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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. Steven Spielberg, the man many consider to be one of the most influential people in the history of American cinema, will be honored in Pleasantville Saturday.
As part of the Jacob Burns Film Center's 10 year anniversary, the center will hold a tribute ceremony that will honor Spielberg and present him with the 2011 Jacob Burns Center Vision Award.
Rob Sampogna, marketing assistant for special events at the film center, said the ceremony will not only honor Spielberg and his work.
"We anticipated our 10th anniversary and we wanted to make it this special event for everyone to come and celebrate our education programs, our film programs and this has been in the works for over a year," Sampogna said.
Over 600 guests are expected to attend including other film industry executives, business professionals and JBFC members. Tickets and tables at the event were available to the public for purchase. However, special events manager Kim Turner confirms that the event is sold out.
The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour in both the film center and the media arts lab before moving to a nearby tent where remarks will be made to celebrate the center's 10 years of existence. Spielberg will then be presented the Vision Award and be remembered for his career achievements in film as a director, producer and writer. From "E.T." to the Indiana Jones anthology Spielberg has left his mark on not just the film industry but society as well.
"Celebrating 10 years automatically makes this one of the biggest events we've held over the years and having Spielberg here solidifies that as he's one of the biggest names in the film industry over the last 25 years," Sampogna said.
In order to accommodate the guests at the event, the Manville Lot near the Burns Center will be closed on Saturday. Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer says that the Burns Center has compensated for the day's parking revenue, totaling around $2,700. Dwyer assured that there will be plenty of parking available to residents in Memorial Plaza and in other metered spots around the village.
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