More kudos for Tony Kushner, the creator of “Angels in America.” The highly acclaimed cable TV movie version won a staggering 11 Emmy Awards in 2004. Kushner wrote the screenplay as well as the play that the movie is based on. It is about the AIDS crisis during the mid-1980s.
Now, Kushner has been named as the first recipient for a new $200,000 playwright prize. Established by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, this is the largest theater award in the country and one of the largest cash awards for individual achievements in the arts, according to Philanthropy News Digest.
Along with winning an Emmy, Kushner has won a Pulitzer, two Tonys, and an Olivier Award for “Angels in America.” Kushner, who lives in New York and Hollywood, says he works on screenplays, “to buy me time to work on plays.”
Kushner’s other works include, “A Bright Room Called Day,” “Homebody/Kabul”, and “Caroline or Change.”
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Tyler Perry is expanding his mega-operations. Perry, a prolific actor/ writer/producer/director/, has formed 34th Street Films. It will focus on producing projects written and directed by outside talent.
The new film unit will be based in Los Angeles. Perry will remain headquartered in Atlanta. In July, Perry signed a new three-year first look deal with Lionsgate. The distributor has handled six Perry films including, “The Family That Preys,” which is out now and has earned nearly $30 million in 10 days.
