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We've been celebrating Warner Bros.' 90th Anniversary with contests and sweepstakes all year. The prize for the latest, a Musical Sweepstakes open to AFI members only, is a DVD box set of the following WB musicals: THE JAZZ SINGER (1927); BROADWAY MELODY OF 1929; 42ND STREET (1933); THE GREAT ZIEGFIELD (1936); THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939); YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942); AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951); SHOW BOAT (1951); SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952); SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954); A STAR IS BORN (1954); THE MUSIC MAN (1962); VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964); CAMELOT (1967); WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971); CABARET (1972); THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT (1974); VICTOR, VICTORIA (1983); LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986); and HAIRSPRAY (1988).

Here's how to play: Name the movie musical from the WB collection that is #1 on the list of AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals. We'll choose two winning members at random from among those who answered correctly. Be sure to e-mail your Musical Sweepstakes entry by 5:00 p.m. PT on October 31 to: membership@AFI.com. Read all the Sweepstakes rules. Good luck!

Jane Fonda was named the 42nd recipient of AFI’s Life Achievement Award today by Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees.  Fonda will receive the honor at a tribute dinner on June 5, 2014 to be broadcast on TNT and its sister network TCM. “Jane Fonda is American film royalty,” said Stringer. “A bright light first introduced to the world as the daughter of Henry Fonda, the world watched as she found her own voice and forged her own path as an actor and a cultural icon.”  

Jane Fonda is part of an American acting dynasty.  Where others would have been defined by their place in the family tree – the daughter of an American screen legend, the wife of a famous director, activist or billionaire broadcaster – it is Fonda herself, an Academy Award^®-winning actor of KLUTE (1971) and COMING HOME (1978) and star of more than 40 other films, whose image as an artist and activist eclipses all others.  Her path through the starry firmament of Hollywood and the world beyond has ultimately been determined by the gravitational pull of her own power. 

Jane Seymour Fonda was born in New York City in 1937 to a socialite, Frances Seymour Brokaw, and an up and coming actor, Henry Fonda.  By the time she was old enough to pursue her own career, Fonda’s father had become a movie icon of American grit and integrity.  At 17, she appeared with her father in a production of “The Country Girl” at the Omaha Community Theatre.  She joined the Actors Studio in 1958, studied with Lee Strasberg and made her screen debut two years later opposite Anthony Perkins in TALL STORY (1960) directed by Joshua Logan

Fonda’s early screen roles revealed a talent for light comedy in well-crafted adaptations of Broadway plays like PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT (1962), ANY WEDNESDAY (1966) and BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967).  Her role in BARBARELLA (1968) established her in pop culture before landing dramatic roles in THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (1969) and KLUTE.  Her portrayal of prostitute and stalking victim Bree Daniels earned Fonda her first Academy Award^®.  Fonda’s stirring performances in COMING HOME, JULIA (1977) and THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) won praise from the nation’s film critics.

In the 1980s, Fonda defied expectations by writing “Jane Fonda’s Workout Book” and creating Jane Fonda’s Workout Video,” best-sellers that ignited a national aerobic exercise craze among baby boomers.  In all, Fonda released two dozen fitness videos, six books and 13 audios. 

Fonda’s acting triumph of the 1980s was the film adaptation of Ernest Thompson’s play, ON GOLDEN POND (1981), in which she appeared with her father – whose performance earned him his only Academy Award^® for Best Actor.  Fonda herself was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  Other major films during this decade were NINE TO FIVE (1980), AGNES OF GOD (1985) and STANLEY AND IRIS (1989), after which she a announced her retirement. 

Fonda triumphed on the Broadway stage in Moises Kaufman’s “33 Variations” and appeared in such films as MONSTER-IN-LAW (2005), GEORGIA RULE (2007) and PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING (2011).  She currently plays Leona Lansing in the HBO series THE NEWSROOM.

Congratulations to Kathy Carroll from Washington, DC, who participated in our Red Carpet Sweepstakes by purchasing a gift AFI membership for her daughter, Rebecca.  Now mother and daughter will walk the red carpet at AFI FEST 2013 and enjoy roundtrip airfare from American Airlines, the official airline of AFI; a two-night stay at The Roosevelt Hotel; and a pair of passes to a gala screening of their choice.

Boasting the recent success of director and screenwriter Jenée LaMarque (AFI Class of 2010), whose THE PRETTY ONE starring Zoe Kazan premiered this year, AFI’s 2013 Screenwriting Showcase presents the most recent AFI Conservatory screenwriting graduates in a series of timed pitch sessions of their film and television projects for members of the entertainment community. Screenwriting alumni and industry executives are invited to attend the October 8 event at the Intercontinental Hotel. If you’d like to attend and need more information, please contact Chris Schwartz at 323.856.7722.

AFI FEST, celebrating its 27th year, is just a month away, taking place November 7–14 in the heart of Hollywood, California, at the newly renovated TCL Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Featuring nightly galas, special screenings and filmmaker Q&As, AFI FEST will continue its unprecedented offer of free tickets to all screenings, with AFI members being the first to reserve tickets. However, only the Star Patron Package and Marquee Patron Package will provide reserved seating at the North American Premiere opening night gala of Disney's SAVING MR. BANKS, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, or the World Premiere opening weekend gala of Sony Pictures Classics' FOXCATCHER, starring Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo.

Remember, AFI members at the Two-Star level and higher receive a 10% discount on all Patron Packages and Passes. The American Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and cultural organization, and Patron Packages are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Free individual tickets to AFI FEST screenings and galas will be available to all AFI members on Monday, October 28 for a 48-hour advance window before they become available to the general public on October 30.

