Rent, Dench, Huffman, Newman, et al. Nominated for 10th Annual Satellite Awards

The film version of Rent, along with its director Chris Columbus and actress Rosario Dawson, are among the nominees for the 10th Annual Satellite Awards, to be presented on December 17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Voted by the International Press Academy, the awards are given in 46 categories covering film, television, DVDs, and games.

Atlantic Theater Company member Felicity Huffman received two nominations, for the film Transamerica and the TV series Desperate Housewives; so did former Broadway star Kristen Bell (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), who got nods for her TV series Veronica Mars and the Showtime film Reefer Madness. The special collector’s edition DVD set of The Wizard of Oz received three nominations (“Overall DVD,” “DVD Extras,” and “Classic DVD”), while the 40th anniversary DVD of The Sound of Music picked up one in the “Classic DVD” category.

Some of the world’s most revered actors were also nominated, including Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs), Dame Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents), Shirley MacLaine (In Her Shoes), Paul Newman (Empire Falls), and Joan Plowright (Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont).

Among the many New York stage veterans who picked up acting nominations are Jane Alexander (Warm Springs), Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger), Toni Collette (In Her Shoes), Brian Dennehy (Our Fathers), Ed Harris (Empire Falls), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Laura Linney (The Squid and the Whale), Camryn Manheim (Elvis), Frances McDormand (North Country), S. Epatha Merkerson (Lackawanna Blues), Tim Blake Nelson (Warm Springs), Cynthia Nixon (Warm Springs), Edward Norton (Kingdom of Heaven), Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Peter Saarsgard (Jarhead), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Their Eyes Were Watching God), and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck).

In addition to Columbus, six-time Tony Award nominee Rob Marshall got a Best Director nod for the forthcoming Memoirs of a Geisha. Actors Dan Futterman and Steve Martin received Best Adapted Screenplay nods for Capote and Shopgirl, respectively, while writer-director Noah Baumbach — the husband of Abigail’s Party star Jennifer Jason Leigh — was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for The Squid and the Whale.

Receiving special awards this year will be big screen legend Gena Rowlands, actor/director George Clooney, and the cast of the TV series Rescue Me, which includes stage stars Steven Pasquale and Daniel Sunjata.

For a complete list of nominees, go to www.pressacademy.com.