Eliminating Homophobia with Entertainment
Wiki: The GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award is a special GLAAD Media Award presented annually by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. It is named in honor of the Los Angeles casting director who devoted the last part of his life to fighting homophobia and AIDS-phobia within the entertainment industry. The award is given to an openly LGBT member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia.
Which of these awardees do you feel has done the most to fight against homophobia?
Discuss the list here
Which of these awardees do you feel has done the most to fight against homophobia?
Discuss the list here
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- Casting Department
- Casting Director
Stephen Kolzak was born on 19 February 1953 in Connecticut, USA. He was a casting director, known for Altered States (1980), Bachelor Party (1984) and Cheers (1982). He died on 19 September 1990 in Los Angeles, California, USA.1991 (posthumous)
Casting director - Cheers, Facts of Life, The Jeffersons, Who's the Boss
* Worked with major Hollywood studios to develop plans for deading with AIDS in the workplace- Paul Monette was born on 16 October 1945 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer, known for Friday the 13th: The Series (1987), Hotel (1983) and Thirtysomething (1987). He died on 10 February 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.1992
Author - Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story
* Established the Monette-Horwitz Trust to support future LGBT activism and scholarship - Writer
- Additional Crew
Lillian Faderman is known for Harvey Milk's radical vision of equality (2019), The Lavender Scare (2017) and L.A.: A Queer History (2021).1992
Author, historian and educator - The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, I Begin My Life All Over: The Hmong and the American Immigrant Experience
* Became a historian because she wanted for "discover for myself what no sources would tell me about women’s intimate relationships in other centuries"; one of her books was nominated for a Pulitzer and she has won several Lambda Literary Awards- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery Lois (Sutcliffe) and Denis Murray McKellen, a civil engineer and lay preacher. He is of Scottish, Northern Irish, and English descent. During his early childhood, his parents moved with Ian and his older sister, Jean, to the mill town of Wigan. It was in this small town that young Ian rode out World War II. He soon developed a fascination with acting and the theatre, which was encouraged by his parents. They would take him to plays, those by William Shakespeare, in particular. The amateur school productions fostered Ian's growing passion for theatre.
When Ian was of age to begin attending school, he made sure to get roles in all of the productions. At Bolton School in particular, he developed his skills early on. Indeed, his first role in a Shakespearian play was at Bolton, as Malvolio in "Twelfth Night". Ian soon began attending Stratford-upon-Avon theatre festivals, where he saw the greats perform: Laurence Olivier, Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Paul Robeson. He continued his education in English Drama, but soon it fell by the wayside as he concentrated more and more on performing. He eventually obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1961, and began his career in earnest.
McKellen began working in theatre over the next few years. Very few people knew of Ian's homosexuality; he saw no reason to go public, nor had he told his family. They did not seem interested in the subject and so he saw no reason to bring it up. In 1988, Ian publicly came out of the closet on the BBC Radio 4 program, while discussing Margaret Thatcher's "Section 28" legislation, which made the promotion of homosexuality as a family relationship by local authorities an offense. It was reason enough for McKellen to take a stand. He has been active in the gay rights movement ever since.
Ian resides in Limehouse, where he has also lived with his former long-time partner Sean Mathias. The two men have also worked together on the film Bent (1997) as well as in exquisite stage productions. To this day, McKellen works mostly in theatre, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990 for his efforts in the arts. However, he has managed to make several quite successful forays into film. He has appeared in several productions of Shakespeare's works including his well received Richard III (1995), and in a variety of other movies. However, it has only been recently that his star has finally begun to shine in the eyes of North American audiences. Roles in various films, Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Apt Pupil (1998) and Gods and Monsters (1998), riveted audiences. The latter, in particular, created a sensation in Hollywood, and McKellen's role garnered him several of awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe and an Oscar nod. McKellen, as he continues to work extensively on stage, he always keeps in 'solidifying' his 'role' as Laurence Olivier's worthy 'successor' in the best sense too, such as King Lear (2008) / King Lear (2008) directed by Trevor Nunn and in a range of other staggering performances full of generously euphoric delight that have included "Peter Pan" and Noël Coward's "Present Laughter", as well as Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" and Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land" (National Theatre Live: No Man's Land (2016)), both in acclaimed productions brilliantly directed by Sean Mathias.
