Martin Scorsese honored in Santa Barbara, Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino present award

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Director Martin Scorsese was honored in Santa Barbara Thursday night.

The iconic director received the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at an event at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino presented the award to the legendary filmmaker.

DiCaprio and Scorsese have collaborated over the last 16 years on films, including The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed, and Shutter Island.

Scorsese's latest film, The Irishman, stars Al Pacino and Roberto De Niro.

“De Niro and I wanted to make a film. Last time we worked together was 1995," the director said during a red carpet before the gala.

Movie production was stuck in limbo for years.

“It took a while to get the financing together, and to deal with the actual production problem of getting the characters in flashback," he said.

The movie uses effects that de-age De Niro and Pacino. Scorsese said this put the price tag at nearly $160 million, which almost stopped the movie from being made.

“'Cause no studio would fo for that cost, but Netflix came in.”

The film is in select theaters now and will be available for streaming on Netflix on Nov. 27.