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Robert Altman to Receive Honorary Spirit Award at the 2007 Film Independent's Spirit Awards

Thursday February 15, 8:30 am ET

New Spirit Award Created in Director's Name

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent, announced today the creation of a new Spirit Award - The Robert Altman Award - to be given to one film's ensemble cast and director, as chosen by the Spirit Awards nominating committee. The first ever Robert Altman Award will be given out at the 2008 Spirit Awards.

In conjunction with the announcement of this new award, a tribute to Altman will be featured at this year's Spirit Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 24, 2007. An Honorary Spirit Award will be given to the late director in recognition for his body of work and contribution to the ensemble genre. Talent from the maverick filmmaker's various films, including Robert Downey, Jr., Elliott Gould, Christopher Guest, Sally Kellerman, Andie MacDowell, Helen Mirren, and John C. Reilly, will come on-stage to acknowledge this honor.

"Robert Altman's films represent the uniqueness of vision Film Independent champions," said Hudson. "For his commitment to challenging the status quo and changing the landscape of independent film, we honor him with this new award."

Introducing clips for this year's Best Feature nominees will be Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson), Marcia Gay Harden (Dead Girl), and Forest Whitaker (American Gun). Dennis Hopper will present a Special Distinction Award to David Lynch and Laura Dern for their collaborative work. Sharon Stone and Andy Garcia will present this year's filmmaker grants.

As part of the Spirit Awards ceremony, various talent will perform song parodies highlighting each of the five Best Feature nominees. This year's performers include Loretta Devine (The Dead Girl), Rosario Dawson and Jeremy Renner (Half Nelson), Minnie Driver (Pan's Labyrinth), Neil Patrick Harris (American Gun), and Taylor Dayne (Little Miss Sunshine).

Additional presenters include Amy Adams, Rachel Bilson, Zach Braff, Matt Dillon, America Ferrera, James Franco, Josh Hartnett, Djimon Hounsou, Felicity Huffman, Anjelica Huston, Shia LaBeouf, Lucy Liu, Tobey Maguire, Giovanni Ribisi, Christina Ricci, Kerry Washington, and John Waters among others.

The 2007 Film Independent's Spirit Awards will take place in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday, February 24, 2007. As previously announced, Sarah Silverman will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the second year in a row. The show airs live beginning at 2:00 pm PST on IFC (Independent Film Channel). Live red carpet footage will precede the show starting at 1:30 pm PST on WE, with an edited re-broadcast of the ceremony airing later that evening on AMC at 10:00 pm EST/PST.

This year's ceremony is sponsored by Premier Sponsors IFC, Netflix, Axium International, and ELLE, as well as Principal Sponsors Acura and Pop Secret®. Casa Del Mar, The Viceroy, Sheraton Delfina, and Shutters on the Beach are the Official Host Hotels. Wire Image is the Official Photographer for Film Independent.

Throughout his extraordinary career, four-time nominee and two-time Spirit Award winner Robert Altman has surprised, entertained, and challenged audiences with vibrant, freewheeling films that stretch the boundaries of the medium. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award® at the 78th Academy Awards presentation in 2006, in a ceremony recognizing "a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike."

Altman's more than thirty features bear witness to an extraordinary creative range: films made with enormous casts (Nashville, Shortcuts), as well as with a solitary cast member (Secret Honor); films celebrating male camaraderie (M*A*S*H*, California Split) and those exploring women's consciousness (Images, Three Women, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean). He has inverted, satirized and enriched genres like the western (McCabe and Mrs. Miller), the gangster melodrama (Thieves Like Us), the detective film (The Long Goodbye), the biography (Vincent and Theo), and the English drawing-room whodunit (Gosford Park).

His numerous accolades include five Academy Award® nominations for Best Director (Gosford Park, Short Cuts, The Player, M*A*S*H*, Nashville), and three for Best Film (Gosford Park, M*A*S*H*, Nashville); at Cannes, the Palme d'Or/Best Film (M*A*S*H*), and Best Director (The Player); the Venice Film Festival Grand Prix, best Film (Short Cuts); the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best British Film (Gosford Park), Best Director (The Player), and Best Foreign Television Series ("Tanner '88"); and two Spirit Award nominations for Best Feature (Cookie's Fortune, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), and two Spirit Award wins for Best Director (Short Cuts) and Best Screenplay (Short Cuts).

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT'S SPIRIT AWARDS

Film Independent's Spirit Awards is a celebration honoring films made by filmmakers who embody independence and who dare to challenge the status quo. Televised in millions of homes and covered internationally by the press, the Spirit Awards has become the vanguard event in independent film, recognizing the achievements of independent filmmakers and promoting independent film to a wider audience.

Selected from more than 250 submissions, awards are given in the following categories: Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, Best Screenplay, John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for a budget under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Film, and Best Documentary.

The Spirit Awards Nominating Committee applies the following guidelines in making its selections:

1.  Uniqueness of vision
2.  Original, provocative subject matter
3.  Economy of means (with particular attention paid to total
     production cost and individual compensation)
4.  Percentage of financing from independent sources

Last year's Spirit Award winners included Brokeback Mountain, which won Best Feature and Best Director (Ang Lee), Capote for Best Screenplay and Best Male Lead (Philip Seymour Hoffman); Crash for Best First Feature and Best Supporting Male (Matt Dillon); Transamerica for Best Female Lead (Felicity Huffman) and Best First Screenplay; and Junebug for Best Supporting Female (Amy Adams).

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

Film Independent is a non-profit membership organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds the audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a filmmaker, film industry leader, or a film lover.

With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent also offers free Filmmaker Labs for selected writers, directors, and producers; provides cut-rate services for filmmakers; and presents year-round networking opportunities. Film Independent's mentorship and job placement program, Project:Involve, pairs emerging culturally-diverse filmmakers with film industry professionals.

Film Independent produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international cinema, and the Spirit Awards, a celebration honoring films and filmmakers that embody independence and dare to challenge the status quo.

For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org.

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