Michael York and Director Nicholas Eliopoulos
Honorary Satellite Award Opens Doors for Mary Pickford Documentary
Los Angeles, CA, Jan. 13, 2010 – When director Nicholas Eliopoulos and his producer Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt received an Honorary Satellite Award for their documentary “Mary Pickford: Muse of the Movies” at the International Press Academy’s annual award gala held in Dec. 2009, the statuette not only represented an acknowledgement of their years dedicated to the biopic but has also opened new doors for the project in 2010.
“National Public Radio has contacted us for an interview,” Eliopoulos said, “Turner Classic Movies is looking at a screener for their upcoming festival.”
Actor Michael York, who narrates the documentary with Pickford via archival audio, was also presented with the IPA prestigious “Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry” at this year’s awards presentation. Since 1997, IPA’s highest honor has been the Pickford statuette, a special life achievement award.
“Michael’s award and the Honorary Satellite for our project represents a real show of support and acknowledgement of the impact Mary Pickford had on the birth of American cinema. For my producers Elizabeth Wood Coldicutt and Thomas Coldicutt, and myself, the IPA’s recognition of our work could not have come at a better time.”
MovieMaker Magazine is doing a feature article on the Pickford project for an upcoming issue, as well as an internet showcase. “Muse” has worldwide distribution through Here Films/Regent Releasing, and will open in six major cities across the US in 2010.
The documentary is compiled from vintage reels and archival footage with cameos by her fellow artists and famous friends, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Buddy Rogers, Lillian Gish, Adolph Zukor, and Amelia Earhart.
Pickford co-founded United Artists Studios in 1919, and was among the group who established the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The former child star even championed the idea of famous footprints in cement that have become a Hollywood tradition at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. On April 27, 1930 Mary Pickford and husband Douglas Fairbanks provided the first celebrity footprints outside this theater.
According to the American Film Institute, Mary Pickford is only one of 13 legendary actors, or acting teams, from the early days of film who made the transition from silent movies to “talkies.”
Pickford won the first ever Oscar as Best Actress for a sound film “Coquette” in 1929. Other legends who made if from silents to sound pictures include: Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Lillian Gish, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton and Edward G. Robinson.
Mary Pickford, a Canadian born under the name Gladys Marie Smith, was known as the original ‘America’s Sweetheart’ in front of the camera, but her behind-the-scenes legacy has resulted in today’s entertainment industry that grossed more than $10 Billion USD in record breaking box office receipts for 2009, based on estimates by the Wall Street Journal.
“Our New York Premiere of the documentary will be in a couple of months at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center which is holding a Pickford film retrospective and the opening night will showcase our movie. “We’re very proud of this film”, Nicholas Eliopoulos added. To learn more about “Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies’ visit the film’s Web Site: www.marypickfordthemuse.com.
The International Press Academy (IPA) is among the largest and most diverse associations of professional entertainment journalists representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable, new media outlets. See www.pressacademy.com for more information.