McKellen found mainstream success with his performance as Magneto in X-Men (2000) and its sequels. His largest mark on the big screen may be as Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, which he reprised in "The Hobbit" trilogy. He also reprised the role of 'King Lear' with new artistic perspectives in National Theatre Live: King Lear (2018) offering an invaluable mesmerizing experience as a natural force of stage - and screen - of infinite generosity through his unsurpassable interpretation of the titanically vulnerable king.1993
Actor and director - the X-Men films, the Lord of the Rings
* Co-founder of Stonewall, an LGBT rights lobby group in the UK and is a patron of LGBT History Month, Pride London, Oxford Pride, GAY-GLOS, The Lesbian & Gay Foundation and FFLAG where he appears in their video "Parents Talking."- Pedro Zamora was born on 29 February 1972 in Havana, Cuba. He died on 11 November 1994 in Miami, Florida, USA.1995
Educator, reality show personality - The Real World: San Francisco
* He and his partner Sean Sasser exchanged vows in the first televised commitment ceremony; was an international AIDS educator who discussed the difficulty of HIV and AIDS on the shows of Geraldo Rivera, Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey - Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Bruce Vilanch was born on 23 November 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), The Ice Pirates (1984) and The 64th Annual Academy Awards (1992).1997
Comedy writer, actor - Hollywood Squares, the Oscars and other awards shows
* Serves on several boards of AIDS and LGBT foundations; has emceed and performed at numerous charity fundraisers- Producer
- Writer
- Actress
Emmy-winning talk show host Ellen Lee DeGeneres was born in Metairie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb. She is the daughter of Betty DeGeneres (née Elizabeth Jane Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, Jr., an insurance agent. Her brother is musician and producer Vance DeGeneres. Her parents divorced when she was 16 years old. Her mother remarried, and her new husband, salesman Roy Gruessendorf, moved the family to Atlanta, Texas.
After graduating from Atlanta High School in 1976, Ellen attended the University of New Orleans as a communications major, but she dropped out after one semester. She held a wide variety of jobs until she turned to stand-up comedy, making her bones at small clubs and coffeehouses before working her way up to emcee Clyde's Comedy Club by 1981. Her comedy was described as a distaff version of Bob Newhart. Beginning in the early 1980s, she toured nationally and was named the funniest person in America after winning a competition sponsored by the cable network Showtime. This led to better gigs, including her first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) in 1986.
Though DeGeneres's early forays into series television were not successful (she appeared as a supporting player in two short-lived TV situation comedies in the period 1989-92, Open House (1989) and Laurie Hill (1992)), she scored a hit headlining her own 1994 sitcom on ABC "These Friends of Mine" (renamed Ellen (1994) after its first season). She made TV history in April 1997, when her character, and DeGeneres personally, revealed that she was a lesbian. However, the show was canceled the following season due to declining ratings, after which DeGeneres returned to the stand-up circuit. In 2001, DeGeneres launched a new series, The Ellen Show (2001), on CBS, but it suffered from poor ratings and was canceled.
Redemption as a television artist came in 2003, when DeGeneres's daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003), proved to be both a critical hit and a commercial success. Along with good ratings, the show has won unprecedented kudos from the industry, winning 15 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air and becoming the first talk show in TV history to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show in its first three seasons.
