Producers Lynda Obst and Paula Weinstein will be posthumously honored next month with the Trailblazer Award from the Producers Guild of America for paving the way for female producers and championing women’s voices in Hollywood, the guild announced Friday.
Obst and Weinstein — who will be lauded at the PGA Awards Feb. 8 at the Fairmont Century Plaza — “have made a lasting impact on the industry with their trailblazing work and steadfast commitment to amplifying women’s voices,” PGA Presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line said in a statement. “Lynda and Paula embody the spirit of women who have broken barriers and paved the way for future generations of producers.”
Obst, who died last October, was known for her work on movies including “Sleepless in Seattle,” “The Fisher King,” “Contact,” “Interstellar” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” and on TV including “Hot in Cleveland,” “The Hot Zone” and “Good Girls Revolt.”
She was a recipient of the Women in Film Crystal award and the first Polly Platt Award.
Obst was described as being “instrumental in pushing for gender parity behind the camera, advocating for more opportunities for female writers, directors and producers,” according to the statement released by the guild.
Weinstein, who died last March, produced films including “The Perfect Storm,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “Analyze This” and “Analyze That,” along with the Netflix show “Grace and Frankie” and the Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie “Recount” along with the Emmy-nominated “Too Big to Fail” and “Iron Jawed Angels.”
Weinstein became the highest-ranking woman in the film industry when she was named vice president at 20th Century Fox in 1979 at age 33 and went on to be named president of United Artists, a vice president at Warner Bros. and an executive vice president at 20th Century Fox. She also served as chief content officer for Tribeca Enterprises from 2013 until 2023.
Weinstein co-founded the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, which raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates over two decades, and served on the boards of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU and on the National Finance Committee for President Barack Obama. She was one of only three people to receive two Crystal Awards from Women in Film in 1999.