African American Film Critics Association Names 2023 Special Achievement Awards Recipients
Wonya Lucas - Mike Coppola
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) will present the 6th Annual AAFCA Special Achievement Awards on Saturday, April 8, 2023, at the California Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey. This year's awardees include Sherry Lansing, TriStar's Dr. Jennifer Turner, Hallmark Media's Wonya Lucas, Apple's Rita Cooper Lee, and the documentary A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting.
Producer Sherry Lansing will receive the Legacy Award for her numerous achievements in the profession as well as her charity efforts. Dr. Jennifer Turner, Executive Vice President of TriStar Television, will receive the Tribute to Excellence Award for her leadership and commitment to outstanding programming with an emphasis on diverse casts and stories. Wonya Lucas, President and CEO of Hallmark Media, will receive the TV Vanguard Award for her vision and leadership in steering the iconic media brand into the future. The Stanley & Karen Kramer Prize will be given to the documentary A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting for shedding light on the 2021 shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue and exposing the undercurrent of hatred that threatens to destroy America.
The inaugural Rosalind Stevenson Award for Excellence in Publicity will be presented to Rita Cooper Lee, Head of Communications and Publicity at Apple Global Video and Apple TV+. Cooper Lee was a founding member of the team that established the streaming service Apple TV+ and has helped it make history with culture-defining, inventive ads. The prize is named after Stevenson's lengthy and illustrious career as a motion picture publicist, during which she helped journalists, as well as film artists, advance their careers.
According to the AAFCA, honorees are chosen by a committee and selected based on their achievements throughout the course of their careers. Executives, journalists, actors, crafts artists, and filmmakers are among those chosen to portray individuals both behind and in front of the camera. Edward James Olmos, Ruth E. Carter, Pearlena Igbokwe, Channing Dungey, Tendo Nagenda, Alana Mayo, Jon M. Chu, Wesley Morris, and others have previously received AAFCA Exceptional Achievement Awards.