Austin Film Society to Honor Jonathan Majors, Michael De Luca and John and Janet Pierson at the 21st Annual Texas Film Awards

Update: Yesterday, the Austin Film Society (AFS) announced they will honor three-time Emmy winning actress Margo Martindale at the 21st annual Texas Film Awards. Evan Smith & Elizabeth Avellan will serve as the event’s Honorary Co-Chairs. The Grammy nominated Black Puma’s musician, Adrian Quesada, will act as Musical Director for the night.  

In addition, actor and comedian Kevin Smith will present Janet & John Pierson as they are inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

The Austin Film Society (AFS) previously announced they will honor Emmy and Critics’ Choice Award nominated actor Jonathan Majors, star of Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III, with the Rising Star Award at the 21st annual Texas Film Awards.  This award honors an actor who has made a lasting impact with their work early in their career. Previous recipients have included Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Unbelievable), Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One, the X-Men franchise), Jesse Plemons (Fargo, Breaking Bad), among others.  Warner Bros. Pictures Group Co-Chair and CEO Michael De Luca will be honored for his impact on global cinema as a creative producer and executive. Independent cinema’s “first couple”, Janet and John Pierson, will also be inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, celebrating the impact they have had on the independent film industry, and especially on the Austin and Texas community, helping to grow the SXSW Film & TV Festival to what it is today.

 In addition, it was announced that Texas native and actress Edi Patterson will serve as the event’s Master of Ceremonies.

The 2023 Texas Film Awards will take place on Friday, March 3rd, at Willie Nelson’s famed movie-set-turned-venue, Luck, TX.

Emmy nominated actor Jonathan Majors grew up in Cedar Hill, Texas.  He has given some of the most dynamic and impactful performances in both film and television.  He has starred in films including Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods.  Majors also starred in the series Lovecraft Country, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, and on screen was most recently in J. D. Dillard’s Devotion.  He will next be seen in Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in theaters February 17th, and Ryan Coogler’s Creed III, in theaters on March 3rd.

Esteemed producer Michael De Luca is a resident of Fort Worth. With over three decades in the business he has been nominated three times for an Academy Award® for Best Picture of the Year (The Social Network, Moneyball, and Captain Phillips), and three times for an Emmy Award (for producing both the 89th and the 90th Academy Awards® and for producing Escape At Dannemora).  Additionally, he has been nominated four times for a Producers Guild of America Award.  Prior to Warner Bros. Pictures Group he served as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.’s (MGM’s) Motion Picture Group Chairman.  At age 27, De Luca served as one of the youngest heads of production in Hollywood history when he was appointed President and COO of New Line Productions.  At New Line he helped launch lucrative franchises including Friday, Blade, Austin Powers and Rush Hour, and release hits including Seven, Wag the Dog, Pleasantville, Magnolia, I Am Sam and Boogie Nights.  He also produced the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as its two sequels – Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.  The trilogy grossed over $1 billion internationally.  Additional films he has worked on include: Old School, Anchorman, The Magnificent Seven and ​​The Shallows.

Janet and John Pierson are the “first couple” of the American independent cinema scene whose influence has had a lasting impact on American film history. Their early work as exhibitors and subsequently producer’s reps/financiers for independents in the 1980s and 90s ushered in a wave of major new talents and culture-changing films. Their experiences in these years were shared in John’s best-selling book, SPIKE, MIKE, SLACKERS & DYKES, which entertainingly chronicled their support of artists including Spike Lee, Michael Moore, Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater and Rose Troche, among others. Together, Janet and John created the IFCtv show Split Screen, which involved 100 independent filmmakers and seeded new projects including The Blair Witch Project, American Movie and How’s Your News? The show has a permanent streaming home on the Criterion Channel. The Piersons moved to Austin in 2004, and John joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin Radio-TV-Film Department, influencing a generation of students and offering his famed Master Class, which brought in high-profile industry guests to Austin. From April 2008 — Oct 2022, Janet was Head of SXSW Film Festival (now SXSW Film & TV Festival), taking the famed festival to new heights with talent discovery and launching major films. For her work at SXSW, Janet made The Guardian’s Film Power 100 list in 2010 and 2013’s Indiewire Influencers. She now serves as Director Emeritus of SXSW Film & TV Festival. 

Actress and comedian Edi Patterson is a native of Texas City.  She is known for her roles in films and series including Knives Out, The Righteous Gemstones, Partners, and Vice Principals.  She performs in improv and sketch comedy shows for the Groundlings Main Company where she is a member.  She is also a member of improvisational theater company Impro Theatre.

2023 marks the 21st Texas Film Awards—the biggest event in Texas film. This year, the Awards will take place in Luck, TX, with a red carpet and cocktail party, followed by dinner and an awards ceremony. The Texas Film Awards directly supports regional filmmakers and sustains AFS’s efforts to catalyze Austin and Texas as creative hubs. The Texas Film Awards is sponsored by Blue Suitcase and Arts+Labor.

Additional announcements from the Texas Film Awards will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Tickets and tables available for purchase here.