DeGeneres has also made a name for herself as a host of awards shows. She hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and 1997, as well as the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2001 and 2005. In February 2007, she had the ultimate TV awards show gig, hosting the Oscars, which she hosted again in 2014.1998
Stand-up comedian, talk show host, actor, producer - The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory
* First openly lesbian actor to play an openly lesbian character on television; was a Special envoy for Global AIDS Awareness- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actress
Julie attended Bates Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1974-1976 (4th -6th grade). She took dance lessons and initiated violin lessons during these years. She also participated in Girl Scouts where she attended Camp Scott and Tiawah Hills Ranch.1999
Filmmaker - Teresa's Tattoo, Stand and Deliver
* Gay rights advocate; one half of one of the first publicly lesbian celebrity couple (with Melissa Etheridge)- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Melissa Etheridge was born on 29 May 1961 in Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Money Train (1995) and The Devil's Own (1997). She has been married to Linda Wallem since 31 May 2014.1999 and 2006
Singer/songwriter - Yes I Am, Your Little Secret
* Gay rights, breast cancer and environmental activist- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She came to recognition portraying Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera Another World (1964), which won her a Daytime Emmy Award and two Soap Opera Digest Awards. She came to mainstream prominence in the late 1990s with roles in the crime drama film Donnie Brasco (1997), the disaster film Volcano (1997), the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), the action comedy film Six Days Seven Nights (1998), and the drama-thriller film Return to Paradise (1998).2000
Actress - Another World, Donnie Brasco, Six Days, Seven Nights
* Overcame childhood abuse to come out and live an openly gay life with Ellen DeGeneres for three years- Producer
- Director
- Writer
A preeminent force in television entertainment, Paris Barclay has directed nearly 200 episodes of television and was active as a Director/Producer for series including: Station 19, Pitch, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Cold Case, City of Angels and NYPD Blue. He also has directed episodes of a wide variety of series including Scandal, The Good Wife, Empire, House, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI, Lost, The Shield, The West Wing and ER; as well as three films: the feature Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood; and the movies for television The Cherokee Kid and The Big Time.
He earned two Emmy Awards and the DGA award for Outstanding Direction of a Drama Series for NYPD Blue, received seven additional Emmy nominations for both producing and directing, and garnered ten other DGA Award nominations for shows as diverse as Glee, In Treatment, The West Wing, House, and most recently Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. With that last nomination, he become one of only a handful of directors who have received Emmy nominations in every narrative category - drama, comedy and limited series. He was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame in 2014, and was made an Honorary Life Member of the Directors Guild in 2021.
A DGA member since 1992, Barclay was the first African-American and openly gay President in the Guild's history. In addition to his two terms as President of the Guild, his service includes numerous terms on the National Board, the Western Directors Council and chairmanship and participation in several committees, including co-chairing the Television Creative Rights Committee, the Return to Work Negotiations Committee, and the African-American Steering Committee. He was honored with the Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 2007, which is given for providing extraordinary service to the DGA, and in 2021 was given the Honorary Life Member Award, the Guild's highest honor for both service and career achievement. He currently serves as the Guild's Secretary/Treasurer.
A WGA member before he was a DGA member, Barclay co-created and wrote for the CBS series City of Angels with Nicholas Wootton and Steven Bochco, which ran for two years on the network. He co-wrote with James DeMonaco the Showtime pilot Hate, and has written other pilots for CBS and NBC. He wrote with Dustin Lance Black (on his first WGA-credited project) Pedro, a film about the life of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora for MTV, which received a Writers Guild nomination. As a playwright and composer, he has had musical dramas produced by Soho Rep, The Village Theatre, the Signature Theater, and the North Shore Music Theatre among others - including One Red Flower - adapted from soldiers letters written during the Vietnam War. Prior to his career in television and film, Barclay was a sought-after music video director. He created groundbreaking videos for Bob Dylan, the New Kids on the Block, Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross, Harry Connick, Jr. among others. His eight videos for LL Cool J, including the MTV, Billboard, and Grammy-winning "Mama Said Knock You Out," are still widely viewed and imitated today.
