Over 700 DGA members and guests attended the DGA Honors 2002, a celebration of individuals and organizations that have made meaningful contributions to American culture, and to the film and television industry in particular.
In its third year, the DGA Honors was held on Sunday, June 9, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and recognized the accomplishments of director Spike Lee; actress and former National Endowment of the Arts president Jane Alexander; broadcast news producer Don Hewitt; co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom; Congressman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and director Elliot Silverstein, recipient of the John Huston Award.
Actor Richard Belzer served as the emcee for the evening. Presenters included director Francis Ford Coppola (who presented the honor to Sony's Barker, Bernard and Bloom), Sony Corporation of America Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer (presenting to Hewitt), director Martin Scorsese (presenting the John Huston Award to Silverstein), actor/director Tim Robbins (presenting the Honors Film School Grant to UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Dean Robert Rosen), actress Rosie Perez (presenting to Rangel), Tipper Gore (presenting to Alexander) and Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry (presenting to Lee).
The DGA Honors was originally scheduled for October 2001 but the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 forced a postponement. Both DGA President Martha Coolidge and DGA First Vice President Ed Sherin, Chair of the DGA Honors, spoke of the hardships New Yorkers have faced as a consequence of those horrific acts, but also of their courage and resilience.
