de Passe to Receive Savannah Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award


Suzanne de Passe
Suzanne de Passe

Suzanne de Passe will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Entertainment on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the 2008 Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design. The festival is scheduled for Oct. 25-Nov. 1.

Ms. de Passe, chief executive officer of de Passe Entertainment Group, began her career at Motown Records as creative assistant to company founder Berry Gordy. She subsequently rose to the position of president of Motown Productions and later formed Gordy/de Passe Productions before establishing her own company in 1992.

De Passe is the recipient of many professional awards including two Emmy Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, three Peabody Awards and a Golden Globe. She received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing “Lady Sings the Blues.” De Passe has been the subject of two Harvard business school cases, and has held the Time Warner Endowed Chair as visiting professor to the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University.

In March 2006 she received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities during Howard University’s 138th Charter Day celebration. The Center for the Advancement of Women honored de Passe in 2007 for her demonstration of outstanding leadership and advocacy in the ongoing struggle to change the landscape and gain essential rights and opportunities of women. In February 2008 Essence Magazine bestowed the first Black Women In Hollywood Visionary Award on de Passe, acknowledging her contribution as a trailblazer. She currently serves as visiting professor at Emerson College in Boston, Mass., and resides in both Los Angeles and New York City.

The Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, is scheduled for October 25-November 1. Festival passes and individual event tickets are still available for purchase at the SCAD Box Office, 216 E. Broughton St., or online at www.scadboxoffice.com.

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