AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFF2019?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#AFF2019lt;/agt;–Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference, the premier film festival
that champions the writers’ contribution to film, television, and new
media, is thrilled to announce David Benioff and D.B. Weiss as
the recipients of the “Outstanding Television Writer” Award at the 26th
Annual Austin Film Festival, October 24-31, 2019.
Benioff and Weiss are the award-winning co-creators, writers, executive
producers, and showrunners of the critically-acclaimed HBO series Game
of Thrones, based on the bestselling book series by George R.R.
Martin. With a record-breaking 47 Emmy Awards, one Peabody Award, and an
average of 30 million viewers per episode, the series has altered the
landscape of episodic storytelling, setting a new bar for the caliber of
narrative and cinematic production in modern television.
Benioff and Weiss have also found great success in the worlds of film
and literature. D.B. Weiss is the author of the fiction novel Lucky
Wander Boy. David Benioff adapted his first novel, The 25th Hour,
into a feature film directed by Spike Lee. His second novel, City
of Thieves, has been translated into thirty-five languages, and
stories from his collection, When the Nines Roll Over, appeared
in Best New American Voices and The Best American Nonrequired
Reading. His screenplays include The Kite Runner, Brothers, Troy,
and Stay.
Benioff and Weiss will accept the award on Saturday, October 26 during
the Awards Luncheon, and participate in Conference programming at the 26th
Writers Conference. Past recipients of this award have included Vince
Gilligan, Marta Kauffman, Norman Lear, and Keenen Ivory Wayans.
AFF will present over 150 panels on the art and craft of storytelling,
featuring a slate of prominent industry professionals working in film,
television, and new media. Benioff and Weiss join a growing roster of
panelists including Megan Amram, Alec Berg, Christina Hodson, David
Mandel, and Alex Tse, with more panelist and awardee announcements to
come.
ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
Austin Film Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to
furthering the art, craft and business of writers and filmmakers and
recognizing their contributions to film, television and new media. This
project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City
of Austin Economic Development Department and the Texas Commission on
the Arts. www.austinfilmfestival.com
Contacts
Lauren Kelcher Stevenson
[email protected]
512.646.0149
