Lee Daniels to lecture at Pitt

Academy Award-winning director and producer Lee Daniels will visit Pitt this spring to speak to students in the William Pitt Union.

Pitt Program Council will host Daniels’ lecture about his life and career on Thursday, March 26 in the Assembly Room at 8:30 p.m. Free tickets — with a maximum of two per person — will be available March 26 in the PPC ticket office on the ground floor of the WPU, according to a PPC release. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Daniels, an American actor, film producer and director kickstarted his career with the 2001 film “Monster’s Ball” — a romantic drama about a poor Southern woman’s love for a widowed prison-guard, which starred Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger and Halle Berry. In 2009, he directed and produced “Precious,” a drama based in Harlem in 1987 that won two of the six Academy Awards for which it was nominated. Daniels was also the first African-American to be nominated for a Director’s Guild of America Award for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.” In 2013, Daniels directed and produced “The Butler,” which grossed $113 million worldwide. Most recently, Daniels produces “Empire,” a new television series on Fox starring Terrence Howard, Taraji Henson and Gabourey Sidibe. 

According to PPC lecture director Lindsy Steinberger, Daniels’ lecture will focus on his experiences throughout his career and later open for attendees’ questions.

Due to Daniels’ extensive film career, Steinberger expects the lecture to sell out.

“Daniels has written and directed films and TV shows that are devoted to social and racial inequality issues,” Steinberger said. “[PPC] believes that Daniels’ lecture will be educational and inspirational to students on campus.”

Steinberger acknowledged that Pitt students sometimes critique PPC speaker announcements, and said since Pitt is such a large and diverse campus, PPC can’t satisfy every person with each lecture. 

“If some people are displeased with a lecture choice, hopefully [PPC] can please them with another lecture,” Steinberger said.

According to executive board director Jon Lehan, Daniels’ availability and pricing best fit the kind of show PPC sought to produce. Because of contract stipulations, PPC could not disclose the price it paid for him to speak at Pitt. 

Steinberger and the lecture committee, which is comprised of roughly 15 to 20 students, began planning the lecture this January. 

The group brainstormed speakers that they believed would be of interest to the students at Pitt. 

PPC could not disclose the ideas for speakers because some can still be a possibility for a future lecture.

Steinberger said Daniels’ career work includes many works that resonate with different people.

“Students have many outstanding works to choose from Daniels’ career including ‘The Butler,’ ‘Precious,’ ‘Monster’s Ball’ and ‘Empire,’” she said.