The Catskill Chronicle

Actor Bill Pullman to Present Creative Coalition Award

LIBERTY, NY (January 13, 2013) – On Saturday, January 18, internationally acclaimed actor Bill Pullman will present the Creative Coalition Award for Teachers Making A Difference to Liberty Free  Theatre Founder and Artistic Director, Paul Austin, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“I’m touched and honored that Bill nominated me for this award,” said Austin. “Nothing pleases the teacher in me more than to be remembered by a former student. And it’s particularly gratifying to be honored by a group so dedicated to the vital allegiance of arts and community.”

The Creative Coalition is a not for profit organization founded by members of the American entertainment industry. It educates leaders on free speech, first amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education.

Austin has had a long career in film, television and theater as actor, director, playwright and teacher. For the past eight years he has devoted his energies to establishing the Liberty Free Theatre in Liberty, NY, which presents plays, music, poetry and fiction free of charge to the people of Sullivan County. Along with an active professional career, he has taught acting and directing privately and as tenured faculty at Sarah Lawrence College.

Bill Pullman has received world-wide acclaim for his work in such films as “While You Were Sleeping,” “Ruthless People,” “Spaceballs,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “Sommersby” – in which Paul Austin also appeared – and his role as President of The United states in “Independence Day.” He once remarked that watching “Independence Day” with then-President Bill Clinton was as daunting as “shooting baskets with Magic Johnson.” He has been currently re-elected to a second term as President of the United States, in the new television series, “1600 Pennsylvania” on NBC.

Pullman is also highly regarded for his support of and work in independent films and he also returns to the stage as often as he can. Early in his career, he appeared with Paul Austin in Vincent Canby’s “The Old Flag.” Not too long ago, he co-starred in Edward Albee’s “The Goat” on Broadway.

He is very active in community service; he works with “Concerned Citizens of Montana” to promote a national smart grid for energy transmissions, The Pullman Women’s Health and Birthing Center and the MS Society.

(Photo by Suzanne Karp Krebs) L-R in photo: Paul Austin, Afemo, Bill Pullman in Vincent Canby’s The Old Flag.