Below the arched sugar pine ceiling and crown-shaped chandeliers of the Hotel del Coronado’s Crown Room, a sea of guests — dressed in sequins, velvets and silk — pooled in for the Coronado Island Film Festival’s Industry Tribute Gala.
The celebration, a signature event for the ninth annual film festival, was hosted by film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, and it served to honor both legendary figures and rising talent in the film industry.
Past honorees include cinematic icons like Richard Dreyfuss, Diane Ladd and Geena Davis, whose contributions to the industry have shaped its very language.
For nearly a century, this beach town and specifically the Hotel Del have drawn movie legends, from Marilyn Monroe to Tom Cruise, leaving an indelible imprint on Hollywood’s lore and shaping the festival’s character as a homage to cinematic heritage.
But for Merridee Book, the festival’s CEO and artistic director, the festival is not simply about cinematic reverence — it’s an ever-evolving blend of the carefully curated and the serendipitous.
“You know, each year just gets better and better,” she said. “The diversity of the films has really made this year very special.”
In contrast to the frenetic glitz of Cannes or Vince, the festival is built on connections between creatives, industry leaders and passionate cinephiles.
Book described the selection process for the gala’s honorees as “rather organic,” a mix of timing, availability and an instinct for which stories demand recognition.
This year, awardees included Jane Seymour, Clarence Maclin, Claudia Puig, Bettina Sherick, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
Jane Seymour
Seymour, 73, celebrated for her versatility across film and television, received the Legacy Award.
With multiple Emmy and Golden Globe wins, a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II and a legacy defined by roles in “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Live and Let Die” and “Wedding Crashers,” Seymour said being recognized for her career across a spectrum of media was humbling and exciting.
“To actually stop for a moment and realize I’ve been doing this professionally for 60 years is a little daunting,” she laughed.
From her early days as a dancer and painter to her ventures as a producer and philanthropist, Seymour said she’s sought out roles and projects that challenge and enrich her creative spirit.
“It is the most incredible privilege in the world to be an actress,” she said after receiving the award. “I’ve had this extraordinary life experience of being in other worlds, other people’s skins.”
For Seymour, one of the most impactful roles of her career came with “War and Remembrance,” a project that resonates with her personal history.
Both of her parents were survivors of WWII, and the narrative of the 1988 miniseries, which chronicles the global scope of the war and its human toll, mirrored the trauma endured by her own family.
Her father’s Polish relatives, she told the audience, were likely annihilated in concentration camps and her mother spent three and a half years in a Japanese internment camp. These experiences lent an unspoken gravity to her portrayal in the series.
“Take what you know and use it,” she said, explaining that being a part of the first generation of the war’s survivors developed an innate empathy. “I’m very comfortable being in other people’s skin.”
Clarence Maclin
Maclin, who served prison time for robbery before becoming an actor, now works in youth counseling and performance. He accepted the Industry Impact Award.
Maclin’s feature film debut in the A24 film “Sing Sing,” where he plays a younger version of himself, has earned critical praise, capturing an “inspiration and change” that Book felt was unmissable.
At 29, Maclin was sentenced to 17 years at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. There, he encountered the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, an initiative that sparked his personal metamorphosis and a newfound vocation in theater and film.
“RTA is not in the business of making actors; they’re in the business of making better human beings,” Maclin said, crediting the program with helping him find his voice.
Since his release, Maclin has channeled his experience into social impact as a youth counselor, creative arts specialist and gang intervention specialist at Lincoln Hall Boys Haven in Somers, New York.
“We can’t go back and change history, we can’t change some of the things we’ve done to each other,” he said. “But what we can do is tell stories to try to heal that.”
Claudia Puig
Puig, a distinguished voice in film criticism and programming, was presented with the Leonard Maltin Award for changing the movie industry — a recognition she described as both humbling and meaningful, particularly because it was bestowed by Maltin himself.
“He is someone we all look up to,” Puig said, recalling how she used to reference Maltin’s film guide as a resource in her early career, which has a photo of him on the cover. She shared an anecdote about her daughter recognizing Maltin at a screening years ago, exclaiming “He’s on your book!”
“I would turn to it as a source, it was always sitting on my desk,” she said. “I’ve admired his screen for a really long time, and I feel fortunate to work with him as friends.”
Spending much of her life immersed in cinema, Puig said she watches up to 900 films annually across multiple platforms and festivals. Yet, for her, discovering hidden gems and championing films that defy conventions is the true reward.
“We [movie critics] have this sense of missionary zeal,” Puig said. “I want people to see amazing movies. My favorite role is loving something, encouraging people to see it and sharing that experience.”
Bettina Sherick, Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander
Sherick, a veteran of entertainment digital marketing and the president and founder of Hollywood in Pixels — a nonprofit dedicated to preserving pioneering digital film campaigns that have shaped Hollywood’s marketing landscape — received the Trailblazer Award.
With a career that began at 20th Century Fox International, she led award-winning campaigns for films like “Avatar” and “Life of Pi,” and later held leadership roles at Warner Bros. and Fox. Most recently, she served as the head of digital intelligence at Prime Video, overseeing “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
“When I first suggested that we actually interact with fans through this community called ‘the internet,’ I was told by legal that I could not do that … because if the studio had to sue them for putting content on the internet, there would be a pre-existing relationship,” she said. “Oh my god, how times have changed!”
Writing duo Alexander and Karaszewski — their works include “Ed Wood,” “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and “Goosebumps” — were honored with the festival’s inaugural Screenwriting Award.
Karaszewski said he met Alexander when they became roommates during their freshman year at the University of California’s School of Cinema – a friendship that now spans over four decades.
Alexander, who was in love with the Marx Brothers as a kid, said he discovered Maltin’s 1974 book “Movie Comedy Teams” when he was 9 years old.
“I read this book so many times. All the words are smudged because I stared at it so much,” Alexander joked.
Winning an award from Maltin, Alexander said, felt like an achievement.
“Leonard was writing about the Marx Brothers and The Stooges…Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall,” he said. “Leonard’s work was so extraordinary and meant so much to me.”
