Lin-Manuel Miranda is a changemaker… And, now he’ll have the award to prove it.
The 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor, singer-songwriter, playwright, and film director will receive the 2022 Changemaker Award from the Greenwich International Film Festival, according to festival organizer.
Miranda, the Pulitzer Prize winning creator of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton and the soundtracks to Disney‘s Moana and Encanto, has been selected for the award for his work with the Miranda Family Fund, which supports causes like education, the arts and social justice, and has been particularly focused on rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In particular, GIFF is recognizing the work the fund has done in the last three years to provide more than 80 emerging artists with professional training, support in the business of the arts, access to casting directors, managers, and agents.
Miranda is also receiving the award for his work developing two full-time paid fellowship programs for BIPOC people in the arts world as a way of combating systemic barriers in the industry: a fellowship with acclaimed theater Woolly Mammoth for arts administrators which was announced in December 2020, and a Miranda fellows program at Telsey & Co. Casting Agency, the first class of which will be announced this winter.
The Changemaker Award honors artists who use film to forward social change.
Previous recipients include Eva Longoria Baston, Ashley Judd, Renée Zellweger, Christy Turlington Burns, Freida Pinto, Trudie Styler, Abigail Breslin, Harry Belafonte and Mia Farrow.
“I am especially honored to receive this award from GIFF, a non-profit that ‘bridges the worlds of art and philanthropy’—two areas I care about so deeply,” said Miranda in a statement. “I wouldn’t be where I am without the investment that arts educators have been putting into students for decades, often made possible only by the philanthropy of others. My family and I long ago made a commitment to continue that philanthropy, to open up more avenues for underrepresented artists, to diversify the field and allow far more people to be seen and heard. Thank you to GIFF for helping to continue to make that possible.”
GIFF, an all-female led non-profit organization that aims to use film to support social justice and philanthropic efforts, also announced that, instead of hosting a traditional week-long film festival, this year they will produce “GIFF: Uninterrupted,” a year-long programming format that will allow filmmakers to screen projects around other festival runs, premiere dates and press tours. GIFF will host an exclusive digital streaming platform for circumstances in which in-person events aren’t possible, and will continue to offer its best social impact film award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize. The award will be announced via virtual ceremony on April 27, 2022.
Miranda will be honored at the 2022 Changemaker Gala, which will be held May 25. Jenna Bush-Hager will emcee the event, which will take place at L’Escale in Greenwich, Conn.
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