Edgar Rice Burroughs Legacy Award
Honoring the Master of Adventure and the Family Legacy That Still Lives in Tarzana
In 2023, the Tarzana International Film Festival proudly presented the inaugural Edgar Rice Burroughs Legacy Award to honor one of the most influential storytellers in modern popular culture: Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars, Carson of Venus, The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core, and many other enduring works of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure.
The first award was presented in recognition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the company founded by Burroughs in 1923 to protect, preserve, and manage his literary creations. One hundred years later, the company remains based in Tarzana, California, the community named after Burroughs’ most famous character, Tarzan, and continues to safeguard the legacy of one of the world’s great adventure writers.
The Burroughs family heirs continue the stewardship of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., preserving the literary legacy and iconic characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
the First Award Was Given to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
The inaugural award was not simply a tribute to a single book, character, or film. It was a recognition of a century-long creative legacy.
Edgar Rice Burroughs helped define the modern adventure hero. His worlds transported audiences from the jungles of Africa to the dead sea bottoms of Mars, from prehistoric islands to hidden civilizations beneath the Earth. His imagination shaped literature, film, television, comics, animation, and popular culture for generations.
By honoring Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. as the first recipient, TZIFF recognized the rare achievement of a family-founded literary company that has preserved an author’s creative universe for more than 100 years. The award celebrated not only the stories themselves, but the stewardship that allowed those stories to continue inspiring new readers, filmmakers, writers, artists, and fans around the world.
A Legacy That Continues
The Edgar Rice Burroughs Legacy Award was created to honor writers, creators, and visionaries whose work carries forward the spirit of science fiction, fantasy, action, and adventure.
The inaugural presentation to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. established the foundation for the award’s meaning: imagination, courage, world-building, heroic storytelling, and the power of adventure to cross generations.
From Tarzan to John Carter, from the printed page to the screen, from early pulp magazines to modern cinematic storytelling, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ influence remains alive. The Tarzana International Film Festival is proud to honor that legacy and to celebrate the family, company, and creative tradition that continue to protect and share the worlds of the Master of Adventure.
