Greg Daniels to receive Outstanding Television Writer Award

From press release:

TV COMEDY GIANT GREG DANIELS TO RECEIVE THE AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2008 OUTSTANDING TELEVISON WRITER AWARD

Five-time Emmy Winner and Adapter of “The Office” Will Accept Award at October Festival

AUSTIN, Texas Sept. 4, 2008 — The Austin Film Festival (AFF) will honor writer, producer and director Greg Daniels with the 2008 Outstanding Television Writer Award at the 15th Annual Austin Film Festival (Oct. 16-23, 2008). Daniels will receive the award at the Austin Film Festival Awards Luncheon presented by AT&T on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008 at the Austin Club.

AFF co-founder and Executive Director Barbara Morgan said, “We’re thrilled to honor Greg Daniels for his contribution to ground-breaking comedic television on four landmark series all still on the air: “Saturday Night Live,” “The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill” and “The Office.” Throughout his work, Daniels represents the innovative spirit of the Outstanding Television Writer Award. We look forward to hosting him at the Conference.”

Congratulations, Greg!

More information at the Austin Film Festival blog, or read more of the press release after the jump.

The AFF was the first and continues to be one of the only film festivals in the country with a primary focus on writers and their craft. This year the AFF Conference will feature an exceptional lineup with television writers and creators of the most watched and most talked about shows on television today, including Tim Kring, creator and writer of “Crossing Jordan” and “Heroes”; Matthew Weiner, writer for “Mad Men” and “The Sopranos”; and Melissa Rosenberg, writer for “Dexter” and “The O.C.”; and screenwriter of the highly-anticipated adaptation of the bestselling novel “Twilight.”

About Greg Daniels

Greg Daniels began his writing career at Harvard University, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. He launched his professional career writing for HBO’s satirical “Not Necessarily the News” before moving to “Saturday Night Live,” for which he received his first Emmy Award. He went on to receive a Writers Guild Award nomination for his episode of “Seinfeld” titled “The Parking Space.” He became co-executive producer of “The Simpsons,” winning his second Emmy Award and, according to a TV Guide poll published on the occasion of the 300th episode of “The Simpsons,” went on to write
three of the series’ ten most popular episodes.

In 1995 Daniels left “The Simpsons,” the longest-running animated series in television, to create “King of the Hill” with Mike Judge. Today the Emmy-winning “King of the Hill” is the second longest-running animated series in television. Daniels’s most recent project is “The Office,” which he adapted from the BBC series for American audiences on NBC. Daniels directs, writes and produces and has earned two Emmy Awards for his work on the show.

Daniels is currently working on a new series with Emmy-nominated “Saturday Night Live” star Amy Poehler to air on NBC in early 2009.