Andy Samberg to Host 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards

Film Independent co-presidents Sean McManus and Josh Welsh jointly announced that Andy Samberg will serve as host for the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The nonprofit, which also produces the Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA film series, will hold the 28th annual awards ceremony as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday, February 23 with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening at 10:00 pm ET/PT on IFC.

Additionally, longtime executive producer Diana Zahn-Storey is returning for her 18th Spirit Awards show. The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards signals Samberg's return to hosting duties since heading up the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, which was the highest rated Movie Awards since 2004.

Samberg is best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (2005–2012), where he and The Lonely Island have been credited with popularizing the Emmy-winning SNL Digital Shorts, the comical short films and music videos starring Samberg and other members of the SNL cast. In film,  Samberg has starred in Hot Rod, That's My Boy, and Celeste and Jesse Forever, and appeared in Space Chimps, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I Love You, Man, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Friends with Benefits, and What's Your Number?.