The 8th Annual Outfest Legacy Awards will be held at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 13. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will be honored with the Visionary Award in recognition of their contributions to LGBT visibility in the arts and the media. The award will be presented by Glee star Darren Criss who starred in Zadan and Meron’s Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying earlier this year. In addition, the 1919 silent film Different From the Others, arguably the earliest surviving cinematic work made explicitly about LGBT individuals, will be screened for the first time after undergoing a historic restoration process.
“Thanks to Craig and Neil’s all-encompassing work in movies, television and on stage, they have given a loud and clear voice to LGBT characters and issues that reaches the widest possible audience,” said Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director of Outfest. “We are very proud to honor two friends and longtime supporters of Outfest and are grateful for their profound impact on the LGBT community.”
“We are honored and humbled to receive the Visionary Award from an organization as important and crucial as Outfest. We hope we can help spread the word that the community needs to embrace and support this outstanding group that does so much to enrich the art and lives of LGBT people everywhere,” said Zadan and Meron.
Zadan and Meron were also presented with GLAAD’s Vito Russo Award at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards in New York for their work as LGBT media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting LGBT equality. The pair’s career has spanned over two decades and has garnered six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, 11 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Tony Awards and a Grammy. They were also recently honored with the distinction of being named as producers of the 85th Annual Academy Awards to air on ABC Feb 24, 2013. Watch Zadan and Meron’s Vito Russo Award acceptance speech below.
And in what should be a great draw for queer cinephiles, the screening of the recently restored Different From the Others will include live musical accompaniment, and is the first time in almost 100 years that the film has been screened for an audience. Directed by Richard Oswald and co-written by famed psychologist Magnus Hirschfeld, it is believed to be only film of a group of gay-friendly movies made during Germany’s Weimar Era that escaped systematic destruction by the Nazis.
Tickets for the 8th Annual Legacy Awards are available now. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit outfest.org.