"VH1 Trailblazer Honors" Kicks Off Women's History Month Celebrating Academy Award Nominee Ava DuVernay

Landmark Event to Air Friday, March 8th at 9PM on International Women's Day

(NEW YORK, NY - January 28, 2019) The Academy Award nominated director, producer and screenwriter behind the films Selma, 13TH and A Wrinkle In Time, Ava DuVernay, will be the first honoree to whom "VH1 Trailblazer Honors" pays tribute to kick off Women's History Month. The one-hour special will air on International Women's Day, Friday, March 8th at 9PM ET/PT on VH1 and Logo.

An Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Award winner, DuVernay is a writer, director, producer and film distributor. Her feature directorial work includes the Oscar-winning historical drama SELMA, the Oscar-nominated criminal justice documentary 13TH and Disney's A Wrinkle In Time, which made her the highest grossing African-American woman director in domestic box office history. DuVernay was the first African-American female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award and the first African-American female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as first African-American filmmaker to win the Sundance Film Festival's Best Director Prize for her micro-budget film Middle Of Nowhere. She amplifies the work of people of color and women of all kinds through her distribution collective ARRAY, named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies. In 2017, she was featured as one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Greatest Culture Leaders and TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. DuVernay sits on the board of Sundance Institute and is based in Los Angeles, California. Currently, she is in production on her next project based on the infamous crime case known as "Central Park Five," while overseeing production of her critically-acclaimed TV series "Queen Sugar".

"VH1 Trailblazer Honors" will celebrate today's most respected politicians, entertainers, artists, activists, allies and icons who have dedicated their time and steadfast commitments to the women's movement and beyond. Centered around this year's incredible breakthroughs in female empowerment and human rights, the annual event will feature the landmark achievements of its honorees. Additional honorees to be announced.

"VH1 Trailblazer Honors" will take place at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, a National Historic Landmark and extension of the Ebell of Los Angeles, a 125-year-old organization founded by women for women.

Previous Trailblazer Honorees include:

· Ryan Murphy, groundbreaking screenwriter, director and producer

· James Baldwin, author and activist

· Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, social activists and parents of Trayvon Martin

· The ACLU Organization

· Cyndi Lauper, prolific performer and equality activist

· Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, creators of Emmy award-winning "Will & Grace"

· Edie Windsor and Roberta Kaplan, DOMA challengers

· Jason Collins, first out professional male athlete in a major U.S. sport

· "Orange is the New Black," Emmy-award winning Netflix series

Official sponsors of the 2019 VH1 Trailblazer Honors include Boost Mobile and Ice Breakers.

For more updates, please visit Trailblazers.VH1.com. Follow @VH1 on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and use #TrailblazerHonors to join the conversation.

"VH1 Trailblazer Honors" is executive produced by Amy Doyle, Vanessa WhiteWolf and Andria Parides. Wendy Plaut and Marcia Lansdown are the executives in charge of Celebrity Talent.

About VH1:

VH1 is the dominant pop culture brand for adults 18-49. The network is available in 86 million U.S. households and has an array of digital channels and services including the VH1 App, VH1.com and @VH1. VH1 is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).