In 2022, Paris had six episodes he directed premiere in collaboration with Ryan Murphy: two episodes each of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and American Horror Story:NYC. In 2023, he filmed two episode of the upcoming Aaron Hernandez biopic series for FX, American Sports Story: Gladiator. He recently wrapped post production on a feature documentary he co-wrote and directed about the famed musician Billy Preston, with interviews from Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Olivia Harrison, Sandra Crouch, and Merry Clayton among others. He is currently in production on two episodes of the second season of the Netflix series of Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story.2001
Director, writer, producer - NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Sons of Anarchy
* First openly gay and first African-American to be elected President of the Directors Guild of America; has done charitable and community service work for organizations GLAAD, Project Angel Food, OUTFEST, Pan African Film Festival, the Trevor Project, the Black Aids Institute and the American Foundation for Equal Rights- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Alan Ball is an American writer, director, and producer who is known for writing the acclaimed film American Beauty and creating the HBO series True Blood starring Anna Paquin. He also wrote the films Towelhead and Uncle Frank. He also created Here and Now, Six Feet Under, and Banshee. He won awards for American Beauty and True Blood.2002
Writer, director and producer - American Beauty, Six Feet Under, True Blood
* Created the first truly complex gay male character on TV - David Fisher from Six Feet Under- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Todd Haynes was always interested in art, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made the controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). The movie uses dolls instead of actors to tell the the story of the late Karen Carpenter. The movie was a success at several film festivals, and because of a lawsuit by Richard Carpenter (over musical rights) is very hard to see but it is a true classic for bootleg video buyers. His first feature, Poison (1991) was even more controversial. The film was attacked by conservatives and Christians who said it was pornographic, but it won the Grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It is now considered a seminal work of the new queer cinema. His short film Dottie Gets Spanked (1993) was aired on PBS. His next feature film Safe (1995) told the story of a woman played by his good friend, Julianne Moore, suffering from a breakdown caused by a mysterious illness. Many thought the film was a metaphor of the Aids virus. The movie was considered to be an outstanding work and one of the best films of the year. In Velvet Goldmine (1998), starring Christian Bale and Ewan McGregor, he combines the visual style of 60s/70s art films and his love for glam rock music to tell the story of a fictional rock star's rise and fall. Far from Heaven (2002), set in the 1950s and starring Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid, is about a Connecticut housewife who discovers that her husband is gay, and has an affair with her black gardener, played by Dennis Haysbert. The film was a critical and box office success, garnering four Academy Awards. It was hailed as a breakthrough for independent film, and brought Haynes mainstream recognition. With I'm Not There (2007), Haynes returned to the theme of musical legend bio, portraying Bob Dylan via seven fictive characters played by six different actors. The film brought him critical claim, with special attention to the casting of Cate Blanchett as arguably the most convincing of the Dylan characters, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. In 2011, Haynes directed Mildred Pierce, a five-hour miniseries for HBO starring Kate Winslet in the title role. His new feature film Carol (2015) with Cate Blanchett premiered at the Cannes International Festival 2015 to rave reviews and won Best Actress for Rooney Mara.2003
Director, writer and producer - Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven, I'm Not There
* Considered a pioneer of the New Queer Cinema movement of the early 1990s- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore church halls to underground audiences drawn by word of mouth and street leafleting campaigns. As his filmmaking grew more polished and his subject matter more shocking, his audiences grew bigger, and his write-ups in the Baltimore papers more outraged. By the early 1970s he was making features, which he managed to get shown in midnight screenings in art cinemas by sheer perseverance. Success came when Pink Flamingos (1972) - a deliberate exercise in ultra-bad taste - took off in 1973, helped no doubt by lead actor Divine's infamous dog-crap eating scene.
Waters continued to make low-budget shocking movies with his Dreamland repertory company until Hollywood crossover success came with Hairspray (1988), and although his movies nowadays might now appear cleaned up and professional, they retain Waters' playfulness, and reflect his lifelong obsessions.2004
Director, writer, producer - Cry-Baby, Pink Flamingos, Hairspray
* Advocate of LGBT rights for 40 years- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Bill Condon was born on 22 October 1955 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Dreamgirls (2006), Gods and Monsters (1998) and Kinsey (2004).2005
Director, writer - Chicago, the Twilight movies, Beauty and the Beast
* Created the first openly gay character in a Disney movie - LeFou in Beauty and the Beast - as a tribute to the original film's lyricist, Howard Ashman- Actress
- Soundtrack
Martina Navratilova is a Czechoslovak-born American former professional tennis player and coach.
When Navratilova was four, she was hitting a tennis ball off a concrete wall and started to play tennis regularly at age seven. In 1972, at the age of 15, Navratilova won the Czechoslovakia national tennis championship. In 1973, aged 16, she made her debut on the United States Lawn Tennis Association professional tour but did not turn professional until 1975. Although perhaps most renowned for her mastery of fast low-bouncing grass, her best early showing at majors was on the red clay at the French Open, where she would go on to reach the final six times.
Navratilova won her first professional singles title in Orlando, Florida in 1974, at the age of 17.
Navratilova won her first major singles title at Wimbledon in 1978, where she defeated Chris Evert in three sets in the final and captured the world No. 1 ranking for the first time on the WTA computer, a position she held until Evert took it back in January 1979. Navratilova successfully defended her Wimbledon title in 1979, again beating Evert in the final in straight sets, and earned the World No. 1 ranking at the end of the year for the first time. In 1981, Navratilova won her third major singles title by defeating Chris Evert in the final of the Australian Open. Navratilova also defeated Evert to reach the final of the US Open, where she lost a third set tiebreak to Tracy Austin. Navratilova won both Wimbledon and the French Open in 1982.
