16TH ANNUAL 2007 BAFTA/LA CUNARD BRITANNIA AWARDS

Los Angeles, CA, September 4, 2007 -The British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) continues its tradition of recognizing outstanding talent at its 16th Annual BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards on Thursday, November 1, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. The 2007 honorees include esteemed actress Kate Winslet with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year; BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Martin Campbell with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing; and New Line Cinema's Co-Chairmen and Co-CEO's Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne with the Cunard Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Film.

As previously announced, Denzel Washington will receive BAFTA/LA’s highly prestigious 2007 Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.

“This year’s honorees truly know how to capture the imagination of film audiences worldwide, both innovatively and commercially.  They are all revered in their respective fields and we are proud to honor their accomplishments and welcome them to the distinguished pantheon of BAFTA/LA honorees,” says BAFTA/LA Chairman Peter Morris.

British-born actress Kate Winslet grew up in a family of actors, and her first big break came at the age of 17, when she was cast in Heavenly Creatures, followed by Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility.  Her role as Marianne Dashwood earned her BAFTA and SAG awards and both a Golden Globe nomination and an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress.  She starred in two more period pieces as the rebellious heroine in Michael Winterbottom’s Jude and Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet.  Winslet catapulted to international fame as the lead in Titanic, garnering a Best Actress Academy Award nomination  and  a Golden Globe nomination.  She consistently seeks challenging roles and has worked with a wide range of artistically innovative directors in such films as Hideous Kinky, Quills, Iris, Enigma, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Finding Neverland.

In 2006 Winslet received critical acclaim including BAFTA, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for her role as Sarah Pierce, playing a lonely mother who embarks on an unexpected affair with a married father in Todd Field's Little Children. She recently finished shooting Revolutionary Road,  a film adaptation of Richard Yates’ 1950s novel, which was directed by her husband Sam Mendes and reunites her with Leonardo DiCaprio, playing her on-screen husband, and Kathy Bates.  Over the span of her young career thus far, Winslet has received one BAFTA Film Award and five nominations, one SAG Award and five nominations, five Academy Award nominations (making her the youngest person to receive this many nominations before the age of 31), and five Golden Globe nominations, among countless other accolades. 

Director Martin Campbell’s 2006 Casino Royale was both a critical tour de force and an international box office smash, in addition to being considered one of the best Bond films ever made.  With Casino Royale Campbell brilliantly introduced Daniel Craig into the role of Bond, delivering a film that has revolutionized and reinvigorated the Bond franchise.  Born in New Zealand, Campbell moved to London where he began his career as a cameraman for Lew Grade’s ATV company, and went on to produce the controversial feature Scum, as well as Black Joy, which was selected for the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.  Campbell made his directorial debut with the British police action series “The Professionals,” and went on to direct the classic BBC series “Shoestring” and Thames TV’s “Minder,” as well as the BBC miniseries “Edge of Darkness,” for which he was honored with six BAFTA awards.

Campbell’s Hollywood debut was Criminal Law, followed by Defenseless and No Escape.  In 1995, Campbell directed GoldenEye, markingPierce Brosnan’s first outing as the famed British spy James Bond.  Campbell next helmed The Mask of Zorro, which earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and launched the international careers of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Additional American credits include the sequel The Legend of Zorro, Vertical Limits and the Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen vehicle Beyond Borders.

New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye began exploring the world of distribution and formed the company in 1967 from his New York City apartment, building on re-releases of cult films like Reefer Madness and first-run domestic distribution of foreign films.

Together with his Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynne, they have guided the company’s growth from a privately-held art film distributor to one of the entertainment industry’s leading independent studios and a veritable box office force, and their trailblazing strategies relating to production, marketing and distribution in both mainstream and niche markets have become industry standards.  The simultaneous production of the three films in The Lord of the Rings trilogy was unprecedented, and the films went on to garner a total of 17 Oscars and earn nearly $3 billion worldwide.  Additional hits include the Rush Hour, Blade, Austin Powers and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, as well as Wedding Crashers, The Notebook, About Schmidt, Boogie Nights, Seven, The Wedding Singer, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and most recently Hairspray.  Upcoming highlights of New Line’s 2007 slate include Rendition, a political thriller opening October 19 starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin; and The Golden Compass, based on the first novel of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig opening December 7.
 
Prior to his appointment as Co-Chairman and Co-CEO in 2001, Lynne served as President of New Line Cinema from 1990 and Chief Legal Counsel for the company for a decade before that.  His alliance with Shaye dates back to 1961 when they both attended Columbia Law School.  Before joining New Line, Lynne was a partner for 20 years with Blumenthal & Lynne, specializing in entertainment law. 

Serving as the bridge between the American and British entertainment communities, BAFTA/LA is a professional non-profit organization founded in California in 1987 to promote and advance original work in film, television and interactive media.

BAFTA/LA’s outreach programs benefit members and other professionals working within the entertainment industry, as well as the Los Angeles community at large. BAFTA/LA provides exclusive access to screenings, Q&A’s with talent and filmmakers, conversations with leading UK-based film and television executives, and the Heritage Archive, featuring broadcast-quality interviews with distinguished British members of the film and television industries. Educational outreach for students and the Los Angeles community includes an after-school screening program for inner-city youth at the Helen Keller Park Recreation Center and a recent partnership with FilmAid to mentor young filmmakers. Additional programs include seminars in association with local universities and festivals, scholarships for post-graduate programs, and recognizing professional and student talent with awards at film festivals throughout the U.S.

Maintaining a long tradition of recognizing the finest filmmaking and television talent, BAFTA/LA hosts a series of social networking events, including the Annual BAFTA/LA-Cunard Britannia Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards Brunch, the Annual Garden Party, and the Awards Season Film and Television Tea Parties in January and September. BAFTA/LA is affiliated with BAFTA in London, and members vote annually for the prestigious BAFTA Film Awards. BAFTA/LA also presents its annual Britannia Awards every November, where it has honored such luminaries as Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, and Martin Scorsese with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.