PASADENA, CA, JULY 12, 2006 – AMC will present a special tribute to Academy Award® – winning actor/director George Clooney with GEORGE CLOONEY: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE TRIBUTE, airing on Wednesday, December 13 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. AMC will complement the awards presentation with the premiere of Clooney's directorial debut CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND starring Dick Clark and Sam Rockwell at 9 PM ET/PT.
GEORGE CLOONEY: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE TRIBUTE will be taped before a live audience on Friday, October 13 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel's International Ballroom in Beverly Hills, and will air exclusively on AMC. The presentation is a benefit for the American Cinematheque, a non-profit, viewer-supported organization dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Picture in all its forms. The Cinematheque presents the best of film and video – ranging from the classics to the outer frontiers of the art form. Previous honorees have included a who's who of the entertainment industry including Al Pacino, Steven Spielberg, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman and Steve Martin.
"The American Cinematheque is one of Hollywood's important cultural touchstones," said Rob Sorcher, AMC's Executive Vice President, Programming & Production. "In our fifth year presenting this year, AMC's viewers will have an intimate view at George Clooney, who will be admired by friends and colleagues. Clooney's talents as a prolific actor, director, writer and producer make him Hollywood's Renaissance man."
Clooney was the unanimous choice of the Cinematheque Board of Directors selection committee, which since 1986, has annually honored an extraordinary artist (actor, director or writer) in the entertainment industry, who is fully engaged in his or her work and is committed to making a significant contribution to the art of the motion picture.
Academy Award winner George Clooney has gone from television actor to motion picture actor to producer, executive producer and director. He was honored with three Academy Award nominations, the first time in history an individual has garnered
three Oscar nominations for two different films in the same year: as Best Director and
for Best Original Screenplay for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK and as Best
Supporting Actor in SYRIANA. Clooney received the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. The award honors films that demonstrate social justice.
Coming up is Tony Gilroy's MICHAEL CLAYTON, which co-stars Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton, due out in 2007 and Steven Soderbergh's OCEAN'S 13, which begins production this summer. Clooney will produce "13" with Soderbergh and Jerry Weintraub. Clooney and Soderbergh, as partners in the film and television production company Section Eight, have produced numerous films including GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, SYRIANA, OCEAN'S TWELVE, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, THE JACKET, FULL FRONTAL and WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD. Clooney was an executive producer of two critically acclaimed Section Eight films, Warner Bros.' INSOMNIA and Focus Features' FAR FROM HEAVEN. In Section Eight's television division, Clooney was an executive producer and directed five of the episodes of "Unscripted," a reality-based show that debuted on HBO in 2005. He also was an executive producer and cameraman for HBO's "K-Street."
Clooney made his directorial debut in 2002 with CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (Miramax), for which he won the Special Achievement in Film award from the National Board of Review. He followed it up in 2005 with GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, which he also co-wrote and co-stars in. He was recognized for his performance on both sides of the camera by nearly every major film critic's organization. He won the Paul Selvin Award from the Writer's Guild of America, the Freedom Award from the Broadcast Film Critic's Association, and was nominated for two Oscars, three Golden Globes, four BAFTA's, a SAG award, an Independent Spirit Award, a WGA and DGA award among others.
That same year Clooney co-starred in and was executive producer of SYRIANA for Warner Bros. The film again garnered him accolades from all over the world including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as a CIA agent. He was also nominated for a SAG award, a BAFTA and two Critic's Choice awards. Clooney also starred in the Warner Bros. blockbuster hits OCEAN'S ELEVEN and OCEAN'S TWELVE. In 2000, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his work in the Coen brothers' "O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?" for Disney. He also earned critical acclaim in the award-winning drama THREE KINGS (Warner Bros.) and in OUT OF SIGHT (Universal).
He has starred in several television series, but is best known to TV audiences for his five years on the hit NBC drama "ER." His portrayal of Dr. Douglas Ross earned him Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, People's Choice and Emmy nominations. Clooney was executive producer and co-star of the live television broadcast of "Fail Safe," an Emmy-winning tele-film developed through his Maysville Pictures.
The executive producers of the show are Paul Flattery and Barbara Smith. Irene Crinita is the producer. Co-chairs and presenters of the event will be announced as they are confirmed.
About AMC
AMC, a division of Rainbow Media's Entertainment Services, which also includes WE: Women's Entertainment and IFC Companies, is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 88,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and a critically-acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. AMC has garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including 14 Emmy awards. AMC is "TV for movie people."
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
A leader in the entertainment industry, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow creates and manages some of the country's most compelling and dynamic programming with linear networks including national networks – AMC, fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE tv, its regional programming service – Rainbow Sports Networks; on-demand networks including Mag Rack and sportskool; and the largest suite of high definition channels available anywhere – the VOOM HD Networks. Rainbow's other businesses include its film distribution, production and exhibition division – IFC Entertainment; in addition to its advertising sales division – Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation – and its full service network programming origination and distribution company – Rainbow Network Communications.