Cast member Heather Graham, left, and director Todd Phillips are shown at the premiere of The Hangover in Los Angeles on June 2. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)Montreal's annual Just for Laughs Comedy Conference will honour Todd Phillips, creator of The Hangover, as comedy director of the year this July.
The tradition of honouring the best in the business began last year and also includes an award for the best comedy writer of the year. That award goes to Etan Cohen, who penned both Tropic Thunder and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
Cohen will also speak at the conference, whose roster includes talented writers such as Tami Sagher of 30 Rock, Jeremy Garelick of The Break-Up and Dan Sterling of the Sarah Silverman Program.
Etan Cohen, not to be confused with screenwriter and director Ethan Coen, wrote for Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill and American Dad before moving into feature screenwriting. He was co-executive producer for King of the Hill and won an Annie Award for one episode.
He is now writing a humorous take on Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, set to star Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes and Will Ferrell as Doctor Watson.
Phillips began his career as a documentary filmmaker of Frat House, which won a grand jury prize at Sundance.
He moved to features with Road Trip in 2000 and also directed Old School (2003), Starsky & Hutch (2004) and School For Scoundrels (2006).
Phillips was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for his screenwriting work on Borat in 2006.
The conference, scheduled for July 23 to 25, gathers comedy industry studio executives, broadcasters, agents, writers, filmmakers and comics to discuss the business of comedy.
