Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman and his longtime collaborator cinematographer Eric Steelberg will receive the third annual Variety Creative Collaborators award at Virginia’s Middleburg Film Festival in October.
The award will honor their collaborations on films such as “Juno,” “Up in the Air,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and the upcoming release “Saturday Night.”
Middleburg Film Festival executive director Susan Koch said, “We are thrilled to once again partner with Variety on presenting the Creative Collaborators Award. This year’s recipients, Jason and Eric, couldn’t be more deserving. ‘Saturday Night’ is a fantastic film and beautifully showcases their remarkable decades-long partnership, which has produced so many memorable films.” Koch added, “We can’t wait to welcome Jason back to Middleburg and are delighted Eric will be joining him to share with our filmgoers a behind-the-scenes look at their collaborative process. “
“Saturday Night” editor Shane Reid, left, editor Nathan Orloff and cinematographer Eric Steelberg
Sony Pictures via Getty Images
The conversation will be moderated by Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay on Oct. 19. The talk will serve as a career retrospective highlighting their partnership as longtime friends and collaborators. “Saturday Night” will also screen at the festival which runs from Oct. 17-20.
Tangcay said, “Creative Collaborators is a series that showcases the power of the collaborative process. Jason and Eric are not just best friends, Eric is Jason’s go-to when it comes to delivering his vision as a filmmaker. From ‘Juno’ to ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ and now the highly-anticipated ‘Saturday Night,’ they have developed a shorthand and a filmmaking style, that I can’t wait to hear about.” She added, “What better place to present this award than at the Middleburg Film Festival with which Variety has a long-standing collaboration.”
At the festival, Tangcay and Variety’s senior awards editor Clayton Davis will also host their annual Coffee and Contenders conversation discussing the state of the awards race.
The festival’s slate will be released shortly. Past festival honorees include Edward Berger, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Kenneth Branagh, Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola and Damien Chazelle.