From 1982 through 1990, she reached the Wimbledon final nine consecutive times. She reached the US Open final five consecutive times from 1983 through 1987 and appeared in the French Open final five out of six years from 1982 through 1987.
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.2007
Tennis play - Won 59 grand slam crowns
* One of the first openly gay sports figures; created the Rainbow Card, a credit card that funds an endowment which awards funds to LGBT community projects- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Rufus Wainwright was born on 22 July 1973 in Rhinebeck, New York, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Meet the Robinsons (2007), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Heights (2005). He has been married to Jörn Weisbrodt since 23 August 2012. They have one child.2008
Singer/songwriter - Release the Stars, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
* Active in GLBT causes; was part of the True Colors Tour, created by Cyndi Lauper, with profits going to the Human Rights Campaign- Gene Robinson was born on 29 May 1947 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. He is a producer, known for Wonderfully Made - LGBTQ+R(eligion) (2022), For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) and For They Know Not What They Do (2019).2009
Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of New Hampshire - Episcopal Church
* First priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination - Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Wanda Sykes has been called one of the funniest stand-up comics by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand-up has sent her career in many different areas.
She was previously seen in Comedy Central's Wanda Does It (2004), where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. Her first book, "Yeah I Said It," published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004, which is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family, and current events.
In 2003, she was seen on Fox's Wanda at Large (2003), in which she wrote, produced, and starred. She also has a one-hour Comedy Central special called Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied (2003). In addition, she can be seen on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) or heard on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers (2002) as the voice of Gladys Murphy.
Wanda was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Maryland, the daughter of Marion Louise (Peoples), a banker, and Harry Ellsworth Sykes, a US Army colonel. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Hampton University. Her stand-up career began at a Coors Light Super talent Showcase in Washington, DC, where she performed for the first time in front of a live audience.
She spent 5 years as part of the HBO's critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show (1997). As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and in 1999 won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special. In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic. She won a second Emmy in 2002 for her work on Inside the NFL (1977). In 2003, Wanda earned a Comedy Central Commie Award for Funniest TV Actress. Other writing credits include the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards (1999), The MTV Movie Awards, The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002), The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997), and Wanda at Large (2003).
She also appeared in the feature films Pootie Tang (2001), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Down to Earth (2001), and Monster-in-Law (2005).2010
Actress, comedian, writer - The New Adventures of Old Christine, the Ice Age movies
* Fought against California's Prop 8; has been a major supporter of Detroit's Ruth Ellis Center, an agency that serves the needs of runaway, homeless and at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
2011
Chairman of NBC Entertainment; former President of Entertainment for Showtime
* The first and, thus far, only openly gay broadcast TV president- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Chaz Salvatore Bono was born on March 4, 1969 in Los Angeles, California to Cher & Sonny Bono. He is an American character actor & activist and best known for his work on American Horror Story and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
An acclaimed author, Bono has written three books, including NY Times Best Sellers, Family Outing 1998, and Transition published by Dutton in 2011, a candid account of a forty-year struggle to match his gender identity.
Adding to his multiple hyphenated talents, he has shared his life and experiences in, and produced the three-time Emmy nominated documentary, "Becoming Chaz."
Bono has a rich history of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, having worked for two national LGBTQ+ organizations, and as public speaker on college campuses and at events around the world. He continues to be a strong voice the for LGBTQ+ community, and is a passionate champion of equality for all Americans, especially those discriminated against and targeted because of race, religion, sex, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
In 2012 Bono decided to pursue his lifelong dream of a career as a working actor. He's guest stared in the films Dirty, Reborn, Three From Hell, and Reboot Camp. Bono has also guest stared on multiple episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, Where the Bears Are, American Horror Story Roanoke, American Horror Story Cult, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.2012
Advocate, writer, actor - The End of Innocence, Dancing with the Stars
* Has been a writer for The Advocate, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign and the Entertainment Media Director for GLAAD- Legal
- Writer
- Producer
2013
Entertainment attorney - Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore, Reese Witherspoon
* Works as an advocate for LGBT equality for the entertainment industry; co-chair of GLAAD's national Board of Directors- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Laverne Cox is a three time Emmy-nominated actress, Emmy winning documentary film producer and a prominent equal rights advocate. Laverne's role of Sophia Burset in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series "Orange is The New Black" brought her to the attention of diverse audiences all over the world. This role lead to Laverne becoming the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for a Primetime acting Emmy.
