The Saturn Awards: Special Award winners announced
Every year the Saturn Awards honor legendary contributors in the areas of horror, science-fiction and fantasy films and television shows. Recently, they announced the winners for 2018.
“The measure of achievement is not winning awards. It’s doing something that you appreciate, something you believe is worthwhile.” – Julia Child
I’d Like to Thank…
On June 27, the Saturn Awards will honor outstanding individuals whose contributions to the arenas of horror, science-fiction and fantasy films and television series deserve recognition. Each year, there are five special awards given to celebrate the career accomplishments of prominent producers, writers and directors.
The Recipients for 2018
The Donald A. Reed Founder’s Award – Guillermo del Toro
Saturn Awards – Guillermo del Toro – Courtesy of Den of Geek, Bull Productions, Double Dare You (DDY), Fox Searchlight Pictures
Guillermo del Toro has had an exceptional year winning Best Director at the Academy Awards for his beautiful science-fiction love story, The Shape of Water. Not one to stay idle, GDT has plenty of upcoming projects in the pipeline to keep him busy.
Netflix has ordered ten episodes of his anthology series, 10 After Midnight. He has also inked a deal with DreamWorks Animation and is developing Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark for an upcoming feature.
The Producers Showcase Award – Jason Blum
Saturn Awards – Jason Blum – Courtesy of Danny Liao and LA Weekly
Jason Blum has also seen gold at the Academy Awards when Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, a feature he produced. He has many irons in the fire with his upcoming horror anthology series at Hulu called Into the Dark, his Sharp Objects series for HBO that’s currently filming, as well as overseeing Todd McFarlane’s Spawn.
One of the premiere players in the horror genre he has several more high-profile projects on tap such as You Should Have Left with David Koepp and Kevin Bacon, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Jordan Peele’s next effort, Us.
The Filmmakers Showcase Award – Jake Kasdan
Saturn Awards – Jake Kasdan – Courtesy of Columbia Pictures, Media Rights Capital (MRC), LStar Capital
Jake Kasdan is a legacy name in Hollywood. His father is prolific director and writer Lawrence Kasdan. As a director, Jake scored pretty big with his adaptation of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The film was made for an estimated $90,000,000 and grossed $960,637,260 worldwide.
Kasdan is also known for being the producer of several successful television shows such as New Girl, Fresh Off the Boat and Speechless.
The Dan Curtis Legacy Award – Sarah Schechter
Saturn Awards – Sarah Schechter – Courtesy of ComicBook on YouTube
Sarah Schechter is the world of DC Comics for the CW network. She’s the executive producer on the upcoming Titans series along with Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Black Lightning and Legends of Tomorrow.
What a perfect candidate for the Dan Curtis award because, like Curtis, she has had an inexhaustible television career behind the scenes. At one time, she was a Warner Brothers production executive before vacating her post to run Greg Berlanti’s movie and television divisions.
The Special Achievement Award – Don Mancini
Saturn Awards – Don Mancini – Courtesy of Ask Men
Don Mancini definitely deserves this recognition for his contributions to the horror genre. Throughout the years, he has been an active writer, producer and director. He is best-known for creating Chucky, the maniac possessed doll voiced by Brad Dourif.
Mancini wrote most of the incarnations in the franchise and is currently developing the Child’s Play TV series. He also produced eight episodes of Hannibal on NBC and six episodes of Channel Zero for the SyFy Network.
Congratulations to all of the very worthy award recipients!
Who is your favorite honoree and why? Feel free to share your opinions in the comment section below. We want to hear from you.
Next: Bruce Campbell/Ash vs Evil Dead nominated for Saturn Awards
Susan Leighton can be found on Twitter and Facebook @SusanontheLedge as well as Instagram @convirgin. She is also featured on Friday Night Tights, the ultimate pop culture wrap up show at Nerdrotic Podcast every Friday night at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. You can catch her weekly coverage on IFC’s Brockmire at TV Series Hub.