Amy Poehler will receive this year’s CinemaCon Vanguard Award, Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon, announced today. CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, will be held April 8-11 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Poehler will be presented with this special honor at the Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony taking place on the evening of April 11, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and hosted by official presenting sponsor The Coca-Cola Company.
“Amy Poehler, in a most distinguished career, has been entertaining people on the big screen for over 20 years”, noted Neuhauser. “She is one of the most versatile, recognizable, and talented performers of our generation who simply brings joy, happiness, and a smile to our faces with each new role. In 2015, we showcased Inside Out for the global exhibition community here at CinemaCon, and now, we can’t wait to see what new ground Amy and her fellow Emotions cover in the eagerly anticipated Inside Out 2. We are honored to present her with this year’s CinemaCon Vanguard Award.”
Poehler will return this summer as the voice of Joy in Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, releasing only in theaters on June 14. Inside Out 2 sees the return to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone. Maya Hawke lends her voice to Anxiety along with a voice cast that includes Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Tony Hale, and Liza Lapira. Inside Out 2 is directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen.
Best known for her starring role in the Emmy-nominated comedy series Parks and Recreation, Poehler began her career studying improv in Chicago, where she eventually co-founded the sketch/improv troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade. She then joined the cast of SNL where she became the first-ever cast member to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, earning this nomination two years in a row. Following her success on SNL, Poehler went on to star as Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation — a role which earned her a Golden Globe Award, an American Comedy Award, a Gracie Award, and six consecutive Emmy nominations, along with two additional Golden Globe nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for her work on the show.
Poehler’s film credits include The House, Sisters, Wet Hot American Summer, They Came Together, A.C.O.D., Free Birds, Are You Here, Baby Mama, Blades of Glory, and Mean Girls. In addition to lending her voice to the character of Joy in Inside Out, Poehler can be heard in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Monsters vs. Aliens, Horton Hears a Who!, and Shrek the Third. She also made her directorial debut in the Netflix comedy Wine Country and directed Netflix’s Moxie as well as Amazon’s documentary Lucy & Desi.
She is also the founder of Paper Kite Productions, a full-service entertainment company that produces content for traditional and non-linear platforms. Through Paper Kite, Poehler has produced several projects, including the upcoming film First Time Female Director, Peacock’s Baking It & The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Amazon’s Harlem, the Award-winning Netflix series Russian Doll, Adult Swim’s Three Busy Debras, Fox’s animated series Duncanville, and NBC’s Making It. In addition, Paper Kite recently launched Paper Kite Podcasts in partnership with Cadence 13 and Audacy.
Outside her film and television work, she released the New York Times Best Seller Yes Please, returned to SNL for an Emmy award-winning performance co-hosting alongside Tina Fey, and co-hosted the Golden Globe Awards. She also continues to produce the award-winning online website Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls and in the Spring of 2023, kicked off the Restless Leg Tour comedy show with Tina Fey.
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