Producers Guild of America to honor Joss Whedon with Vanguard Award

Producers Guild of America to honor Joss Whedon with Vanguard AwardThe Producers Guild of America (PGA) will be bestowing its 2010 Vanguard Award on writer/producer/director Joss Whedon at the 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony Jan. 24 at the Hollywood Palladium.

According to an article on HollywoodReporter.com, "The Vanguard Award recognizes achievements in new media and technology."

Whedon was the creative drive behind television series like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly" and "Dollhouse." Whedon also utilized his writing talent in penning the screenplays for motion pictures such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Toy Story," "Atlantis: the Lost Empire," "Alien: Resurrection," "Titan A.E." and "Serenity."

"Joss Whedon has mastered the art of melding the newest technology with inspired storytelling, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Vanguard Award," said David Friendly and Laurence Mark, co-chairs of the PGA Awards.

When asked about his feelings about receiving the accolade, Whedon responded that he wasn't expecting nor did he feel he deserved such an award.

The HollywoodReporter.com article goes on to say that, "Whedon's multi-media-spanning work includes writing comic books (‘Fray,' ‘Astonishing X-Men,' ‘Runaways') and creating the musical episodes ‘Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog' and ‘Once More, With Feeling.'"

Meanwhile, Whedon's next feature titled "The Cabin in the Woods," is a horror-genre flick that he co-wrote with Drew Goddard that MGM will release in January 2011. Richard Jenkins, who starred in the hit 2007 crime drama "The Visitor" and Bradley Whitford, who starred as Josh Lyman on NBC's "The West Wing" and in such films as 1992's "Scent of a Woman" opposite Al Pacino, 1993's "Philadelphia" opposite Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington and in the 2001 Meg Ryan/Hugh Jackman romantic comedy "Kate & Leopold" are two of the actors attached to the film.