THE HELP Cast To Be Honored at the Hollywood Film Awards 10/24

The 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, have announced that the cast of DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media's "The Help" - Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson and Mike Vogel - will be recognized at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award."

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder of the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place on the evening of Monday, October 24, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Hollywood Film Awards Gala launches the awards season. In the past eight years a total of 73 Oscar nominations and 27 Oscars were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Awards.

The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has announced they will also honor "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor Stephen Mirrione, Production Designer James Murakami and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar at their annual Awards Gala. Gore Verbinski's "Rango" will also be honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.

Based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, THE HELP stars Academy Award®-nominated Viola Davis (DOUBT) as Aibileen and Emma Stone as Skeeter, two very different, extraordinary women who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them both at risk at the height of the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi. When Aibileen enlists the help of her best friend Minny (Octavia Spencer), their improbable alliance fosters a remarkable sisterhood, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed-even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope, THE HELP is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change. THE HELP was written for the screen and directed by Tate Taylor and produced by Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

ABOUT Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain (Celia Foote) recently co-starred in "Tree of Life," this year's Palme d'Or winner at Cannes, written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, as well as "The Debt" with Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington. She will next be seen in the feature films "Coriolanus," directed by and co-starring Ralph Fiennes, "The Wettest County" opposite Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf, and "Take Shelter."

Chastain attended the Juilliard School where she starred in "Romeo and Juliet." At the senior class Juilliard showcase, Chastain landed a coveted talent deal with Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer John Wells. After completing a pilot for Wells and director P.J. Hogan, Chastain returned to the stage in the Los Angeles Wadsworth Theatre production of "Salome," where director Estelle Parsons and Al Pacino cast Chastain to play the title role of Salome opposite Pacino. Continuing the collaboration, she starred in the recent film version, "Wilde Salome," directed by Pacino. Chastain's work in "Salome" received enormous critical attention and led to her being cast in the dynamic title role in "Jolene" directed by Dan Ireland. The film also stars Rupert Friend, Frances Fisher, Dermot Mulroney and Michael Vartan. Chastain won the Best Actress Award at the 2008 Seattle Film Festival for this role.

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