An artist and an advocate with an empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically, Laverne is the first openly transgender person to appear on the covers of TIME Magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine and Essence magazines among others. She was named one of Glamour magazine's 2014 Women of the Year. Laverne also proudly holds two SAG Awards winning them with her Orange Is The New Black cast mates.
Laverne has been one of the faces of Beyonce's athleisure line, Ivy Park. She also collaborated with Orly to create "Celebrate Yourself" a Limited Edition collection of nail colors and teamed up with Ted Danson for Smirnoff's "Welcome To The Fun" campaign.
Laverne's Emmy winning documentary "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word" helped lead her to Executive Producing two powerful documentaries. The upcoming "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen" is an unprecedented, groundbreaking look at the depiction of transgender characters throughout the history of film and TV and "Free CeCe" which tells the story of CeCe McDonald, a transgender woman who was controversially sentenced to 41 months in a men's prison for second degree manslaughter after defending herself against a racist and transphobic attack. The documentary focuses on McDonald's case, her experiences while incarcerated and the larger implications of her case for the transgender community and for communities of color at large.2014
Actress, producer, advocate - I Want to Work for Diddy, Orange is the New Black, Grandma
* First openly transgender person to be nominated for an acting Emmy and the first to appear on the cover of Time magazine- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. In his youth, he pursued painting and sculpting. While enrolled in the director's program at film school in Munich, his student film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) went on to open the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. The feature became a huge success and was sold to more than 20 countries. In an amazing trivia, he directed his first feature, The Noah's Ark Principle (1984), in 1984. He is openly gay and a campaigner for the LGBT community.
A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, Emmerich formed his production company Centropolis and directed supernatural fantasies Making Contact (1986) and Ghost Chase (1987), and the straight-to-video action film Moon 44 (1990). On the latter, he met actor Dean Devlin who subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich set up shop in Hollywood.
After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cyborg action fest Universal Soldier (1992), Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios with their first film together, Stargate (1994). A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptiana and high-tech wizardry, Stargate became an unexpected hit. Emmerich hit his blockbuster stride with his next film, Independence Day (1996). With its eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, Independence Day blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash. Geared to repeat with the endlessly- and creatively-hyped version of Godzilla (1998), Emmerich instead faced the conundrum of directing a $100 million grossing film that did not live up to box office expectations. Emmerich and Devlin next turned their epic visions to the decidedly lower-tech (but still CGI-enhanced) action of the American Revolution in the Mel Gibson summer vehicle The Patriot (2000).2015
Director, writer, producer - Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot
* Publicly campaigns against racism and homophobia, supporting the Legacy Project and Outfest- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986), better known as Ruby Rose, is an Australian model, DJ, boxer, recording artist, actress, television presenter, and MTV VJ. Rose emerged in the media spotlight as a presenter on MTV Australia, followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, notably as the face of Maybelline New York in Australia. In addition to her modelling career, she has co-hosted various television shows, namely Australia's Next Top Model and The Project on Network Ten.
Rose pursued a career in acting from 2008 onwards, with her debut performance in the Australian film Suite for Fleur. She had a small role in the drama Around the Block (2013), and came to North American fame for starring in seasons three and four of the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. She has also had large roles in the action films Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), and the musical comedy Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), and will appear in the film The Meg (2018), based on the novel of the same name. In August 2018, Rose was cast as Kate Kane / Batwoman in The CW's Arrowverse.
Rose was born in Melbourne, the daughter of Katia Langenheim, a 20-year-old single mother and artist, whom she describes as one of her role models. As a young child, she travelled frequently, living in rural Victoria, Tasmania, and Surfers Paradise before finally settling in Melbourne. As a teenager, she attended University High School and Footscray City College. Rose is the god-daughter of Indigenous Australian boxer Lionel Rose and the great-granddaughter of Alec Campbell, who was the last surviving Australian Battle of Gallipoli soldier.
