Tina Fey Honored at New York Stage & Film's Annual Winter Gala

New York Stage and Film is thrilled to announce that its annual Winter Gala will honor Tina Fey and Founder & CEO of Audible, Inc., Don Katz. The Winter Gala, a fundraising event to support New York Stage and Film's year-round theater and film development initiatives, will be held on Tuesday, December 5th at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers.

"To say we are thrilled by this year's gala honorees is an absolute understatement," said Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "Tina is a leading voice in American comedy, from her film and television work, to her upcoming Broadway debut with the 'Mean Girls' musical. And we are so excited to honor Don, who has been a pioneer in the world of audio entertainment, and is currently providing vital support for playwrights through Audible's recent expansion into the theater world."

The evening includes cocktails, an auction, dinner, and entertainment from special guests in honor of Tina Fey and Don Katz.

Tina Fey is the highly acclaimed, multi-award winning writer, actor and producer who is best known as Liz Lemon on her Emmy Award-winning comedy series "30 Rock." Prior to creating "30 Rock," Fey spent nine seasons as a writer and cast member on "Saturday Night Live." Fey's film projects include "Sisters," "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," "Date Night" and "Mean Girls" (which she wrote). In 2010, Fey became the youngest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

In April 2011, Fey released her first book, "Bossypants," which topped the New York Times bestseller list for over 36 consecutive weeks. Fey is currently co-creator of the hit Netflix comedy series, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and an executive producer of the NBC comedy series "Great News." She lives in New York City with her husband Jeff Richmond and their two daughters.

Don Katz is founder and CEO of Audible, Inc., the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Newark, NJ since 2007, Audible serves millions of listeners and offers over 375,000 downloadable audiobooks, audio editions of periodicals, and other programs. The company commercialized the first portable digital audio player in 1997.

Audible is the supplier of audiobooks to Apple's iTunes store worldwide and operates eight dedicated websites including audible.co.uk, audible.de, audible.fr, audible.it, audible.com.au, audible.co.jp and audible.ca. Audible was publicly traded on NASDAQ until acquired by Amazon.com in 2008 and is now an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary. Named one of NJ.com's "25 Most Influential People in New Jersey" in 2016, Katz was also recognized as one of America's Top 25 Disruptive Leaders by Living Cities for his work on behalf of urban transformation in Newark. Prior to founding Audible, Katz was a journalist and author whose work won a National Magazine Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction.

Past gala honorees include Annette Bening, David Rockwell, Bill Pullman, Michael Mayer, Rick Miramontez, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney, Christopher Plummer, Julianna Margulies, Steve Martin, Jordan Roth, John Patrick Shanley, Jon Robin Baitz, Aaron Sorkin, David Strathairn, Dana Delany, Tony Shalhoub, Marc Platt, Donald Holder, and Peter Gallagher.

New York Stage and Film is a non-profit company dedicated to both emerging and established artists in the development and production of theater and film. Since 1985, New York Stage and Film has been a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that start with them and continue across the country and around the world.

Dozens of notable works trace their developmental roots to New York Stage and Film, including the 2016 Tony Award winners for Best Musical ("Hamilton") and Best Play ("The Humans"), as well as the Tony Award-winning plays "Side Man" and "Doubt," the Broadway musicals "American Idiot" and "Bright Star," the recently acclaimed "The Babylon Line," and the 2017 Pulitzer finalists "The Wolves" and Taylor Mac's "A 24-Decade History of Popular Music."

New York Stage and Film recently completed the 33rd Powerhouse Summer season, its annual collaboration with Vassar College. The Powerhouse program consists of an eight-week residence on the Vassar campus during which more than 300 professional artists and dozens of students in the Powerhouse Training Program live and work together to create new theater works.

Other signature programs of New York Stage and Film are comprised of New York City programming, including the NYC Reading Series at Barnard College, and other workshops, readings, fellowships and residences for artists at all stages of their careers; and the Filmmakers' Workshop, which provides early-career filmmakers with professional mentorship, artistic development, and industry skills and relationships.

All proceeds from the evening will benefit New York Stage and Film's support of artists from around the country in the development and production of original work for theater and film.