Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Kansas Congressman and Wichita native, will be honored with the Ad Astra Award at the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival. The MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries. The Ad Astra award, named for the State motto, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”, or “To the stars through difficulty” is presented each year to an individual who makes significant contributions to the art and process of moviemaking.
“We are thrilled that Mr. Glickman is coming to Wichita to accept this award,” said Festival Director Lela Meadow-Conner. “I remember the day in 2004 when he was named as Chairman of the MPAA and Tim (Gruver, festival founder), sent me an excited email! It is very apropos that in the year of Stubbornly Independent and the Presidential election, Mr. Glickman is our Ad Astra honoree, and we’re extremely proud of his Wichita connection. ”
"It is a great privilege to be receiving the Ad Astra Award at this year’s 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival in my hometown of Wichita,” said Glickman. “As a proud Kansan, it is especially gratifying to be recognized by the Tallgrass community for my work in the motion picture industry.”
The award will be presented to Glickman during the Ad Astra Gala presented by Stella Artois, on Saturday, October 25 at the Warren Old Town Theater and will include a Q&A and film screening, followed by a party at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Gala tickets are $30 and will go on sale at www.wichitatix.com or (316) 219-4TIX on October 3. Scroll down for Mr. Glickman’s complete bio.
Founded in 2003 by the late Timothy Gruver, the Tallgrass Film Festival is a program of the Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA), a non-profit 501©3 arts organization dedicated to entertaining and enlightening audiences from America’s Heartland. Through the annual film festival, the Cinema Al Fresco Series, WAMPA Filmmaker Academy and Special Screenings, WAMPA spotlights the city’s venues, cultural attractions and artistic communities. WAMPA strives to foster the ever-growing local filmmaking community, sparking a dialogue among filmmakers and enhancing artistic expression.
Confirmed Sponsors for the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival, which will take place in and around downtown Wichita October 23-26, include Warren Theaters, Emily Bonavia Trust, Integrated Media Group, Clear Channel Radio/Wichita, City of Wichita, Spirit AeroSystems, Kansas Arts Commission, Stella Artois, House of Schwan, Spangenberg Phillips Architecture, Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau, Heavy Weather Entertainment, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, ProductionHUB.com, WichitaTIX.com, JET Printing, National Endowment for the Arts, Scholfield Honda Presenting GreenGrass, Standard Beverage, Kansas Film Commission, The Brickyard, The Orpheum Theatre, KMUW, KPTS, Kansas Film Commission, Naked City, Wichita Magazine, Ulrich Museum of Art, CityArts, Showbiz Software, Cricket Communications, Rock Island Studios, Specs, Liberty Press, Old Mill Tasty Shop, Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, AT&T, Jean Garvey, Art Allen, WSU Shift Space, Old Town Association, Tangent Lab, The Sheppard Foundation, The Gruver Family, Bentley Meadows, Susan Moneypenny, Steve Anderson, Classic Real Estate, Emprise Bank, Eric Fisher Salon, Davis Moore Automotive Group, Quirk Books, The First Place and 360wichita.com.
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Dan Glickman Biography
Dan Glickman is Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) which serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries. Its members include Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.
Prior to joining the MPAA, Mr. Glickman was the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (2002-2004). Mr. Glickman also served as Senior Advisor to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC.
Mr. Glickman served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department administered farm and conservation programs; modernized food safety regulations; forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets; and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights.
Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee; chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.
Before his election to Congress in 1976, Mr. Glickman served as president of the Wichita, Kansas, School Board; was a partner in the law firm of Sargent, Klenda and Glickman; and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from the George Washington University. He is a member of the Kansas and District of Columbia Bars.
Mr. Glickman serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Hain - Celestial Corporation; Ready Pac Produce Corporation; Communities in Schools; America's Second Harvest; Food Research and Action Center; the National 4-H Council; the William Davidson Institute and the RFK Memorial Foundation. He also is on the International Advisory Board of The Coca-Cola Company; co-chairs the U.S. Consensus Council (with former Governor Marc Racicot) and The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology (with former Congressman Vin Weber).