About this Event
Pasadena City College's Division of Visual Arts and Media Studies (VAMS) will present its first lifetime achievement award in film and television, the Golden Lancer Award, to filmmaker and creative executive Bill Birrell at "An Evening with Bill Birrell" on Thursday, November 5, 2026.
Birrell founded Sony Pictures Imageworks, the studio's first in-house digital visual effects company. He grew it from a team of five to more than 250 artists and engineers, and Imageworks went on to win multiple Academy Awards.
As a filmmaker, Birrell co-wrote and directed two independent feature films. His short film "No Salida" was a finalist at the Academy Awards and won the National Crime and Delinquency Award. His films have screened at the Artivist Film Festival and A Festival of Films.
Birrell has also advised emerging filmmakers on script, budget, and staffing, and has led nonprofit organizations through periods of growth. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia and a BA in Drama from Colorado College.
"Bill Birrell's career covers the whole range of what our students are learning: writing, directing, building the technology behind the image, and leading the organizations that make the work possible," said Mark Lowentrout, Dean of Visual Arts and Media Studies at PCC. "He's exactly the kind of example we want our Cinema and Television students to see."
The Golden Lancer Award takes its name from the Lancers, as PCC's students are known. It honors a career of lasting achievement in film and television and holds it up as an example for the college's students.
The award will be presented at "An Evening with Bill Birrell," from 7 to 9 p.m. in Westerbeck Hall at Pasadena City College, 1570 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena. A reception will follow. Admission is free.
About Visual Arts and Media Studies at PCC -
The Division of Visual Arts and Media Studies houses Pasadena City College's programs in the visual arts, design, and media, including architecture, art, art history, cinema, communication, design and media arts, fashion, photography, and television and radio.
About Pasadena City College -
Founded in 1924, Pasadena City College serves more than 27,000 students each semester from its main campus at 1570 East Colorado Boulevard and its other sites across the San Gabriel Valley. PCC offers more than 150 associate degree programs and more than 120 certificate programs, is a leading transfer institution to the University of California and California State University systems, and was a finalist for the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
Event venue & nearby stays
Westerbeck Recital Hall - CA 140, 1570 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, United States
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