Pioneer of the Year Dinner

 

About the dinner

Starting in the 1940s, the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers has staged an annual fund-raising gala honoring a worthy recipient as an industry pioneer. The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation honored Elizabeth Banks as our 2019 Pioneer of the Year. Banks was presented the prestigious award by Charlie’s Angels stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska at the annual Pioneer of the Year dinner which took place at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Banks is the first female director to receive the honor in the dinner’s history.

The event, which benefits the Pioneers Assistance Fund (PAF) has become a mainstay in the motion picture industry and attracts members from all aspects of the entertainment community.

With our return to Los Angeles you can expect even more glamor and entertainment than our 2019 event. We look forward to seeing you once again back in Tinseltown to celebrate and continue the tradition of taking care of our own.

The Legacy

Look Magazine Pioneer Honor from Will Rogers on Vimeo.

The Pioneers Assistance Fund (PAF) has traveled a rewarding path since its inception in New York in 1939. The PAF unofficially began as a group of industry personalities who gathered once a year to meet old friends socially.

In 1951, the group officially took the name the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers and broadened its scope to seek out veterans of the motion picture industry who needed financial aid and assistance. Throughout the years and to this day, the PAF has believed in keeping its acts of generosity quiet while respecting the anonymity and dignity of those receiving assistance.

In 2002, the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers merged with the Will Rogers Memorial Fund to create the most meaningful charity in the motion picture industry, the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. Today, the Fund assists approximately 80 clients a month, providing short-term support during a recovery or adjustment period as well as long-term assistance to senior industry veterans.

Helping INDUSTRY VETERANS

The Pioneers Assistance Fund is a program with five levels of assistance offered to industry veterans in need. Assistance can range from a monthly stipend to medical rehabilitation, equipment aid, emergency grants or vocational retraining. The funds raised from this event are restricted to the PAF.

Past Honorees

  • 2022 Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccolli
  • 2019 Elizabeth Banks
  • 2018 Tom Cruise
  • 2017 Cheryl Boone Isaacs
  • 2016 Donna Langley
  • 2015 Jim Gianopulos
  • 2014 Tom Sherak
  • 2013 Kathleen Kennedy
  • 2012 Jeffrey Katzenberg
  • 2011 Dick Cook
  • 2010 Rob Moore
  • 2009 David Linde and Marc Shmuger
  • 2008 Mike Campbell
  • 2007 Jeff Blake
  • 2005/06 Travis Reid
  • 2004 Alan Horn
  • 2003 Michael D. Eisner
  • 2002 Jonathan Dolgen
  • 2001 Robert Rehme
  • 2000 Robert J. Dowling
  • 1999 Kurt C. Hall
  • 1998 Bud Stone
  • 1997 Bruce C. Corwin
  • 1996 Sherry Lansing
  • 1995 Robert Shaye
  • 1994 Walter H. Dunn
  • 1993 Stanley H. Durwood
  • 1992 Mike Medavoy
  • 1991 Sumner M. Redstone
  • 1990 Terry Semel
  • 1989 Allen Pinsker
  • 1988 Jack Valenti
  • 1987 Frank G. Mancuso
  • 1986 Michael R. Forman
  • 1985 John Rowley
  • 1984 Sidney Sheinberg
  • 1983 Bernard Myerson
  • 1982 Frank Price
  • 1981 Salah M. Hassanein
  • 1980 Bob Hope
  • 1979 Henry G. Plitt
  • 1978 Dr. Jules Stein
  • 1977 Sherrill C. Corwin
  • 1976 Carl L. Patrick
  • 1975 E. Cardon Walker
  • 1974 Henry H. Martin
  • 1973 Ted Ashley
  • 1972 Leo Jaffe
  • 1971 Samuel Z. Arkoff & James H. Nicholson
  • 1970 Irving H. Levin
  • 1969 Harry Brandt
  • 1968 Laurence A. Tisch
  • 1967 Leonard H. Goldenson
  • 1966 William R. Forman
  • 1965 Robert H. O’Brien
  • 1964 Harold J. Mirisch
  • 1963 Darryl F. Zanuck
  • 1962 Milton R. Rackmil
  • 1961 Abe Montague
  • 1960 Joseph E. Levine
  • 1959 Steve Broidy
  • 1958 Robert S. Benjamin & Arthur B. Krim
  • 1957 Joseph R. Vogel
  • 1956 Robert J. O’Donnell
  • 1955 Herman Robbins
  • 1954 Simon H. Fabian
  • 1953 Barney Balaban
  • 1952 Nate J. Blumberg
  • 1951 Jack, Harry & Albert Warner
  • 1950 Spyros P. Skouras
  • 1949 Cecil B. Demille
  • 1948 Gus S. Eyssel
  • 1947 Adolph Zukor