000, presented periodically for distinguished service to the Guild’s  Hollywood membership.  In March 2002, he was again honored by The Guild as  the 38th recipient of the prestigious Life Achievement Award for career  achievement and humanitarian accomplishment, presented annually to an actor who  fosters the highest ideals of the profession.

In addition to his professional versatility, Edward Asner has consistently  served and committed himself to the rights of the working performer in addition  to advocating for human rights, world peace, environmental preservation and  political freedom.  A passionate and informed spokesperson for the causes  he supports, Asner is a frequent speaker on labor issues and a particular ally  for the acting industry’s older artists.  Some of the many honors he has  received throughout his career include the Anne Frank Human Rights Award, The  Eugene Debs Award, Organized Labor Publications Humanitarian Award, ACLU’s  Worker’s Right’s Committee Award and the National Emergency Civil Liberties  Award.

Edward Asner has more than 100 TV credits, which include starring in the series  Off the Rack, The Bronx Zoo and Thunder Alley.  Numerous guest appearances  include roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER, Arliss, The Practice and a recurring  role on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.  Besides commercials and numerous  books on tape, he has lent his voice to popular cartoon shows such as The Simpsons,  Spiderman and Boondocks.  Asner’s dozens of motion pictures include They  Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Fort Apache the Bronx, JFK, and the European production  of Giovanni XXIII – the highest rated television mini-series in the history of  Italian TV as well as the box office hit, Elf with Will Farrell and James  Caan.

Asner has done several Hallmark movies and was nominated for another Emmy  for The Christmas Card in addition to his Emmy nominated guest appearance on  CSI/NY.  He was the lead voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s 2009  box-office-hit UP!, which won Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original  Score -Motion Picture, at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards as well as 2  Academy Awards.

Recently Asner has completed several independent  films and will begin his second season of touring the country to sold out  theaters and standing ovations in his one man show about FDR.  Presently  he has signed onto CMT’s first sitcom, Working Class, co-starring with  Melissa Peterman & which premiered January 2011.  HBO’s TV Movie Too  Big To Fail, scheduled to air in 2011, will find Ed Asner cast in the role  of Warren Buffett and costarring with William Hurt, James Woods and Paul  Giamatti.

Hollywood is the capital city  of the entertainment world. The ISFFH offers student filmmakers from all over  the world a unique opportunity to gain the recognition of film industry  leaders. It is a forum for student filmmakers to showcase their independent  films in Hollywood. This event at the epicenter of the film industry puts these  students face to face with working Directors, Producers, and other industry  professionals throughout the event, giving them the invaluable opportunity to  promote themselves and their films.

After  years of work in film and theater and passionate about the opportunity to offer  student filmmakers well-deserved recognition for their talents, entertainment  industry veteran, Robin Saban founded the International Student Film Festival  Hollywood, focused solely on students in September of 2003.

The  ISFFH is a non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of others. For  more information about the ISFFH, please visit our website  www.isffhollywood.org.

The  ISFFH is grateful to our sponsors who include American Building Supply, Wells  Fargo, CRA/LA, CISCorp, Saban Enterprises, Marilyn Bradbury, Rotary Club of  Studio City and Sherman Oaks, Gloria and Lou Weintraub, Creative Handbook, Footage  Firm, CaliforniaExploration.com, LA411, Turkla.com, Movie Magic,  NoHoArtsDistrict.com.