Because of the high demand, AFI will once again stage an online registration process to assign timeslots for attendees to select tickets. The registration process is necessary to help alleviate bottlenecks due to high-volume web traffic. During each timeslot, an equal number of tickets will be made available for all registrants.

Members will receive a special e-mail in late September with specific details on how the entire process works, including instructions and a link for registration that allows them to select tickets before the general public.

Here is an outline of key dates to note:

• Early October – Save-The-Date registration e-mail sent to all registrants, including general public and members/alumni.

• October 8-18 – Members/Alumni and general public sign-up online to register for a time slot. Members/Alumni are provided with a special sign-up site, the link will be sent via e-mail

• October 25 – Time slots and instructions e-mailed to all registrants.

• October 28-29 – Member/Alumni online ticket selection.

• October 30-Nov 1 – Ticket selection for all other users including the general public.

Beginning November 2, additional tickets will be released throughout the day, every day through Closing Night of FEST. You can return to the site or box office as often as desired for additional tickets. However, your original order MUST first be picked up from the box office before you order any additional tickets.

Please note these dates in your calendars and check back to AFI.com/AFIFest for festival updates and announcements. We look forward to "FEST-ing" with you soon!

The American Film Institute's "An Evening With…" program is an annual event, held to celebrate the careers of influential film artists. Past evenings have honored such Oscar^®-winning artists as Ben Kingsley, Eva Marie Saint and Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. 

This year, from a rich and talented career in documentary and feature film, we are thrilled to announce that Academy Award^®-winning director William Friedkin (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) will be joining us on Tuesday, October 22.

An A-list producer, director and screenwriter Friedkin grew up in Chicago, fell in love with CITIZEN KANE and began making documentaries for WGN-TV straight out of high school. He moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s, directing an episode of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR before embarking on a film career. The Oscar^® nominee for THE EXORCIST brought his unflinching style to films like CRUISING, KILLER JOE, RAMPAGE and TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. His memoir, "The Friedkin Connection," was published earlier this year.

AFI Premiere Circle members are invited to attend this intimate affair, which includes dinner and a Q&A with our Guest of Honor. 

We took advantage of a sunny day to pose our 10 questions to Derek Call, Senior Manager of Special Events & Producer of AFI Fest. The interview took place at a picnic table in front of the Manor House on AFI's Hollywood Campus. The man responsible for pulling together all festival operations was characteristically upbeat about L.A.'s largest international film festival, which begins next month.

1. Where are you from? I grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, called Sandy, where I went to Alta High School.

2. Where else did you go to school? I attended Utah Valley University in Provo, Utah, for two years on a music scholarship and studied performance, drama and choir, but then left college and went to New York City to live.

3. What did you do before you came to AFI? I started working in the box office at the Sundance Film Festival and got hooked on the whole festival world. I discovered that I really, really loved what festivals did, and what their purpose in the landscape of the film world was: They're a unique event where you can get a not-so-big film in front of a huge audience to help the artist get the recognition they deserve and they're fun. So I got on the festival circuit and would do different festivals, and my first at AFI was AFI Fest 2002.

4. How long have you been at AFI? In 2002, I was a seasonal festival employee. I was brought on full-time in 2005. I was the Operations Coordinator for the festival and worked in the back office here at the Manor House. Then in 2008 – it's a long history with AFI and me! – I took a job doing campus operations for a year. Then I got back on the festival circuit and went to Sundance, did a couple of other festivals and production jobs, before coming back as Festival Producer in 2010.

5. What do you do at AFI? We're working on the festival year-round, but when it's “down time,” I do some other jobs here at AFI. I am the Senior Manager of Special Events. I'm lucky enough to work on Commencement and the Life Achievement Award show. I've also done a lot of donor and member events like the reception before AFI Night at the Movies last spring. I help a little bit on AFI Awards. But mainly, I oversee all the operations of the festival – from overseeing the budget to hiring approximately 70 temporary seasonal employees. I oversee the box office system and our relationships with our venue managers, and work very closely on the technical aspects for all the screenings. We get 400 volunteers every year, which the festival would not run without, and I work with them. We secure all the theater venues and the Roosevelt Hotel. We also assist with sponsorship activations. If AT&T or Coca Cola wants interaction with our patrons in a specific venue we work closely with them to make that possible, to make sure they're getting the recognition and exposure they deserve as a sponsor.

6. How does that affect our members? The festival is a great place for members to gather and see amazing films. We're happy to provide an outlet for them to meet afterwards and discuss films they just saw. Another perk the festival gives is a two-day ticket window for members to get tickets before the general public. We also give a discount on festival passes and packages for 2-Star members and above.

7. What was your best day at AFI? I would say the opening night gala of the festival in 2011, which was J. EDGAR. It was my second year as the Festival Producer, and the team worked really hard on getting our systems in place. From ticketing to crowd flow, everything started on time, the whole red carpet set-up. We nailed that premiere. We really met the standards of AFI's events, and everyone was really, really happy. It was just a great start to that festival.

8. What are you working on today? We are finalizing what our passes and packages look like for this year. I've been talking with our box office system and we're already working on getting that set up and we'll soon be announcing dates as to when people can log on and get free tickets. We're also in the thick of hiring right now, so a lot of interviews and HR processes.

9. What don't your colleagues know about you? I was lucky enough to work on the production team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Olympics, which was – next to AFI – my favorite job. It was great to have the Olympics in my home city. That was what really hooked me on production and operations. It was a great experience.

10. What's your favorite film? It's corny. Call me sappy, but the film LOVE, ACTUALLY is a film I could watch over and over and over again. I especially love watching it during the holiday season. Yes, it's a sappy rom-com, but I love it. It has a special place in my heart.