Steven Spielberg to Receive Cinema Audio Society’s Filmmaker Award

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Steven Spielberg has been selected as the recipient of the Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award, which will be presented at the 55th annual CAS Awards on Feb. 16 at the Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown.

“The CAS has recognized Steven’s commitment to sound multiple times, with nominations for Outstanding Sound Mixing and a win for ‘Saving Private Ryan,’” said president Mark Ulano. “And, most importantly, we recognize that Steven has had relationships with sound mixers that span more than 25 projects — a strong indicator that a director values the role of sound. Steven has long embraced the creative importance of sound for his story telling and all his projects beautifully reflect this commitment.”

Spielberg has won Academy Awards for best director and best picture for “Schindler’s List,” and a third Oscar for best director for “Saving Private Ryan.” He’s been nominated seven times for best director and 10 times for best picture, most recently for “The Post.” He is a recipient of the DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a Kennedy Center Honor.

Spielberg established the Righteous Persons Foundation using all his profits from “Schindler’s List.” He also founded the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which in 2006 became the USC Shoah Foundation – the Institute for Visual History and Education.

Spielberg will be the 14th CAS Filmmaker Honoree. Past honorees have been Joe Wright, Jon Favreau, Jay Roach, Richard Linklater, Edward Zwick, Jonathan Demme, Rob Marshall, Taylor Hackford, Henry Selick, Paul Mazursky, Bill Condon, Gil Cates, and Quentin Tarantino.

The CAS has already announced that its Career Achievement Award will be presented to production sound mixer Lee Orloff. The awards will honor achievements in sound mixing in three motion picture and four television categories.