Abigail Spencer and Ashley Rickards to Receive Award at 11th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival Awards Gala www.lafemme.org

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Oct. 5, 2015 - PRLog -- LA Femme International Film Festival (LAFIFF) is excited to announce that Ashley Rickards, and Abigail Spencer’s talents are being honored at this year’s Awards Show and Gala event on October 18, 2015 (Red Carpet at 6:00pm; Show at 7pm) at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. They will be joining the ranks with a very prestigious list of past honorees and will be gracing the stage with their presence. Also receiving awards will be Ivonne Coll and Patricia Velasquez.

Ashley Rickards (Awkward, American Horror Story), will be receiving the New Establishment Award, which represents an actress that chooses to create diversity awareness through their character choices. Abigail Spencer (Oz the Great and Powerful, True Detective), will receive the Rising Star Award, which is given to newly recognized independent filmmakers, who work to create innovative pieces of film. Abigail is an established actress and is crossing over creating a multi-faceted talent of tremendous artistic force.

Ashley Rickards is a two-time People’s Choice Award winner and has received nominations for both a Critics Choice Award and Teen Choice Award for her role on MTV’s comedy-drama, Awkward. Rickards has portrayed a wide range of characters with her most notable role as “Mandy”, a severely autistic teen in Janet Grillo’s 2011 drama film, Fly Away. This role generated large-scale praise for Rickards. Rickards has also starred in Nicholas McCarthy’s suspense thriller, At the Devil’s Door, and the high school comedy, The Outskirts, directed by Peter Hutchings. Ashley has also guest starred on a variety of TV shows including: One Tree Hill (CW), Entourage (HBO), American Horror Story (FX), Ugly Betty (ABC), Zoey 101 (Nickelodeon), and CSI: NY (CBS).

Choosing to create more awareness outside of her acting, Rickards is very passionate about her philanthropic work and strongly supports Somaly Mam, a non-profit working to end modern day slavery in North America and around the world.

Abigail Spencer has been nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award for her portrayal of ‘Amantha Holden’, on the Sundance Channel’s Peabody Award winning show, Rectify. Spencer’s wealth of success is spread across an array of roles as an actress, producer and writer. More recently, she produced the short film called, Winter Light, which won the “Best in Fest” award at the LA Shorts Fest.

Other producing credits include the short, “Here and Now”, which Spencer co-wrote and starred in, and was selected by Ron Howard as the winner of Canon’s Project Imagination Film contest. In addition, she has also co-written the TV pilot script, Teach. Spencer can be seen on the Indie scene with acting roles in, The Sweet Life and the film, A Beautiful Now and notable roles such as: This is Where I Leave You, Chasing Mavericks, Cowboys & Aliens, Oz the Great and Powerful, Suits (USA), Castle (ABC), Burning Love (E!), Mad Men (AMC), Bones (TNT), Gilmore Girls (CW), CSI (CBS), All My Children (ABC), Private Practice (ABC), Children’s Hospital (ADULT SWIM) and How I Met Your Mother (CBS).

The Awards Show and Gala Event on October 18, 2015, starts at 7pm (Red Carpet at 6pm) at The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.

LA Femme is a four day festival that screens over 100 films, special screenings, seminars, and networking mixers. The screening and event schedule for the festival is available online at www.lafemme.org. Tickets on sale: Full Access VIP Passes are at $150 for Regular Price, tickets for individual films and special screenings are $10; and single seminars are $20.

Sponsors: SAG-AFTRA National Women’s Committee, (WGA) Writers Guild America West Women’s Committee, The Governor’s Office of Film and Entertainment State of Florida, CBS Entertainment Diversity, CW Network, Dollhouse Makeup, Columbia College Hollywood, Creative Handbooks, Final Draft, Mark Us Bold Catering, Belle Entertainment.

Media Inquiries: To register press credentials or schedule an interview with Leslie LaPage, contact Heather Wolf (858) 248-1142 or email llapage@lafemme.org.

Visit the website at www.lafemme.org.