Rose first joined the Girlfriend model search in 2002, for which she came in second to Catherine McNeil. In 2010, she collaborated with the Australian fashion label Milk and Honey to design a capsule fashion line. The collection, named Milk and Honey Designed by Ruby Rose, includes washed jeans, leather jackets and T-shirts. The clothing line was available in selected retailers in Australia. Rose also released a collaboration collection with street footwear brand Gallaz.
In 2014, Rose began collaborating with Phoebe Dahl, designing ethical street-wear for their clothing range Faircloth Lane. She has featured predominantly within mainstream fashion titles, including Vogue Australia, InStyle Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, Nylon and New York's Inked Magazine. She's been the Australian ambassador for JVC, Australian clothes company JAG and luxury Danish label Georg Jensen. Rose is the face of Maybelline New York in Australia.
Since March 2016, Rose has been the face of Urban Decay Cosmetics.
In March 2017, Rose starred in Nike's latest campaign "Kiss My Airs" celebrating its Air Max Day. In May, Rose was the face of Swarovski 'Urban Fantasy' FW17 Collection launch.
Rose appeared on the first episode of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, representing Generation Y alongside comedian Josh Thomas. She was selected in 2008 to act in the Australian comedy film Suite for Fleur. She also appeared alongside Christina Ricci and Jack Thompson in the 2013 film Around the Block.
Rose credits her 2014 short film Break Free, which she produced herself, for the success of her acting career. In an interview with Variety, she describes how she was not able to get a manager, agent, or audition, so she decided to create short films "as a way of being able to give myself something to do and to study my craft." The film went viral, getting millions of views in a short period of time.
In 2015, Rose joined the Orange Is the New Black cast in Season 3. Rose played inmate Stella Carlin, "whose sarcastic sense of humor and captivating looks quickly draw the attention of some of Litchfield's inmates." Rose's performance was generally well-received by the public. She was also cast in a guest role, as the service robot Wendy, in the science fiction series Dark Matter.
In 2016, Rose and Tom Felton would lend their voices in the animated title Sheep and Wolves, with Rose as her fiancé Bianca.
In 2016 and 2017, Rose appeared in three action film sequels, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, alongside Vin Diesel, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter as Abigail, and John Wick: Chapter 2, alongside Keanu Reeves; she also played a musical rival in the comedy Pitch Perfect 3, which was released in December 2017. In 2018, she starred in the Warner Bros. film The Meg, a shark epic based on the novel of the same name, alongside Jason Statham..It was also announced that Rose will be starring in the action comedy Three Sisters.
On 7 August 2018, it was reported that Rose had been cast as Batwoman in the upcoming Arrowverse crossover. Batwoman is in pre-production as a stand-alone series on The CW as well, to air if greenlit in 2019.2016
Model, actress, TV host - Orange is the New Black, John Wick 2, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
* Identifies as gender fluid; was chosen one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians two years in a row; was cast in Orange is the New Black due in large part to public demand- Actor
- Composer
- Director
Troye Sivan Mellet is South African-born YouTuber, actor, model and singer known for his roles in The Spud Franchise, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Boy Erased (2018). He moved to Perth, Australia when he was two years old. Troye has two brothers and a sister, and was raised Modern Orthodox. In 2018, his family moved to Melbourne. Troye lives in LA where he has a house. He has over 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube as of October 2018, with videos ranging from song covers to challenge videos to original songs and music videos. One of his earlier videos, a collaboration filmed with fellow YouTube star Tyler Oakley titled 'The Boyfriend Tag' even won a Kid's Choice award in 2014.
Over the past couple of years, Troye has released two EPs, the one in 2014 being TRXYE and the one in 2015 being WILD. His unique blend of electro-pop and smooth melodies have taken him as high as number fifteen on Billboard's Social 50 list, which chronicles the most influential names in music today. Along with WILD and the lead single Talk Me Down off of his new album Blue Neighbourhood which came out on 4 December 2015, he released a trilogy of music videos titled Blue Neighbourhood.
Both of his EPs have debuted at number five on the Billboard Top 200, his album debuting at number seven and he has won several awards for his work, including most recently an EMA.2017
Singer/songwriter, actor - X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Spud, TRXYE
* Came out at 15; has used LGBT history and motifs to challenge long-held prejudices