Greta Gerwig Named 2024 Will Rogers Pioneer of the Year

The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation has named Greta Gerwig as the recipient of its 2024 Pioneer of the Year Award, bestowed upon leaders of the entertainment industry who show commitment to philanthropy and the community.

Gerwig will be honored at the foundation’s annual fundraising dinner at the Beverly Hilton on Sept. 25 and will join a list of past recipients that includes Erik Lomis, Tom Cruise, Donna Langley, Kathleen Kennedy, Jack Warner and Cecil B. DeMille.

“Greta Gerwig is a dynamic filmmaker with extraordinary vision who entertains and inspires audiences everywhere,” said Jeff Goldstein, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Distribution and co-chairman of the Pioneer of the Year dinner.

“The Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund is proud to celebrate Greta’s achievements and present her with the 2024 Pioneer of the Year Award,” added Kyle Davies, president of Distribution at Bleecker Street Media and chairman of the Pioneers Assistance Fund Committee.

Gerwig left an indelible mark on pop culture last year with her third directorial feature “Barbie,” which became the highest grossing film of 2023 and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Prior to that, Gerwig had already earned critical acclaim with her 2017 solo directorial debut “Lady Bird” and her 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” both of which were also nominated for Best Picture. Gerwig earned Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations for “Lady Bird” and a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for “Little Women.”

Prior to her directorial work, Gerwig made a name for herself in independent film as an actor and screenwriter, starting with her 2007 debut “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and her 2008 follow-up “Nights and Weekends,” which she co-directed with Joe Swanberg.

Her breakout role came in Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” which led to a partnership that continues to this day as husband and wife. Gerwig cowrote and starred in his critically acclaimed “Frances Ha” in 2013, and they also cowrote “Barbie” and Oscar-nominated “Marriage Story” together.

Gerwig is currently working on a new adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” series for Netflix. Earlier this summer, she served as the president of the jury for the Cannes Film Festival.

The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation traces its roots back to its namesake actor and his philanthropic work in the 1920s supporting actors and other workers in the entertainment industry suffering from health and financial issues. After his death in 1935, a hospital created for Vaudevillians stricken with tuberculosis, the National Vaudeville Association Hospital, was renamed in his honor and became the home of the Will Rogers Institute, which was dedicated to training doctors in tuberculosis treatment.

In 2002, the Will Rogers charity merged with the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers and became the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. The organization operates the Pioneers Assistance Fund (PAF), which helps individuals in motion picture distribution, exhibition and vendors exclusive to either sector who are encountering an illness, injury or life-changing event.

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