LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles Press honored global superstar Dolly Parton at the 60th SoCal Journalism Awards Gala at the Crystal Ballroom of the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA on Sunday evening.
Parton was honored with the Bill Rosendahl Public Service Award for contributions to the public good. The event focused on the philanthropic efforts of Imagination Library, her book gifting organization that has mailed over 100 million books to children in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and U.S., as well as her Smoky Mountains Rise telethon, which raised more than $12.5 million dollars for her My People Fund which provided financial assistance to victims of the massive wildfires that impacted the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area in late November 2016.
The awards gala also honored NBC News’ Lester Holt, LA Times Business Editor Kimi Yoshino and Saudi Arabian Blogger Raif Badawi. Holt received the Joseph M. Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement, Yoshino the President’s Award for impact on media and Badawi the Daniel Pearl Award for courage and integrity in journalism.
The gala was attended by over 500 journalists and media executives. Several excellence in journalism awards were announced during the event.
Among Dolly Parton’s most current projects is her collaboration with Linda Perry on the upcoming soundtrack for the film Dumplin’. Perry produced the album and produced and wrote the film’s score, and Parton is executive producer. Together, they co-wrote six new songs for the project. The Dumplin’ film, starring Jennifer Aniston & Danielle MacDonald, is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Julie Murphy, about a girl (Willowdeen) who struggles to find herself.
Recently announced, Parton’s Dixie Pixie Productions is partnering with Warner Bros.Television to produce a series of television films to premiere on Netflix in 2019. Each installment will be based on a different Parton classic song, with the singer-songwriter appearing in select episodes.