Awards

Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 87th Academy Awards® has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar® nominations.

The eight films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: 

“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” Perry Films
“Joanna,” Wajda Studio 
“Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace,” Show of Force
“The Lion’s Mouth Opens,” Tree Tree Tree
“One Child,” New York University 
“Our Curse,” Warsaw Film School 
“The Reaper (La Parka),” Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica 
“White Earth,” Weary Traveler

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Read more

Actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th Oscars®, scheduled to air live on ABC on Oscar® Sunday, February 22, 2015. “It is truly an honor and a thrill to be asked to host this year’s Academy Awards.  I grew up watching the Oscars and was always in such awe of some of the greats who hosted the show,” said Harris. “To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true.” 

“We share Craig and Neil’s excitement in welcoming the incredibly talented Neil Patrick Harris,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President.  “He is the consummate entertainer.  Neil’s distinctive charm and showmanship make him the ideal host to honor the Oscar legacy and ensure we all enjoy another unforgettable celebration.”

“Neil is a terrific actor, singer, risk-taker and collaborator,” said Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO. “We can’t wait to see the show that he and Craig and Neil create together.” 

A triple-threat performer, Harris has enjoyed a successful career in entertainment.  He can currently be seen starring opposite Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed feature film, “Gone Girl.”  Harris garnered multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe award nominations for his role as Barney Stinson on the hit television series, “How I Met Your Mother,” and he won an Emmy for his guest-starring role on “Glee” in 2010.  He also recently starred in the title role of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway, earning the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.  Harris served as host of the 61st and 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as the 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th Tony Awards, for which he won four Emmys.  Most recently, Harris added the title of author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his autobiography from Crown Publishing, “Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.”   

The last two Oscars telecasts, which were produced by Zadan and Meron, received a major spike in the ratings.  The 86th Oscars was TV’s most-watched entertainment event in 10 years and attracted the biggest viewership since 2000, with more than 45 million viewers.  The show resulted in dramatic gains in younger demos and social media conversation, with more than one billion impressions generated on Twitter and 25 million interactions happening on Facebook on Oscar Sunday.  Additionally, the star-studded “selfie” became the most retweeted photo of all time with 32.8 million views.

The Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 4 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Read more

A record 83 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 87th Academy Awards®.  Kosovo, Malta, Mauritania and Panama are first-time entrants.

The 2014 submissions are:

