The Barbie filmmaker is 2024’s Pioneer of the Year recipient. Greta Gerwig will be bestowed with the 75th honor at the September 25th ceremony at the Beverly Hilton by the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation (WRMPPF).
The Pioneer of the Year Award is bestowed upon esteemed and respected members in the motion picture industry whose leadership, service to the community, and commitment to philanthropy are exceptional. All proceeds raised at the event benefit WRMPPF’s Pioneers Assistance Fund which provides financial assistance and supportive counseling to individuals in the motion picture distribution and exhibition community in times of need.
“Greta Gerwig is a dynamic filmmaker with extraordinary vision who entertains and inspires audiences everywhere,” said Jeff Goldstein, President of Warner Bros. Domestic Distribution and Co-Chairman, Pioneer of the Year Dinner.
“The Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund is proud to celebrate Greta’s achievements and present her with the 2024 Pioneer of the Year Award,” added Kyle Davies, President of Distribution at Bleecker Street Media and Chairman, Pioneers Assistance Fund Committee.
Gerwig’s works as filmmaker include Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie, all of which earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture. She also received Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Lady Bird and Best Adapted Screenplay for Little Women. Barbie, which Gerwig co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, became the first film from a solo female director to gross more than $1 Billion worldwide, and earned her a second Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Barbie is also the highest grossing movie ever in Warner Bros history with over $1.44 billion.
Gerwig’s breakout role as an actress came in Baumbach’s Greenberg opposite Ben Stiller, for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. She followed up the collaboration with Baumbach co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed Frances Ha, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, as well as starring in and co-writing Mistress America. Most recently, Gerwig starred in Baumbach’s White Noise and upcoming, will be seen co-starring in his untitled film opposite George Clooney and Adam Sandler. She is currently writing an adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia book series for Netflix.
Past Pioneer of the Year honorees include Erik Lomis, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Tom Cruise, Donna Langley, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Elizabeth Banks, Jim Gianopulos, Dick Cook, Michael D. Eisner, Alan Horn, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Sherry Lansing, Frank G. Mancuso, Sumner Redstone, Terry Semel, Tom Sherak, Jack Valenti, Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck and Cecil B. DeMille.