Joss Whedon to receive Vanguard Award

Filed under: TV News

The Producers Guild of America will honor Joss Whedon with its 2010 Vanguard Award at the 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony January 24 at the Hollywood Palladium.

The creative force behind the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Firefly” and “Dollhouse,” Whedon has also written screenplays for the features “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Toy Story,” “Atlantis: the Lost Empire,” “Alien: Resurrection,” “Titan A.E.” and “Serenity.”

“Joss Whedon has mastered the art of melding the newest technology with inspired storytelling, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Vanguard Award,” said David Friendly and Laurence Mark, co-chairs of the PGA Awards.

The Vanguard Award recognizes achievements in new media and technology. Previous recipients include George Lucas, James Cameron and John Lasseter.

“This is an honor I didn’t expect and probably don’t deserve,” said Whedon. “The truth is, I’ve never actually guarded a van. But I am a super-total visionary, so that fits. I’m ready to take my place next to the guys who made ‘THX 1138′ and ‘Tin Toy’ (Did they ever do anything else, btw? They showed such promise.). This is a time of radical change in media delivery and content, and I’m honestly proud the PGA has singled me out as someone who sort of knows what’s going on.”

Whedon’s multi-media-spanning work includes writing comic books (“Fray,” “Astonishing X-Men,” “Runaways”) and creating the musical episodes “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog” and “Once More, With Feeling.”

His next feature is “The Cabin in the Woods,” a horror-genre riff he co-wrote with Drew Goddard that MGM will release in January 2011.

Posted in: November 24, 2009 at 12:30 pm