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| Excellence In Artistry awardee William Dafoe on the red carpet of 2024 ASTRA Film Awards (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation/Shutterstock/Hollywood Creative Alliance) |
ABS-CBN, a Philippine-based powerhouse media content producer and distributor in the U.S., kicked off the new year and the continuing Hollywood awards season with the staging of the star-studded 7th ASTRA Film Awards held last January 6, 2024 at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California followed by the 3rd annual ASTRA Television Awards two days later. These prestigious awards shows are presented annually by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, commonly called HCA, a non-profit organization with a diverse and inclusive membership that includes critics, entertainment journalists, content creators, industry insiders, and creatives with a shared passion for celebrating excellence in film and television which aims to amplify diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and culture in film and television.
Ths runaway winner of the 2024 ASTRA Film Awards is Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Barbie” which took home the most awards of the evening with eight wins including Best Picture, Best Actress (Margot Robbie), Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song (“I’m Just Ken”), Best Production Design, Best Publicity Campaign, and Best Casting. “Barbie’s” director Greta Gerwig, producer David Heyman, and DJ-songwriter-record producer Mark Ronson were present to receive the awards. Filipino American actress Hailee Steinfeld, on the other hand, took home the Best Voice-Over Performance for her work on "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse". Willem Dafoe was honored with the Excellence in Artistry Award. The four-time Oscar nominee, who was also honored earlier this week with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, started his career in 1979. Since then, he has received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Oliver Stone’s Platoon, E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow Of The Vampire, and Sean Baker’s The Florida Project as well as Best Leading Actor for Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity's Gate. In addition, he has received four Golden Globe nominations, four Screen Actors Guild nominations, and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Dafoe has been awarded by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, as well as twice by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup and a Berlinale Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.
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| Director Greta Garwig with producer David Heyman on the 2024 ASTRA Film Awards stage accepting the Best Picture award for Warner Bros. Pictures' "Barbie" (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation/Shutterstock/Hollywood Creative Alliance) |
On the said awards night, ABS-CBN’s very own award-winning The Filipino Channel (TFC) Hollywood correspondent Yong Chavez was announced as HCA's Co-Chief Executive Officer in addition to her current role as Vice President. In this new role, Chavez will be responsible for overseeing overall operations for the organization including membership relations, working with studios, and creating new initiatives for global representation such as new programs and content creation. In an interview with TFC News Los Angeles correspondent Steve Angeles, HCA CEO, Founder and President Scott Menzel said, “Yong is one of the most skilled interviewers in the industry. She is our own celebrity that we have now at home. The vision of HCA is to create a global brand. We are all about celebrating underrepresented voices in the industry. This industry keeps saying that they want change and that they want to accept people from different cultures. The truth is not a lot of people are really doing it. There’s a lot of talk, but very little action. We’re excited to be doing that. That’s why Yong is Co-CEO because we’re going to be building this up. We’re going to develop international content. We’re going to focus more on different countries. I’m very, very excited about this new chapter.” ABS-CBN Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jun Del Rosario said, “HCA’s visión aligns with ABS-CBN's. Thus, facilitating this unprecedented collaboration with the mainstream entertainment industry and creative community via sponsorship advances our own internationalization goals. We are very pleased to work with HCA and are proud of our own Yong Chavez making a huge impact in promoting diversity and in representing the global Filipino community.”
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| The cast of Prime Video's The Boys on the stage of the 2024 ASTRA TV Awards (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation/Shutterstock/Hollywood Creative Alliance) |
Prime Video’s “The Boys” walked away with the most number of awards won among the nominated series available on streaming platforms in this year's ASTRA TV Awards consisting of Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Drama Series, Best Streaming Drama Series. Best Directing in a Streaming Drama Series. Best Actor in a Streaming Drama Series. Best Casting in a Drama Series, and Best Stunts. The series is about what happens when superheroes, who become as popular as celebrities and as influential as politicians, start abusing their powers rather than using them for good. The HCA also gave out two honorary awards: to "The Boys" creator Eric Kripke for the TV Icon Award and to Ariel Marx for the Artisan Spotlight Award. HBO’S “Succession”, on the other hand, took home the most awards of the evening for broadcast & network TV with five wins including Best Cable Drama Series, Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series, Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series. Best Writing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series, and Best Directing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series while ABC’S “Abbott Elementary” scored four wins including Best Broadcast Network Comedy Series Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Comedy Series, Best Supporting Actor in Broadcast Network or Cable Comedy Series and Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Meanwhile, Filipino American actor Kieran Tamondong was nominated in this year's ASTRA TV Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Limited TV Series of TV Movie for his performance in "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix). The award went to Paul Walter Hauser of Black Bird (Apple TV+).
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| Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) founder, co-CEO and president Scott Menzel and vice-president and co-CEO, ABS-CBN's TFC News Hollywood correspondent Yong Chavez, congratulating the winners of the 2024 ASTRA TV Awards (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation/Shutterstock/Hollywood Creative Alliance) |
In an interview with Angeles during the Astra TV Awards ceremony, Chavez said, "For many years, we have struggled to be included (in the mainstream) and now we are no longer marginalized. We are front and center at such a huge Hollywood event. For HCA and ABS-CBN to have a partnership is just the beginning of bigger things for both." ABS-CBN Global COO Jun Del Rosario agreed with Chavez, stating," We applaud HCA's efforts to celebrate people and stories in the U.S. entertainment industry that reflect more the diversity of the country's population. We join and support the journey of Filipinos in representing in this new landscape. We will make sure that our audiences around the world see these positive developments in our content offerings." Through its newly-forged partnership with HGA, ABS-CBN delivered these festivities to international audiences on television and online via TFC and iWantTFC. The 7th ASTRA Film Awards and 3rd ASTRA TV Awards can be viewed on-demand on iWantTFC for free in the Philippines and via premium subscriptions outside the country.
The HCA is set to host the second annual ASTRA Creative Arts Awards on February 26, 2024 at the City Market Social House in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. The full list of nominees for the 2024 ASTRA Creative Arts Awards as well as the complete list of winners of the 7th ASTRA Film Awards and 3rd ASTRA TV Awards are found on HCA's official website at HollywoodCreative.org.
