George A. Romero Pioneer Award
Every year, the GARF presents the George A. Romero Pioneer Award to someone who has made a significant contribution to the horror genre or to cinema as a whole. The award was created to honor those who, like George, are innovators and pioneers in independent film and horror, both past and present.
The award is also intended to honor the architects of independent film and horror, as well as those who push the boundaries of filmmaking and storytelling. The award itself is a sculpted 1:3-scale bronze bust of George, expertly crafted by Christian Stavrakis.
Pioneer Award Winners
2023 Winner: Russ Streiner
Russ Streiner had no way of knowing that a simple sentence he uttered in the cemetery during the opening sequence of Night of the Living Dead would become a haunting mantra that resonates to this day: “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”
Streiner contributed much more to the horror industry and to the city of Pittsburgh, bringing several projects to the city, including The Dark Knight Rises and the show Mindhunter. The GARF bestowed the George A. Romero Pioneer Award to Streiner earlier this year. If you missed the live broadcast of Russ accepting the award, you can catch it on The GARF Network here.
“It’s so gratifying to hear what you all have to say about me and to see this archive. I can tell you that it just opens up not only memory floodgates but emotional floodgates from a period of time in my life that was long, long gone,” Streiner said during the ceremony.
“I was friends with George Romero for 60 years. My inspiration basically came from him. We absolutely did not have a grand plan. We were a couple of young guys trying to figure out how are we going to keep groceries on the table. It was no more complicated than that.”
2022 Winner: Wes Craven
Few filmmakers have impressed their horrors on our minds like Wes Craven. The legend of Freddy Krueger transcends time, every bit as wicked and fun as it was nearly 40 years ago.
Craven took the Elm Street in every town and made us feel almost haunted by it. Beyond Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven conjured creepy classics like The Hills Have Eyes, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Shocker before bringing us the first four films in the successful Scream slasher series.
Craven was the 2022 GARF Pioneer Award recipient. His wife, Iyu Labunka, and son, Jonathan, were at the ceremony to help celebrate Craven and his legendary body of work. You can watch the ceremony here.
2021 Winner – Richard Ricci
The recipient of the 2021 Pioneer Award is Richard J. Ricci, known to his friends on the Romero team as “The Rev.” Richard Ricci’s contributions were formidable. In 1962, he and George began shooting material for an experimental film entitled Expostulations.
Later, before he shipped out with the Navy, Richard astonished George and his partner, Russ Streiner, by paying the rent for a Pittsburgh storefront, giving Latent Image its first physical headquarters. Expostulations was never completed and was believed lost一allegedly destroyed in a flood of the basement where the elements were stored.
One segment of George’s lost film has surfaced with Richard’s invaluable assistance. Richard composed a poem to accompany the recently rediscovered footage, which is currently being restored for presentation as Romero’s Elegy.
The world lost Richard in July 2020. Accepting the award on his behalf is his brother, Edmund, to whom the statuette will be presented.
2020 Winner – Duane Jones
During the University of Pittsburgh’s celebration of George’s birthday on February 4, the GARF was honored to present its 2020 Pioneer Award to Duane Jones, the celebrated lead actor in Night of the Living Dead. Duane’s sister, Marva Jones-Brooks, accepted the award on his behalf.
A Pitt alumnus, Jones went on to study theatre in Manhattan. While working on Night of the Living Dead, he completed his Master’s degree in Communications at New York University.
His resumé also includes teaching literature at Long Island University, assisting with the design of Harlem Preparatory School (where he also headed the English department), and creating English-language training programs for the Peace Corps. Duane was the first Black man to be cast as the star of a horror film and may well be the first Black actor hired for any American production regardless of, rather than because of, his skin color.
2019 Winner – Chilly Billy
William R. Cardille was a beloved local personality on both radio and television, best known as the host of Chiller Theater, the late-night horror show that became an enduring staple in the Pittsburgh area and the source of his famous nickname, “Chilly Billy.”
A local icon, Bill used his clout to tirelessly promote a horror feature being filmed in nearby Evans City that would eventually be known as Night of the Living Dead. Appearing in the film as himself, Bill also helped entice investors and wrangled fellow news personalities and the WIIC news helicopter, adding considerable production value to the project.
Bill remained an enthusiastic supporter over the years, and his daughter Lori eventually went on to star in Day of the Dead. He also reprised his role in the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead.
After Bill passed in 2016, George Romero said, “He was an incredible supporter, I really give Bill a large part of the credit for me being here at all.”