Ben Affleck To Receive Fest Honors For 'Argo'; Ridley Scott Boards Bruce Springsteen Documentary: Biz Break

Also in Tuesday's early round-up of news briefs: Sean Penn is boarding an action thriller; Merchant Ivory composer dies at 71; The Hamptons International Film Festival's head makes an exit; And Future Weather wins top jury prize at Napa Valley Film Festival.

Ben Affleck to Receive Santa Barbara Film Festival Honors
Affleck will receive the Modern Master Award, its highest honor, at the 28th edition of the festival taking place January 24 - February 3. "Affleck has come into his own as a multi-dimensional artist with Argo," commented Santa Barbara International Film Festival executive director Roger Durling, Deadline reports.

Ridley Scott to Pursue Bruce Springsteen Documentary
Scott is asking fans of the Boss to contribute footage to Springsteen & I. Scott and team will use the model from last year's Life in a Day which collected footage on a single day, July 24, 2010 by people around the world who captured a moment of their lives on camera. Directed by Baillie Walsh, the project is billed as "an open invitation to people all over the world to share stories that celebrate one of the greatest lyrical storytellers of our generation." THR reports.

Sean Penn to Star in Action Thriller Prone Gunman
The story revolves around an international operative named Martin Terrier (Penn) who is betrayed by the organization he works for and must go on the run in a relentless game of cat-and-mouse across Europe, THR reports.

Hamptons Film Festival Head Exits
Karen Arikian served as Executive Director of the festival for five years. The festival just held its 20th anniversary edition in October and will leave her post at the end of November to pursue other interests. She continues to be the U.S./East Coast delegate for the Berlin International Film Festival and U.S. consultant for European Film Promotion, Deadline reports.

Merchant Ivory Composter Richard Robbins Dies at 71
Richard Robbins, the US composer who scored such Merchant Ivory films as A Room with a View, Howards End and The Remains of the Day, has died aged 71. The two-time Oscar nominee died on 7 November of Parkinson's disease at his home in Rhinebeck, New York, BBC reports.

Future Weather Wins 2nd Napa Valley Film Festival
The film by Jenny Deller won the jury's Best Narrative Feature prize, while Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself took the jury award for Best Documentary. Travis Fine's Any Day Now received the Audience's choice for Best Narrative Feature while Rising from Ashes took Favorite Documentary in the category.