Today the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, the organization that holds the Saturn Awards, announced that Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni will be awarded the George Pal Memorial Award at the event. It’s one of the ceremony’s top honors that is “presented on rare occasions to a filmmaker who embodies a sense of wonder, imagination and mastery of the fantastic in cinematic storytelling,” according to the organization. Beginning his career with Lucasfilm on the animated projects Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Filoni went on to serve as creator, writer, and executive producer of the live-action series Ahsoka, executive producer, episodic director and writer of the Emmy Award-winning series The Mandalorian, as well as its spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. Filoni is also the creator and executive producer of the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi.

Last month, it was announced that Oppenheimer writer/director Christopher Nolan will receive the ceremony’s visionary award, which will be presented to him by one of the film’s stars, Emily Blunt, at the awards show on February 4. In addition to the visionary award, Nolan is also a nominee this year at this year’s Saturn Awards, garnering nods for writing and for directing Oppenheimer.

“Community” Star Joel McHale will host the award ceremony, which will be held at the L.A. Marriott Burbank on February 4th, 2024, beginning at 4 P.M. PST / 7 P.M. EST. The show will be streamed exclusively on ElectricNOW. 

See the complete list of 2024 Saturn Awards nominees. 

More about the Saturn Awards and The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films

The Saturn Awards organization is the official awards group of The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The Academy is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and was founded in 1972 by noted film historian Donald A. Reed. The Academy is now headed by an equally-devoted group of enthusiasts including identical twins Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus (professional feature film writers and WGAw members, who have written and produced the past 26 Saturns Awards), Mark Altman (film and television producer), and Robert Holguin who currently serves as President of the Academy.

With several hundred members in Los Angeles, the Academy holds official screenings of films for the purposes of award consideration, as well as shows films for promotional purposes, totaling close to 100 films a year.  The Academy has a large group of members who live outside of Southern California who join expressly to support the Academy and vote in the annual awards show.

The 51st Annual Saturn Awards will take place on Saturday, February 4th, 2024 beginning at 4 P.M. PST / 7 P.M. EST, and will be available to stream on ElectricNOW.