Black Bear CEO Teddy Schwarzman and NPR host Ailsa Chang are set to be honored by the Pacific Council on International Policy, Variety can exclusively announce.
The gala is set for May 8 at the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills.
As part of the Council’s 30th anniversary and theme revolving around the power of storytelling, Schwarzman will receive the Global Ambassador Award while Chang will be honored with the Excellence in Journalism Award.
“It is often said that California is the future but only sooner. And our two honorees exemplify this through their passion, their commitment, and their talent,” Pacific Council’s CEO and interim president Jerrold Green said in a statement. “They are both communicators but from vastly different ends of the story telling spectrum.”
Over the past decade, Schwarzman has shaped Black Bear into a leading independent studio that produces and finances up to eight films per year. The team has been behind productions like “Sing Sing,” “Train Dreams,” “Nyad,” “The Imitation Game” and “A Working Man,” a newly released action thriller with Jason Statham. The organization also has a U.K. arm, which released the Oscar and BAFTA winner “Conclave,” and a Canadian arm, which released Sean Baker’s “Anora.”
As an award-winning journalist, Chang has worked as a correspondent for “Planet Money,” been a congressional correspondent on NPR’s Washington Desk and was an investigative reporter at MPR’s member station WNYC. Her work has focused on criminal justice and legal affairs. She has won numerous national awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton and the Daniel Schorr Journalism Award.
