Naples International Film Festival to Honor Patty and Jay Baker

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 11, 2012 - Patty and Jay Baker are this year’s recipients of the Naples International Film Festival’s prestigious Voice of the Arts Award for their tremendous support of the arts. The award will be presented during the festival’s Opening Night Film & Party on Nov. 1 at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples.

The Voice of the Arts Award honors individuals or groups for their contributions to the arts and artistic life in Naples.

Patty Baker, a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, graduated summa cum laude in theatre and art history at Hunter College in New York.  

After moving to Naples, she became involved with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The Naples Players. She served on the Players’ Board, chairing two successful fundraisers and raised over $3.5 million.  

Seven years ago, she began investing in Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre.  Patty is a producer of two new 2012 Broadway productions: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Tracy Letts and Amy Morgan, and “Glengarry Glen Ross” with Al Pacino.  Past shows include  “Legally Blonde, The Musical;” “All My Sons,” which was Katie Holmes’ first Broadway appearance;  “Blithe Spirit” with Angela Lansbury, who won a Tony Award; “The Miracle Worker” with Abigail Breslin of “Little Miss Sunshine” ; Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man,” with Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Candice Bergen and Eric McCormack; “Death of a Salesman,” with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield; “Catch Me If You Can”; “Bonnie and Clyde” with Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes; “End of the Rainbow,” with Tracie Bennett, and “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” on Broadway now with Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara.  Her all-time favorite play is “Memphis—The Musical,” for which she won a Tony in 2010 for “Best New Musical.”

Jay Baker graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in marketing and industrial management. As president of Kohl’s Corp., he helped the company grow from 39 stores in 1986 to over 600 stores.  He retired in 2000.

Jay has been involved with The Naples Philharmonic Center Board, and he is now chair of the Patty and Jay Baker Naples Museum of Art.  He also served on the Naples Community Hospital board, Wharton’s School’s Board of Overseers, the Wharton School’s Undergraduate Board, and now is chairman of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School, which offers degrees in retailing, places students in the industry, and serves as a research center. .

The Bakers will receive the award on Nov. 1 at the Naples International Film Festival’s Opening Night Film and Party which takes place at the elegant Philharmonic Center for the Arts.  The Film Festival will begin with attendees, filmmakers, and actors walking the red carpet to the featured film screening, followed by an intimate insider’s view with the filmmaker’s presentation and the Voice of the Arts Award.  The evening, which is sponsored by Merrill Lynch, will culminate with a glamorous after-party on the grand stage.

Tickets for the Opening Night Film & Party are available now exclusively through the Philharmonic Center for the Arts website, www.thephil.org, or by calling the box office at (239) 597-1900.

Beginning Friday, Nov. 2 and continuing through Sunday, Nov. 4, the film festival will screen over 40 select documentaries, narrative features and short films from around the world at Silverspot Cinema.  

The mission of the Naples International Film Festival is to celebrate independent film and filmmakers in an intimate festival setting that enhances the cultural and artistic life of the community.  For additional information, call (239) 775-3456 or visit http://www.naplesfilmfest.com.