Afghanistan, “A Few Cubic Meters of Love,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;
Argentina, “Wild Tales,” Damián Szifrón, director;
Australia, “Charlie’s Country,” Rolf de Heer, director;
Austria, “The Dark Valley,” Andreas Prochaska, director;
Azerbaijan, “Nabat,” Elchin Musaoglu, director;
Bangladesh, “Glow of the Firefly,” Khalid Mahmood Mithu, director;
Belgium, “Two Days, One Night,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, directors;
Bolivia, “Forgotten,” Carlos Bolado, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “With Mom,” Faruk Lončarevič, director; 
Brazil, “The Way He Looks,” Daniel Ribeiro, director;
Bulgaria, “Bulgarian Rhapsody,” Ivan Nitchev, director;
Canada, “Mommy,” Xavier Dolan, director;
Chile, “To Kill a Man,” Alejandro Fernández Almendras, director;
China, “The Nightingale,” Philippe Muyl, director;
Colombia, “Mateo,” María Gamboa, director;
Costa Rica, “Red Princesses,” Laura Astorga Carrera, director;
Croatia, “Cowboys,” Tomislav Mršić, director;
Cuba, “Conducta,” Ernesto Daranas Serrano, director;
Czech Republic, “Fair Play,” Andrea Sedláčková, director;
Denmark, “Sorrow and Joy,” Nils Malmros, director;
Dominican Republic, “Cristo Rey,” Leticia Tonos, director;
Ecuador, “Silence in Dreamland,” Tito Molina, director;
Egypt, “Factory Girl,” Mohamed Khan, director;
Estonia, “Tangerines,” Zaza Urushadze, director;
Ethiopia, “Difret,” Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, director;
Finland, “Concrete Night,” Pirjo Honkasalo, director;
France, “Saint Laurent,” Bertrand Bonello, director;
Georgia, “Corn Island,” George Ovashvili, director;
Germany, “Beloved Sisters,” Dominik Graf, director;
Greece, “Little England,” Pantelis Voulgaris, director;
Hong Kong, “The Golden Era,” Ann Hui, director;
Hungary, “White God,” Kornél Mundruczó, director;
Iceland, “Life in a Fishbowl,” Baldvin Zophoníasson, director;
India, “Liar’s Dice,” Geetu Mohandas, director;
Indonesia, “Soekarno,” Hanung Bramantyo, director;
Iran, “Today,” Reza Mirkarimi, director;
Iraq, “Mardan,” Batin Ghobadi, director;
Ireland, “The Gift,” Tom Collins, director;
Israel, “Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, directors;
Italy, “Human Capital,” Paolo Virzì, director;
Japan, “The Light Shines Only There,” Mipo O, director;
Kosovo, “Three Windows and a Hanging,” Isa Qosja, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains,” Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, director;
Latvia, “Rocks in My Pockets,” Signe Baumane, director;
Lebanon, “Ghadi,” Amin Dora, director;
Lithuania, “The Gambler,” Ignas Jonynas, director;
Luxembourg, “Never Die Young,” Pol Cruchten, director;
Macedonia, “To the Hilt,” Stole Popov, director;
Malta, “Simshar,” Rebecca Cremona, director;
Mauritania, “Timbuktu,” Abderrahmane Sissako, director;
Mexico, “Cantinflas,” Sebastián del Amo, director;
Moldova, “The Unsaved,” Igor Cobileanski, director;
Montenegro, “The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street,” Nikola Vukčević, director;
Morocco, “The Red Moon,” Hassan Benjelloun, director;
Nepal, “Jhola,” Yadav Kumar Bhattarai, director;
Netherlands, “Accused,” Paula van der Oest, director;
New Zealand, “The Dead Lands,” Toa Fraser, director;
Norway, “1001 Grams,” Bent Hamer, director;
Pakistan, “Dukhtar,” Afia Nathaniel, director;
Palestine, “Eyes of a Thief,” Najwa Najjar, director;
Panama, “Invasion,” Abner Benaim, director;
Peru, “The Gospel of the Flesh,” Eduardo Mendoza, director;
Philippines, “Norte, the End of History,” Lav Diaz, director;
Poland, “Ida,” Paweł Pawlikowski, director;
Portugal, “What Now? Remind Me,” Joaquim Pinto, director;
Romania, “The Japanese Dog,” Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, director;
Russia, “Leviathan,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Serbia, “See You in Montevideo,” Dragan Bjelogrlić, director;
Singapore, “Sayang Disayang,” Sanif Olek, director;
Slovakia, “A Step into the Dark,” Miloslav Luther, director;
Slovenia, “Seduce Me,” Marko Šantić, director;
South Africa, “Elelwani,” Ntshavheni Wa Luruli, director;
South Korea, “Haemoo,” Shim Sung-bo, director;
Spain, “Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed,” David Trueba, director;
Sweden, “Force Majeure,” Ruben Östlund, director;
Switzerland, “The Circle,” Stefan Haupt, director;
Taiwan, “Ice Poison,” Midi Z, director;
Thailand, “The Teacher’s Diary,” Nithiwat Tharathorn, director;
Turkey, “Winter Sleep,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “The Guide,” Oles Sanin, director;
United Kingdom, “Little Happiness,” Nihat Seven, director;
Uruguay, “Mr. Kaplan,” Álvaro Brechner, director;
Venezuela, “The Liberator,” Alberto Arvelo, director.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Read more

The Lion’s Mouth Opens

Ten nonfiction short films were announced as finalists for the 2015 Cinema Eye Honors, the 8th edition of the largest annual celebration for and recognition of the nonfiction film artform and the creators of those films.  Among the notable films and filmmakers on this year’s Shorts List is Lucy Walker’s The Lion’s Mouth Opens. Walker won the 2014 Cinema Eye Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction Film on Television for The Crash Reel. She is a two-time Academy Award nominee for Waste Land and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.

The announcement of the annual Cinema Eye Shorts List was made on the opening day of the 2014 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), a key festival partner of the Cinema Eye Honors. For the first time, all ten films, which are among the most acclaimed short documentaries of the year, screened at the 10th Annual Camden International Film Festival.  

It’s the third year that the CEH Shorts List has been announced in Camden and the first year that all ten films on the list will screen at the festival.  This January will mark the sixth year that CIFF hosts their annual reception on the eve of Cinema Eye’s award ceremony.  A key part of Cinema Eye Week, a multi-day event held in New York City in January, the CIFF reception has become the largest single event for nonfiction film in the city and an important kickoff for the new year in the documentary community.

