Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettfyer Named ShoWest Stars of Tomorrow

Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, stars of the upcoming film “Beastly”, will receive the ShoWest 2010 Female and Male Star of Tomorrow Awards.

The event will be held March 15-18 in Las Vegas. Hudgens and Pettyfer will be presented with the ShoWest Stars of Tomorrow Awards at ShoWest’s Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony on Thursday, March 18, at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

“We are delighted to be able to present two outstanding young talents with this year’s Female and Male Star of Tomorrow Awards,” said Robert Sunshine, managing director of the event. “ShoWest has had much experience honoring talent from a wide range of backgrounds and this certainly is no exception. We are very pleased to honor co-stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer with the 2010 ShoWest Star of Tomorrow Awards.”

Hudgens and Pettyfer star in “Beastly” an edgy teen romance about learning how to see past false surfaces to discover true inner beauty. CBS Films will release the film in July 2010.

Hudgens began her career in musical theater at the age of eight with early roles in productions such as “Evita,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Cinderella.” She made her feature film debut in Catherine Hardwicke’s ”Thirteen.” Hudgens also co-starred in “Thunderbirds.” She is best known, however, for her breakaway role in “High School Musical” as Gabrielle Montez, the sweet girl torn between an attraction for basketball jock Troy Bolton and the school musical auditions. Hudgens was also seen in follow ups “High School Musical 2” and “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” Hudgens starred last year in “Bandslam” and recently wrapped production on Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated film “Sucker Punch.”

Pettyfer, a popular London actor and model, began his acting career by playing Willy Wonka in a school production of “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.” He first appeared on television in 2005 in the critically acclaimed UK mini-series “Tom Brown’s Schooldays,” where he starred as the title character; this led to his next role as Alex Rider in “Stormbreaker.”

ShoWest is the largest annual convention for the motion picture industry. It is the only international gathering devoted exclusively to the movie business and the single largest international gathering of motion picture professionals and theatre owners in the world.

Each year, ShoWest attracts delegates from more than 50 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. ShoWest is produced by the Film Group of e5 Global Media. The Film Group also includes ShowEast, CineAsia, Cinema Expo International and Film Journal International. e5 Global Media also produces the Film Group’s sister publication, The Hollywood Reporter.

CBS Films, established in 2007, plans to produce four to six movies a year spanning all genres, with production budgets up to around $50 million per film.