Honoring a filmmaker for achievement in directing, the Vail Film Festival is proud to present this year’s honor to filmmaker Tate Taylor. In 2004, Taylor made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed short film Chicken Party, which he wrote, directed and starred in. Chicken Party went on to win eight festivals and placed at 12 more. Pretty Ugly People was Taylor’s first feature-length film, which was released theatrically in the fall of 2009. Written and directed by Taylor, this dark comedy presented a complicated shooting schedule and ensemble cast, which gained Taylor further notoriety as a director and writer to watch. Taylor went on to adapt and direct Kathryn’s Stockett’s novel, The Help. The Help went on to gross over $220 million worldwide, was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and earned Octavia Spencer an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Taylor has established a mentoring program based in Mississippi with Stockett that provides creative and structural mentoring for writers and filmmakers. As an actor, Taylor has a long history of creating outstanding performances and was most recently seen in the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize–winning feature Winter’s Bone. Next up, Taylor will be directing the story of James Brown for Universal Studios with Brian Grazer and Mick Jagger producing, Pharm Girl with Reese Witherspoon and Peace Like a River with DreamWorks Studios. Taylor also recently sold two television projects to NBC, which are currently in development.