The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) presented a 2020 “Made in NY” Award to Jeffrey Wright, the Tony-, Emmy-, AFI- and Golden-Globe-winning actor, philanthropist, and proud resident of Brooklyn, whose organization, Brooklyn For Life! supports local businesses and serves meals to first responders, hospital workers and residents of public housing affected by the pandemic.
The “Made in NY” Awards were established in 2006 to recognize the achievements of people and organizations that have made significant contributions to New York City’s entertainment and digital media industries over the course of their careers. Mr. Wright will be honored at the 30th annual IFP Gotham Awards, one of the leading awards for independent film, on Monday, January 11, 2021. The awards show will be presented live from Cipriani Wall Street New York in a hybrid format featuring virtual interactive tables in order to follow health and safety protocols brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jeffrey Wright has enjoyed an illustrious career, spanning the worlds of theatre, film and television. He has held roles in several “Made in NY” productions including “The Goldfinch,” “Boardwalk Empire, ” “Shaft,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Hamlet,”, “Blackout,”, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” and “Broken City,” as well as “Angels in America”, for which he won a Golden Globe and Emmy award, and “Basquiat,” his breakout film role. He has also been seen in Broadway performances including “A Free Man of Color,” “TopDog/Underdog,” “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” as well as “Angels in America: Perestroika,” a performance that brought him both a Tony and a Drama Desk award.
“Brooklyn for Life! is simply a group of New Yorkers coming together to look out for their community in tough times,” said Jeffrey Wright. “I’ve played in a lot of movies and shows, but this was one of the most fulfilling stories I’ve been a part of. This ‘Made in NY’ recognition by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is not of me alone, but of all the restaurant owners and workers who helped write it.”
In addition to his work as an actor, Mr. Wright is actively involved in giving back to the NYC community. During the pandemic, he co-founded the non-profit organization Brooklyn For Life! to help feed hospital workers and first responders. As well, his organization helped feed families in NYCHA housing developments in Fort Greene, Brooklyn through financial support to onecommunitynyc.org which continues to deliver 1,600 grocery packages per week to vulnerable residents.
“The 30th annual IFP Gotham Awards celebrates independent film’s most talented actors, producers, writers and directors,” said the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. “I’m thrilled to honor Brooklyn’s own Jeffrey Wright with a ‘Made in NY’ Award for his achievements in film, television and theatre. His work has challenged outdated assumptions about representation through the broad range of characters he’s so masterfully portrayed. An award-winning actor of international renown, Jeffrey is also a devoted advocate for his community. As co-founder of Brooklyn For Life!, he has helped support thousands of NYC’s first responders, public housing residents and small businesses adversely impacted by COVID-19.”
Mr. Wrightwas most recently seen playing the critically acclaimed role of ‘Bernard Lowe’ in HBO’s “Westworld,” for which he earned three Emmy nominations. Recent projects also include lead roles in Netflix’s “”All Day And A Night” and “Hold the Dark,”and HBO’s “O.G.,” which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, where he won the award for Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film. He also recently appeared in the Sundance darling “All Rise,” held a supporting role in Netflix’s“The Laundromat” and voiced the character of ‘McWinkle’ in the Netflix series “Dr. Sesuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.” Additional film roles include “Syriana,”” “The Hunger Games” and “Casino Royale.”
Mr. Wright is currently shooting the latest installment of the Batman, titled, “Vengeance” in London,” making history as the first African American to portray the iconic character of ‘Commissioner Gordon.’ He will also be reprising his role as CIA agent ‘Felix Leiter’ in the next James Bond installment, titled “No Time to Die”and will be seen in Wes Anderson’s“The French Dispatch” along an all-star cast, both set to release in 2021.
Mr. Wright joins Awkwafinain receiving a “Made in NY” award this year. Awkwafina will be honored at The New York Women in Film & Television’s 41st MUSE Awards virtual ceremony on December 17, an annual event that celebrates women of vision and achievement in television and film. Prior recipients of the “Made in NY” award include Caroline Hirsch, Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Rachael Ray, Tina Fey, Spike Lee, John Leguizamo, Alysia Reiner, Michael K. Williams and Judith Light.
