Image film awards gala

Francis Ford Coppola at the 2023 IMAGE Film Awards accepting the award on behalf of President Carter.

2025 Honorees

  • Mary Ann Hughes is a 30+ year veteran with Disney. As the head of Production and Investment Planning, her team supports all business units across the Disney Enterprise to identify and access worldwide government based incentive opportunities, including but not limited to worldwide film and television production incentives. The Production and Investment Planning group identifies opportunities for savings, evaluates and minimizes risks, and assists in implementing the changes necessary to realize those benefits in a fashion aligned with operational objectives. Mary Ann works collaboratively with all business units and joint ventures, as well as operational stakeholders including government relations, finance, legal and business affairs. Mary Ann is the Disney liaison to government representatives when discussing and negotiating government based incentives.

    As an industry influencer, Mary Ann sits on the Board of Directors of FilmLA and the Advisory Board for the Association of Film Commissioners International. She holds a Bachelor’s in Accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

  • Ray McKinnon is a writer, actor, director and producer. He served from 2012 through 2016 as creator, showrunner, writer and director of the Peabody Award winning, Sundance TV series, "Rectify."

    As an actor, McKinnon has created a canon of unforgettable, offbeat and richly textured characters. In a career spanning over three decades, McKinnon steadily built an impressive resume, including memorable roles on FX's critically acclaimed "Sons of Anarchy" (as Lincoln Potter) and the award-winning HBO series "Deadwood" (as Reverend H.W. Smith). He has also appeared in series such as "NYPD Blue," "X Files" and "Matlock." Big screen credits include "Mud", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "Take Shelter", "The Blind Side", "Footloose", "Apollo 13", and "Bugsy".

    As a filmmaker, in 2008, he produced and starred in the critically praised indie feature, "That Evening Sun", and garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work as Lonzo Choat, opposite Hal Holbrook.

    McKinnon has complemented his work in front of the camera with other notable turns as a writer, director and producer. He has frequently collaborated with his friend Walton Goggins and his late wife, actress Lisa Blount, under their Ginny Mule Pictures banner. Their debut film, the McKinnon-penned and titular played, "The Accountant", won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2002. Their first feature, "Chrystal" (written and directed by McKinnon and starring Ms. Blount), was selected for the Sundance Film Festival's prestigious Dramatic Film Competition in 2004.

  • Since the Georgia Film Academy began operations in 2015, economic activity generated by the film industry in Georgia continues to rise at exponential levels. The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced that, during fiscal year 2021, the film and television industry set a new record with $4 billion in direct spending on productions in the state.

    The Georgia Film Academy’s efforts in building a professional workforce able to meet increased production demand is widely regarded to be a primary driver in this sudden and dramatic rise in economic impact on the state. The GFA is widely recognized by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), labor unions, and numerous competing states and countries as “the gold standard” in film and television production workforce training.

    The GFA offers industry certifications in Film & Television Production, Post-Production, Live Production, Streaming & Esports, and helps institutions to develop curriculum and training directly aligned to the high-demand careers that exist in the state.

    The GFA offers industry certifications in Film & Television Production, Post-Production, Live Production, Streaming & Esports, and helps institutions to develop curriculum and training directly aligned to the high-demand careers that exist in the state. In partnership with IATSE 479 and major film and television production and digital entertainment companies like Disney, Netflix, HBO, Skillshot Media, and others, professionally-qualified instructors, equipment, and training facilities prepare learners to be assets to the industry following completion of GFA’s certification. Furthermore, with GFA’s unique-in-the-nation internship/apprenticeship program, students have the opportunity to go straight to work in these industries, which offers a paid, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sunday, May 4, 202s - Assembly Atlanta, Jewel Box

The Atlanta Film Society’s IMAGE Film Awards sets out to honor various individuals, companies and organization that have made outstanding contributions to Georgia’s film industry & community. It’s celebrated the many contributions of notable names such as Spike Lee, Burt Reynolds, Tip “TI" Harris, Parker Posey, Dallas Austin, Tom Luse, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. It’s recognized companies such as Tyler Perry Studios, and Trioscope, nonprofit organizations such as the BronzeLens Film Festival, and Georgia Production Partnership and public leaders such as Governor Nathan Deal, President Jimmy Carter, Governor Zell Miller, Attorney General Chris Carr, the Georgia Film Office.

Named as a reference to the organization’s original name, the IMAGE Film Awards Gala pays tribute to Atlanta Film Society’s (ATLFS) history as Independent Media Artists of Georgia Etc (IMAGE). In the time since the event was established in 2001, both Georgia’s film community & industry have gone through tremendous transformation. Annual spending on production has increased from $200 million to as high as over $4 billion. 

Meanwhile, ATLFS has undergone some of the most significant evolutions since its formation: a name change from IMAGE to Atlanta Film Society, experienced some of the most longevity in organization staff and leadership in five decades along with new events and programs like the Creative Conference, New Mavericks, CineMás, PA Academy, Locals Only and the Kodak 100 Ft of Film as well as increased profile, visibility and attendance at the annual Academy Award qualifying Atlanta Film Festival. 

