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The International Cinematographers Guild Publicists (ICG, IATSE Local 600) will debut its new award The Henri Bollinger Award at the 56^th annual International Cinematographers Guild’s Publicists Awards Luncheon on February 22 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, it was announced by Tim Menke, chair of the ICG Publicists Awards. This award, named after the renowned award-winning entertainment industry publicist Henri Bollinger, will be presented to Bollinger posthumously as the first recipient.  His wife Sandy will accept on his behalf.

“We established this award to celebrate the life and memory of a true giant of the entertainment publicity world,” said Tim Menke, who has succeeded Bollinger as chair of the ICG Publicists Awards. “Henri has set the bar for professionalism, creativity and integrity, and has made service to the larger community a part of his second nature. His dedication to the guild and IATSE was inspirational to so many people inside and outside the union.  His committed leadership shaped the ICG Publicists community and helped develop future leaders and publicists nationwide.  We are proud to establish this award in Henri’s name and honor.”

The ICG Publicists Awards celebrate excellence in publicity and promotion for motion pictures and television programs. The new Henri Bollinger Award will be bestowed on occasion in future years to recognize a person who epitomizes the definition of special merit in the field of entertainment. More than 900 industry leaders are expected to attend this year’s luncheon, which traditionally occurs the week leading up to the Academy Awards®.

Bollinger served for over 55 years on the Publicists Awards Committee and chaired the annual awards for over 37 years. He was a publicist for 60 years and received the Les Mason Award, the highest award bestowed upon a publicist by his peers, and the Bob Yeager Award for community service. He was president and founding member of the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS); served on the Foreign Film Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; chaired the Communications Committee of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum; served on the Public Relations Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; chairman of the Publications and Publicity Committee of the International Cinematographers Guild and a member of its National Executive Board; and president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Director and actor Dennis Dugan will host this year’s awards. Dugan is one of the entertainment industry’s top feature film comedy directors, earning his reputation with hits including Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy, Grown Ups 1 & 2, Parenthood and Just Go with It. His films have grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide. He began his career as an actor in the New York theater scene before starring in his own NBC series Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, and has appeared in numerous other TV roles.

As previously announced, the ICG Publicists Awards Luncheon will also honor filmmakerJon M. Chu, known for his visually stunning blockbuster films including Crazy Rich Asians, with the Motion Picture Showman of the Year Award. Greg Berlanti, Emmy^®-nominated writer, director and producer, will be named Television Showman of the Year. Legendary actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award celebrating her prolific acting career spanning four decades. The ICG Publicists Directory will be dedicated to Paul Bloch, co-chairman of Rogers & Cowan, who died last year. Awards chair this year is Tim Menke with Sheryl Main serving as co-chair.

About THE ICG PUBLICISTS
Entertainment Publicists first formed a union in 1937 as the Screen Publicists Guild, later becoming the Publicists Guild. In 2002 the Publicists Guild merged with the International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600). The first Publicists Awards Luncheon was held in 1964 and has since grown to an event attended annually by up to 900 Publicists and Motion Picture and Television industry leaders. Many of the greatest actors, directors and executives have been honored including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kevin Feige, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Shonda Rhimes, Julie Andrews, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Carol Burnett, Kirk Douglas, Garry Marshall, Stanley Kramer, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis. In addition, the members honor their own through the Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Awards for publicity campaigns, the Bob Yeager Award for Community Service and the Les Mason Award, the greatest honor to be paid to a publicist. The ICG Publicists also publishes the Annual ICG Publicists Membership Directory. For more information, visit: http://www.icg600.com/  

About THE INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS GUILD (ICG, Local 600)
The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) represents more than 8500 members who work in film, television and commercials as directors of photography, camera operators, visual effects supervisors, still photographers, camera assistants, film loaders, all members of camera crews and publicists. The first cinematographers’ union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn’t until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. ICG’s ongoing activities include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine.

CONNECT WITH THE ICG: 

• ICG Publicists Awards: www.icg600.com/ABOUT-US/Awards/Publicists-Awards
• Hashtag: #PublicistsAwards 
• Website: www.icg600.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cameraguild
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ICGLocal600
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/icglocal600