Love Actually filmmaker, Woody Allen casting director score honorary Oscars as Academy reveals season's first awards

The Academy has unveiled its first awards of the season, after the prestigious Oscars group's Board of Governors voted to bestow its Honorary Awards to five industry figures at its upcoming 15th Governors Awards.

Among this year's recipients are legendary musician and seven-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Quincy Jones and Woody Allen's longtime casting director Juliet Taylor, both of whom will receive Honorary Awards for lifetime achievement.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — presented annually to a film professional for standout philanthropic efforts — will go to Love Actually and Notting Hill filmmaker Richard Curtis, while the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for excellence in producing will go to James Bond franchise staples Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. 

“The recipients of this year’s Governors Awards have set the bar incredibly high across their remarkable careers, and the Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to recognize them with Oscars,” said Academy President Janet Yang in a press statement. 

She continued: “The selection of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli is a testament to their success as producers of the fan-favorite Bond series and their contribution to the industry’s theatrical landscape. Richard Curtis is a brilliant comedic storyteller whose tremendous charitable efforts embody the meaning of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Quincy Jones’s artistic genius and relentless creativity have made him one of the most influential musical figures of all time. Juliet Taylor has cast iconic and beloved films and paved a new path for the field. Their profound love of cinema and indelible contribution to our art form make these five individuals truly deserving of these honors."

Among their competitive distinctions, Jones (already an EGOT-winning icon) has received seven Academy Award nominations for past work on soundtracks for The Color Purple and The Wiz, and previously received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995. Curtis scored his only Oscar nomination for writing the screenplay for 1994s Four Weddings and a Funeral.

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Wilson, Broccoli, and Taylor have yet to be nominated for competitive Oscars, though their work stands on its own, with Wilson and Broccoli shepherding blockbuster Bond films into existence over the years, and Taylor casting some of the controversial Allen's most memorable films, including Manhattan and Annie Hall, as well as other notable projects like The Exorcist, Network, and Taxi Driver.

The 2025 Oscars air Sunday, March 2, with several high-profile films already building awards buzz on the circuit, including Dune: Part Two, Challengers, and Cannes Film Festival breakouts like Demi Moore's performance in The Substance and Florida Project director Sean Baker's Palme d'Or-winning drama Anora.

The aforementioned honorees will receive their statuettes Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Academy’s Governors Awards at Ovation Hollywood's Ray Dolby Ballroom.