SCAD announces Billy Crystal to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 23rd annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA — The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) today announces that Tony and Emmy award winner Billy Crystal will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for the 23rd annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival, taking place as a virtual experience Oct. 24–Oct. 31.  Crystal will receive his award on Monday, Oct. 26 following the screening of his latest critically acclaimed film Standing Up, Falling Down.

He joins previously announced honorees Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Distinguished Performance Award), Rachel Brosnahan (Spotlight Award, Actress), Millie Bobby Brown (Maverick Award), Ethan Hawke (Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Award), Jennifer Hudson (Virtuoso Award), Samuel L. Jackson (Legends of Cinema Award), Glen Keane (Lifetime Achievement in Animation Award), Delroy Lindo (Spotlight Award, Actor), Tessa Thompson (Vanguard Award) and Steven Yeun (Discovery Award).

Tony and Emmy Award winning comedian, actor, producer, writer and director Billy Crystal is known around the world as the star of such feature films as When Harry Met Sally…, City Slickers and Analyze This; as a cast member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live; and the acclaimed nine-time host of the Academy Awards^®. Crystal has hosted the GRAMMY^® Awards three times and earned five Emmy’s for his work as host, writer and producer on both shows. Billy won his 6^th Emmy for the HBO Comedy Special “Midnight Train to Moscow.” Crystal was the 2007 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and is a NY Times best-selling author of five books. In 2004, Crystal made his Broadway debut with the original production of his one-man show 700 Sundays, for which he won a Tony Award. The Broadway production was released as an HBO special, garnering four Emmy Nominations. Crystal can now be seen starring in the friendship comedy Standing Up, Falling Down opposite Ben Schwartz. Crystal will next direct, produce, and star opposite Tiffany Haddish in Here Today, currently in post-production. He is now developing a Broadway musical adaption of the 1992 classic film Mr. Saturday Night.

Celebrating its 23rd year, the festival and competition provide SCAD students with opportunities as unique as the selected films. This year, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival received more than 1,500 submissions for the competition film series. During the festival, students from every academic discipline connect with leaders from the entertainment industry through master classes, coffee talks, lectures, workshops and panel discussions. Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.

Follow the festival on Facebook and Instagram and use #SCAD and #SAVFF.