The festive and inspiring Muse Awards recognize the outstanding vision and achievement of women in the film, television and digital media industries.
The New York Women in Film and Television’s 37th annual Muse Awards will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, December 8 at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel in New York City and will honor and celebrate exceptional women who continue to shatter the entertainment industry's glass ceiling. Actors, allies, and activists Mary-Louise Parker, Debi Mazar, Martha Plimpton, Marcia Smith, as well as media executive Jacki Kelley and journalist Amy Goodman will all be honored.
The New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), which has supported and empowered women in the entertainment industry for nearly four decades, will present its gala luncheon to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of women in the film, television and digital media industries. Actor and CBS Commentator Nancy Giles will emcee the afternoon’s events.
The Muse honorees for this year include:
Mary-Louise Parker, famous for her lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds for which she received the Golden Globe Award and Emmy nomination for Best Actress, and notable for the cult classics popular with lesbians and gay men, RED, Fried Green Tomatoes, Boys on the Side, Bullets Over Broadway, and Angels in America, for which she received a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Debi Mazar, an LGBT ally recently honored by NYC's The Center, is also American actor and television personality known for her sharp-witted and sharp-tongued Jersey Girl-type character roles in numerous film and TV appearances; as well as her starring role in the Cooking Channel series, Extra Virgin, with her husband Gabriele Corcos. Mazar also won kudos for her role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage, and currently stars as Maggie on TV Land's Younger.
Martha Plimpton, an award-winning actor with across stage, film, and television currently starring in ABC’s The Real O'Neals and many memorable TV guest appearances including The Good Wife and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and more than 30 films; she is the co-founder of the women's rights organization A IS FOR which is dedicated to advancing women's reproductive rights and ending the stigma against abortion care.
Marcia Smith, Co-Founder and President of Firelight Media, a non-profit film organization dedicated to nurturing projects by emerging independent filmmakers and impact producers of color. During Smith’s tenure as president, Firelight has produced more than 18 hours of film for national broadcast on PBS, and Firelight’s Documentary Lab fellows have garnered every major award in television.
Jacki Kelley, Chief Operating Officer of Bloomberg Media and 2016-2017 President of the Board of Directors for New York Women in Communications, Inc. Kelley, who leads business operations for Bloomberg LP’s global multi-platform media organization, has been listed as one of Variety’s Power of Women New York, named a Matrix Award Honoree by the New York Women in Communications, and featured as one of Crain’s New York Business’ 50 Most Powerful Women, among other awards. She was recognized by Folio’s Top Women in Media Awards for entrepreneurial leadership and her work as a diversity and inclusion champion.
Amy Goodman will receive the 11th annual Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award. Host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a global, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,400 public television and radio stations worldwide she is also the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize.' Her reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards.
“The Muse Awards is always an inspirational event recognizing our extraordinary colleagues and friends for their talent, entrepreneurial spirit and vision,” says New York Women in Film & Television Executive Director Terry Lawler. “We are thrilled and honored to not only support and mentor each other as we do on a regular basis, but to empower and encourage women to continue striving and shattering the glass ceiling still prevalent in the entertainment industry.”
The Muse Awards gala luncheon is one of the most sought-after affairs attended by leading TV and film executives. Past recipients include Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Anne Sweeney, Martha Stewart, Robin Wright, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Tina Fey, America Ferrera, Julianna Margulies, Blythe Danner, Victoria Alonso, Gabourey Sidibe, Cicely Tyson, and Lucy Liu.
Tickets are $165 for most New York Women in Film & Television members and $350 for nonmembers. Corporate tables for $3500 or sponsorships starting at $5000 are also available. To purchase tickets please visit nywift.org/MUSE.
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