Prolific filmmaker Nancy Meyers has been selected by the board of directors of American Cinema Editors (ACE) to be honored with the organization’s ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year award. The award will be presented to Meyers by long-time collaborator Steve Martin at the 66th Annual ACE Eddie Awards ceremony on Jan. 29 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Meyers is a writer, director and producer who has created a body of sophisticated comedies focusing on the female experience. Her latest effort, The Intern, stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, along with a multi-generational cast, in a comedy about a new kind of bond between men and women – friendship.
Meyers made an auspicious debut as a director – following two decades of screenwriting and producing – with the highly popular update of the Disney classic The Parent Trap, starring Dennis Quaid and Lindsay Lohan, which Meyers also co-wrote.
Meyers then directed the blockbuster romantic comedy What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, which enjoyed critical acclaim and an international box-office success. For his role, Gibson received a Golden Globe nomination for best performance by an actor – musical or comedy.
In 2003, Meyers wrote, directed and produced Something’s Gotta Give, starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, along with Keanu Reeves, Frances McDormand and Amanda Peet. Both Nicholson and Keaton received Golden Globe nominations for their performances and Keaton won the Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a motion picture – musical or comedy. Keaton was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Erica Barry in the film.
In 2004, Meyers received the ShoWest director of the year award. She is the first woman ever to receive this prestigious honor.
In 2006, Meyers wrote, directed and produced The Holiday, starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. The comedy was another hit at the worldwide box office.
With 2009’s It’s Complicated, Meyers wrote, produced and directed an all-star cast in a comedy about love, divorce and everything in between. Starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, It’s Complicated earned three Golden Globe nominations, for best actress, best screenplay and best picture.
As a writer/producer, Meyers’ first film was Private Benjamin, starring Goldie Hawn, which Meyers produced and co-wrote with Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller. Released in 1980, the film bucked conventional wisdom at the time, which dictated that a female lead could not open a movie without a male star. The story of a pampered young woman who joins the Army, Private Benjamin became a huge hit domestically and internationally. The screenplay earned Meyers the Writers Guild of America award for best comedy written directly for the screen, and the film earned three Academy Award nominations for best original screenplay, best actress and best supporting actress.
After the success of Private Benjamin, Meyers co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed Irreconcilable Differences, followed by Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton; and the box-office hits Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II, both of which starred Steve Martin and Keaton.
