Jon Avnet

Jon Avnet has directed, written, and produced more than 80 motion pictures, television movies, series and Broadway plays, winning Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Peabody's, DGA Awards, the Humanitas, Golden Globes and the AFI's Franklin Shaffner Medal. He has directed the Oscar-nominated performance of Jessica Tandy and the three Emmy-winning performances of Margo Martindale, Colleen Dewhurst and Judy Davis. He received an honorary Doctorate in Communications from the American Film Institute in 2013 and the Creative Spirit Award from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Among the other awards Avnet has received are the ACLU's "Bill of Rights Award," The New York Board of Review's "Freedom of Expression Award," and the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Feature Film. Avnet is best known for co-writing, directing and producing Fried Green Tomatoes, which garnered multiple Academy Award nominations (for writing and for Jessica Tandy, who co-starred with Kathy Bates, Cicely Tyson and Mary Louise