Legendary JULIE ANDREWS FETED AT 48TH AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Carol Burnett, Cynthia Erivo, Steve Carell, Jane Seymour, Héctor Elizondo, Bo Derek and Gwen Stefani Among Those Who Delivered Tributes
Oscar®-winning Writer and Director of CODA Siân Heder Awarded Schaffner Alumni Medal
Tribute Special to Premiere on TNT Thursday, June 16 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT
The American Film Institute (AFI) presented the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award to Julie Andrews today at a Gala Tribute in the heart of Hollywood. TNT will premiere the special, THE 48TH AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO JULIE ANDREWS, on Thursday, June 16 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by an encore at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. An additional encore presentation will air on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Friday, July 15, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. This marks the eighth year the Emmy®-winning AFI special will air on TNT.
Academy Award® winner and 2022 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal recipient Siân Heder, Carol Burnett, Steve Carell, Bo Derek, Héctor Elizondo, Cynthia Erivo, Jane Seymour, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Brandi Burkhardt and cast members from THE SOUND OF MUSIC – Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath and Debbie Turner, came together to honor Ms. Andrews’ incredible career and celebrate the joy she has brought to audiences around the world.
Welcome remarks were made by Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. AFI Alumna and Academy Award®-winner Siân Heder (AFI DWW Class of 2005) was awarded the 2022 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal which recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of AFI Alumni who embody the qualities of filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner. Heder’s film CODA was this year’s Best Picture Oscar® winner, and Heder took home an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay. In her acceptance speech, Heder said, “AFI taught me that directing is a state of curiosity and learning. The solving of problems is where the art lives.”
The star-studded evening featured tributes and speeches from Carol Burnett, Steve Carell, Gwen Stefani, Héctor Elizondo and Jane Seymour; and taped messages from Dick Van Dyke, Anne Hathaway, Ariana DeBose, Hugh Jackman, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelly Clarkson, Nicola Coughlan and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In talking about working on the film “10” with Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards, Bo Derek said, “Blake and Julie made seven films together. And as impressive as that is, it’s nothing compared to their 41 years of marriage…And for me and for all of us, what they had onscreen and off, was a perfect 10.”
“I would not be me without the inspiration of Julie Andrews,” said Gwen Stefani, whose song “Wind It Up” includes a sample of “The Lonely Goatherd” from THE SOUND OF MUSIC. “You have brought so much joy into my life and to all of our lives. Thank you for your ‘sound of music.’”
To honor Andrews’ iconic role, Cynthia Erivo performed a moving rendition of “Edelweiss” – Julie’s favorite song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
In honoring her friend of six decades, Carol Burnett said, “This award is so very much deserved. She has constantly given us her all. And her ‘all’ is awe-inspiring. Congratulations, chum.”
In accepting the award, Andrews said, “This night reminds me with great clarity how many people are involved with making movies. What a huge collaborative effort it takes to bring film to the screen. My husband Blake never liked when people referred to filmmaking as the business or an industry. He insisted that film was an art form and should always be called that. And I know that is exactly the way the AFI feels also.”
The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute special will air on TNT on Thursday, June 16, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by an encore at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. An additional encore presentation will air on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Friday, July 15, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. This marks the eighth year the Emmy®-winning AFI special will air on TNT.
To learn more about AFI and the AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Julie Andrews, please visit AFI.com.
About TNT
TNT, a Warner Bros. Discovery brand, is watched by more people than any other cable network and known for big, lean-forward television that gives viewers the best seat in the house for electrifying stories, dynamic characters and thrilling events. TNT is home to some of television’s most popular original series including “Snowpiercer,” “Animal Kingdom,” and big-ticket movies. TNT is expanding its programming to include premium unscripted with the docuseries “Rich & Shameless,” “Rhodes to the Top,” and “Shaq Life.” TNT also presents primetime specials and sports coverage, including Inside the NBA, the NHL, NBA and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships and the professional wrestling league All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which has exploded onto the scene with “AEW: Rampage” and the AEW specials “Battle of the Belts”. Website: www.tntdrama.com
About the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal
The Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal is awarded annually to an Alumnus of either the AFI Conservatory or the AFI DWW, who best embodies the qualities of the late director: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality filmmaking.
Over the course of a remarkable 40-year career, Franklin J. Schaffner earned a total of 28 Academy Award® nominations and the Best Director Oscar® for PATTON in 1970. Schaffner’s association with AFI began in 1975, with his election to the AFI Board of Trustees, and lasted until his passing in 1989. Recipients of the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal are David Lynch (1991), Edward Zwick (1992), Randa Haines (1993), Martin Brest (1994), Jon Avnet (1995), Carl Franklin (1996), John McTiernan (1997), Amy Heckerling (1998), Mimi Leder (1999), Terrence Malick (2000), Darren Aronofsky (2001), Todd Field (2002), John Dahl (2003), Patty Jenkins (2004), Paul Schrader (2005), Marshall Herskovitz (2006), Gary Winick (2007), Mark Waters (2008), Steve Golin (2009), Janusz Kamiński (2010), Steven Rosenblum (2011), Wally Pfister (2012), Stuart Cornfeld (2013), Anne Garefino (2014), Caleb Deschanel (2015), Lesli Linka Glatter (2016), Frederick Elmes (2017), Rachel Morrison (2018) and Melina Matsoukas (2019).
About the AFI Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory offers a two-year Master of Fine Arts degree in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. Aspiring artists learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on storytelling. AFI Conservatory’s Alumni have been consistently recognized with all of the major industry awards — Academy Awards®, Emmy® Awards, Guild Awards — as well as Tony and Peabody Awards®.
Within the Conservatory is the DWW program which was founded in 1974 and has trained over 350 filmmakers. The landmark program mentors directors from historically underrepresented perspectives through the production cycle of a short film, providing hands-on instruction led by industry experts, and introduces the filmmakers into a wide network of industry creatives and executives.
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
The American Film Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States. In 1969, AFI opened the doors of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to train narrative filmmakers. AFI’s enduring traditions include the AFI Life Achievement Award, which honors the masters for work that has stood the test of time; AFI AWARDS, which celebrates the creative ensembles of the most outstanding screen stories of the year; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive that preserve film history for future generations. AFI exhibition programs include AFI FEST, AFI DOCS and year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Maryland. Other pioneering programs include workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community, including the AFI DWW program and the AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women. AFI’s newest program is AFI Movie Club, a daily global engagement for those who love the movies. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, YouTube.com/AFI, Twitter.com/AmericanFilm and Instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
About Turner Classic Movies (TCM)
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a two-time Peabody Award-winning network that presents classic films, uncut and commercial-free, from the largest film libraries in the world highlighting “where then meets now.” TCM features the insights from Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz along with hosts Alicia Malone, Dave Karger, Jacqueline Stewart and Eddie Muller, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests and serves as the ultimate movie lover destination. With more than two decades as a leading authority in classic film, TCM offers critically acclaimed series like The Essentials, along with annual programming events like 31 Days of Oscar® and Summer Under the Stars. TCM also directly connects with movie fans through popular events such as the annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, the TCM Big Screen Classics screening series, and the TCM Classic Cruise. In addition, TCM produces the wildly successful podcast “The Plot Thickens,” which has had more than 6 million downloads to date. TCM hosts a wealth of material online at tcm.com and through the Watch TCM mobile app. Fans can also enjoy a classic movie experience on the Classics Curated by TCM hub on HBO Max.
