Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will be honored by Outfest at the 8th annual Legacy Awards on Saturday, October 13 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Zadan and Meron will be receiving the Visionary Award in recognition of their contribution to LGBT arts and media visibility. The award will be presented by Glee star Darren Criss who earlier this year starred in Zadan and Meron’s production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Zadan and Meron were also recently honored with the distinction of named as producers of the 85th Annual Academy Awards to air on ABC Feb 24, 2013.
Zadan and Meron were presented 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. Watch Zadan and Meron’s Vito Russo Award acceptance speech below.
In addition to producing iconic films such as Chicago, The Bucket List, Hairspray and Footloose, two of Zadan and Meron’s movies have received GLAAD Media Awards, Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story in 1996 and What Makes a Family in 2002. Their hit TV series Drop Dead Diva this year received the award for Outstanding Individual Episode and their musical drama Smash features several gay characters. Zadan and Meron’s 2010 Broadway revival of Promises, Promises starred openly gay actor Sean Hayes and GLAAD Vanguard Award-recipient Kristin Chenoweth. Their Tony Award-winning revival of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying starred outspoken LGBT equality advocates Daniel Radcliffe and Darren Criss as lead J. Pierrepont Finch.
“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,” says 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 the lives of LGBT people everywhere," says Zadan and Meron.
Tickets for the 8th annual Legacy Awards go on sale September 6. To purchase tickets and for further information, visit outfest.org.