October 21st, 2019 
Jerry Beck 
More than 400 guests and celebrities filled the Beverly Hilton Hotel to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students at Point Honors Los Angeles. Point Foundation (Point), the evening’s beneficiary, is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit; currently assisting 85 scholarship recipients.
At the gala, the award-winning stop-motion animation studio LAIKA received the Point Impact Award. ASIFA Hollywood President and animation historian Jerry Beck presented the award, noting the ability of LAIKA and its President & CEO Travis Knight to use the power of art to uplift diverse voices and create community.
(L to R) Point Foundation Executive Director & CEO Jorge Valencia; LAIKA’s Missing Link producer Arianne Sutner and writer/director Chris Butler (Credit: Getty Images)
In accepting the award Knight said, “We live in a world that’s fractured and entrenched, a world that seems bent on burnishing the rough edges and straightening the crooked lines, on silencing dissonant voices. But those voices need to be heard. Tonight at this beautiful event, we have a chorus of those voices: the Point scholarship recipients. You are the voices the world needs to hear. You are leaders, artists, advocates, champions. The work you’ve done, the work you continue to do, and the work that’s yet to come will find its way into people’s lives. It’ll help them, it’ll inspire them, connect them. It will make a difference.”
Chris Butler and Arianne Sutner, the writer/director and producer, respectively, of LAIKA’s latest film, Missing Link, also accepted the award.
Comedian and writer Rhea Butcher hosted the inspiring evening, which included a special performance by Debbie Gibson. Celebrity participants included Theo Germaine, Rahne Jones, Kiran Deol, Pete Nowalk, Blair Imani, and Tracie Thoms. The evening also welcomed the newest class of Point Scholars, celebrating and highlighting the accomplishments of the 16 new student leaders. For, highlighting the new class of Point Scholars meant the audience at the Beverly Hilton saw first-hand how each of these young leaders are learning from their difficult pasts and are dedicated to creating a better future for others in their community.
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