These programs have been a platform for sharing, celebrating and elevating the work of hundreds of artists each year, workforce development of over 5,000 participants in ATLFS’ education and networking programs, and allowed for cultural engagement and enrichment of over 50,000 audience members annually. The IMAGE Film Awards Gala serves as the only fundraising event for the ATLFS and will be instrumental in growing the organization’s reach, impact and service to the community and artists it serves.

The trophy awarded to IMAGE Film Award recipients is inspired by the world’s first practical film projector, the Phantoscope, debuted to the world in Atlanta in 1895 in the first purpose-built cinema as part of the Cotton State Exposition (in Piedmont Park, the same site of IMAGE’s first Atlanta Film Festival over 80 years later in 1977). The Phantoscope, built by underdogs Jenkins & Armat, beat the titan of industry, Thomas Edison, to make the first viable motion picture projector. Edison would eventually purchase the patent from Jenkins and Armat and incorporate their technology into what became his widely-produced Vitascope. Arguably, this is the first time this science experiment became an industry and it happened here in Atlanta.

2025 HONOREES 

  • Mary Ann Hughes, VP Film and Television Production Planning at Disney ABC Television Group

  • Ray McKinnon, Oscar-winning Filmmaker and Actor

  • Georgia Film Academy, The Georgia Film Academy supports a collaboration of institutions of the University System of Georgia, Technical College System of Georgia, and Independent institutions that offer professional courses in film, television, digital entertainment, Esports, and game development.

Dress code: Cocktail / Red Carpet Chic 

  • HOR D’OEUVRES
    Roasted Tomato Bruschetta 

    Fried Pimento Cheese w/Hot Pepper Jelly 

    Tandoori Chicken Skewer w/Curry Aioli

    Lobster Corn Dog with Citrus Aioli 

    Hummus & Spring Vegetables 

    Crab Rangoon Dip with Wonton Crisps

    MINI DESSERT 
    Strawberry Shortcake Shooter

    OPEN BAR
    Wine & Tequila

List of Previous Honorees

2023

  • President Jimmy Carter (Former Governor of Georgia)
  • Trioscope Studios
  • Governor Nathan Deal (Former Govenor of Georgia)
  • BronzeLens Film Festival

2019

  • Tom Luse (Executive Producer, "The Walking Dead")
  • Betsy Holland (Director of Culture & Engagement, Turner Broadcasting/Georgia House of Representatives, District 54)
  • Chris Carr (Attorney General of Georgia)
  • Tip “TI” Harris || Actor, Composer, Producer

2008

  • Steve James & Peter Gilbert (Co-Directors, At the Death House Door)
  • Tyler Perry Studios
  • Matthew Bernstein
  • Virginia Hepner

2007

  • Will Packer (Producer, Rainforest Films, Stomp the Yard, The Gospel, Motives)
  • Kenny Blank (Executive Director, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival)
  • GPP (Georgia Production Partnership)

2006

  • Dr. Kay Beck (Professor, Georgia State University, Digital Arts and Entertainment Lab)
  • George LeFont (Independent Theatre Owner, LeFont Theatres)
  • Lab 601 (Post Production)

2005

  • Dr. Herbert Eichelberger (Founding Member of IMAGE, Professor, Clark Atlanta University)
  • George King (Director, Will the Circle be Unborn, Ten Thousand Points of Light)
  • W. Bruce Harlan (Lighting & Production Equipment, Inc.)
  • Guy H. Tuttle (Special Projects)
  • Katherine Evans (Turner Classic Movies)
  • Linda Burns (Plexus Pictures)

2004

  • Dallas Austin (Film / Grammy-winning Music Producer, Drumline / Boys II Men, Monica, TLC)
  • Diane Ladd (Actress, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Rambling the Rose, Wild at Heart
  • Lon Slack (Multi Media Services, Atlanta)
  • Bill VanDerKloot (Filmmaker, Founding Member of IMAGE, Owner of Magic Lantern Productions)
  • Linda Dubler (Curator of Film & Video, High Museum of Art)

2003

  • Ossie Davis (Actor, Do the Right Thing, Grumpy Old Men, No Way Out)
  • Ruby Dee (Actress, Do the Right Thing, Raisin in the Sun, No Way Out)
  • Burt Reynolds (Actor, Boogie Nights, Sharky’s Machine, Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance)
  • Parker Posey (Actress, Best in Show, Personal Velocity, Dazed and Confused)
  • Georgia Office of Film Video and Music

2002

  • Victor Nunez (Director, Ruby in Paradise, Ulee's Gold)
  • Jim McKay and Michael Stipe (C-Hundred Film Corp (Girlstown, Our Song))
  • PC&E (Production Consultants and Equipment)
  • Eleanor Ringel Gillespie (Writer, Atlanta Journal Constitution)

2001

  • Gary Moss (Founding Member of IMAGE / Filmmaker, Gullah Tales)
  • Gayla Jamison (Founding IMAGE ED / Producer, Writer, Director)
  • Zell Miller (Governor of Georgia (accepted by Michael Coles))
  • Crawford Communications