Women in Film taps four for awards

The spotlight will shine on Universal co-chairman Donna Langley, actresses Courteney Cox and Zoe Saldana and director of photography Cynthia Pusheck at the 2010 Crystal + Lucy Awards.

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The annual benefit dinner, which supports Women in Film, Los Angeles, will be held June 1 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City.

"At the dawn of a new decade, it is heartening to acknowledge careers marked by independent vision, daring creative choices and unique talent," WIF LA president Jane Fleming said in announcing the honorees.

Iris Grossman, the group's president emeritus, will chair the awards.

Langley is to receive the Crystal Award in recognition of her efforts in expanding the role of women in the entertainment industry. She was named co-chair of Universal in October and with Uni chairman Adam Fogelson oversees the studio's business and production strategies.

Langley joined Universal as senior vp production in 2001 and four years later was upped to president of production. She has had a hand in steering such films as "American Gangster," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Knocked Up," "Wanted," "Mamma Mia!" and "It's Complicated." Before Uni, she worked at New Line.

Cox will be presented with the Lucy Award, presented in association with the Lucille Ball Estate and given to an individual who has enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television. Cox played Monica Gellar on NBC's "Friends" and stars in the ABC sitcom "Cougar Town."

Her film credits include "Bedtime Stories," "The Longest Yard" and the "Scream" trilogy. She recently directed her first film, a short titled "The Monday Before Thanksgiving," and through Coquette, the production company she founded in 2003 with her husband, David Arquette, she has taken on producing roles on the TV series "Dirt" and "Mix It Up" and horror film "The Tripper."

The recipient of the MaxMara Face of the Future Award, Saldana starred last year in "Star Trek" and "Avatar." She next appears in Screen Gems' "Death at a Funeral" and Warner Bros.' "The Losers."

Pusheck, this year's winner of the Kodak Vision Award, has served as director of photography on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters." She began her cinematography career assisting in the camera departments of such films as "Patriot Games" and "Hook." After graduating from the AFI cinematography program in 1995, she shot the indie features "Three Days of Rain" and "Loving Annabelle." Her TV work includes "CSI: Miami" and "Close to Home."