header-left
File #: 130614    Version: 0 Name:
Type: Resolution Status: ADOPTED
File created: 9/12/2013 In control: CITY COUNCIL
On agenda: Final action: 9/12/2013
Title: Honoring and celebrating Academy Award-nominated film producer and director Lee Daniels for his remarkable contributions to society through film and community service.
Sponsors: Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember Johnson
Attachments: 1. Signature13061400.pdf
Title
Honoring and celebrating Academy Award-nominated film producer and director Lee Daniels for his remarkable contributions to society through film and community service.

Body
WHEREAS, Lee Daniels is the eldest of five children, and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Clara and William Daniels. Lee Daniels grew up in West Philadelphia. Lee Daniels' father served as a Philadelphia Police Officer for many years; and

WHEREAS, While only 12 years old Lee Daniels' father was killed, and despite the difficult relationship between the two, Daniels loved his father, and repeatedly acknowledges him as a contributor to his success today; and

WHEREAS, Daniels attended and graduated from Radnor High School. Following his graduation, Daniels attended Lindenwood College in St. Louis, Missouri, to study theatre and film; and

WHEREAS, Daniels left Lindenwood College and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream in the film industry but took a job as a receptionist for a nursing agency to survive. His hard work led him from his role as receptionist to opening his own successful nursing agency. Although Daniels was the owner of a nursing agency, he still retained his passion for film; and

WHEREAS, One of Daniels' nursing clients was a film producer who worked with the singer, Prince and offered to help Daniels find a job in film. While in his mid-twenties, Daniels sold his nursing agency and used the proceeds to pursue his dream of working in film; and

WHEREAS, Daniels started in Hollywood as a film production assistant, in charge of casting for theatre productions. His hard work created opportunities for him to work on major film projects such as, Purple Rain and Under the Cherry Moon; and

WHEREAS, Daniels recognized the lack of substantive roles for African American actors, so he started his own entertainment company, Lee Daniels Entertainment; and

WHEREAS, Daniels is the first African American to solely produce an Academy Award Nominated Fil...

Click here for full text