Other notable films and filmmakers on this year’s Shorts List:

Steven Bognar’s Foundry Night Shift. Bognar was a 2010 Academy Award nominee for The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant and a 2007 Primetime Emmy Award winner for A Lion in The House.

Deborah Stratman’s Hacked Circuit. Stratman was a 2010 Cinema Eye nominee for Outstanding Cinematography for her film O’er the Land and was named to the 2012 Shorts List for Ray’s Birds.

From the ten finalists on this year’s Shorts List, five films will be named as nominees for the Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking Award.  Nominees in that category and nearly a dozen feature film categories will be announced on Wednesday, November 12 in Copenhagen, Denmark at an event at CPH:DOX.  Awards will be presented during Cinema Eye Week in New York City in January 2015.

This year’s ten finalists are:

Foundry Night Shift (United States) Directed by Steven Bognar

Hacked Circuit (United States) Directed by Deborah Stratman

Joanna (Poland) Directed by Aneta Kopacz

The Lion’s Mouth Opens (United States) Directed by Lucy Walker

Notes on Blindness (United Kingdom) Directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney

One Year Lease (United States) Directed by Brian Bolster

The Queen (Argentina) Directed by Manuel Abramovich

Santa Cruz del Islote (United States) Directed by Luke Lorentzen

Unlocking the Truth (United States) Directed by Luke Meyer

Vegas (United Kingdom) Directed by Lukasz Konopa

Finalists for the Short Filmmaking award were determined in voting by top short film/documentary programmers from international film festivals.  Members of this year’s Short Film Nominations Committee included: Karen Cirillo (True/False Film Festival), Charlotte Cook (Hot Docs), Hussain Currimbhoy (formerly of Sheffield Doc/Fest), Cara Cusumano (Tribeca), Ben Fowlie (Camden International Film Festival), Claudette Godfrey (SXSW), Doug Jones (formerly of the Los Angeles Film Festival), Ted Mott (Full Frame), Veton Nurkollari (Dokufest Kosovo), Rachel Rosen (San Francisco), Sky Sitney (formerly of AFI Docs) and Kim Yutani (Sundance).

This is the fifth year that Cinema Eye has presented an award for Nonfiction Short Filmmaking.  Previous winners in the category include The Poodle Trainer (directed by Vance Malone, 2011), Diary (Tim Hetherington, 2012), Goodbye Mandima (Kwa Heri Mandima) (Robert-Jan Lacombe, 2013) and A Story for the Modlins (Sergio Oksman, 2014).

Read more

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday night (August 26) to present Honorary Awards to Jean-Claude Carrière, Hayao Miyazaki and Maureen O’Hara, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Harry Belafonte.  All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s 6th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 8, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

“The Governors Awards allow us to reflect upon not the year in film, but the achievements of a lifetime,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.  “We’re absolutely thrilled to honor these outstanding members of our global filmmaking community and look forward to celebrating with them in November.”

Carrière, who began his career as a novelist, was introduced to screenwriting by French comedian and filmmaker Pierre Étaix, with whom he shared an Oscar® for the live action short subject “Heureux Anniversaire (Happy Anniversary)” in 1962.  He received two more nominations during his nearly two-decade collaboration with director Luis Buñuel, for the screenplays for “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “That Obscure Object of Desire.”  Carrière also has collaborated notably with such directors as Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum”), Jean-Luc Godard (“Every Man for Himself”) and Andrzej Wajda (“Danton”).  He earned a fourth Oscar nomination for “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” with director Philip Kaufman.

Miyazaki is an artist, writer, director, producer and three-time Oscar nominee in the Animated Feature Film category, winning in 2002 for “Spirited Away.”  His other nominations were for “Howl’s Moving Castle” in 2005 and “The Wind Rises” last year.  Miyazaki gained an enormous following in his native Japan for such features as “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,” “Laputa: Castle in the Sky,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” before breaking out internationally in the late 1990s with “Princess Mononoke.”  He is the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, a renowned animation studio based in Tokyo.

O’Hara, a native of Dublin, Ireland, came to Hollywood in 1939 to star opposite Charles Laughton in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”  She went on to appear in a wide range of feature films, including the swashbucklers “The Black Swan” and “Sinbad the Sailor,” the dramas “This Land Is Mine” and “A Woman’s Secret,” the family classics “Miracle on 34th Street” and “The Parent Trap,” the spy comedy “Our Man in Havana” and numerous Westerns.  She was a favorite of director John Ford, who cast her in five of his films, including “How Green Was My Valley,” “Rio Grande” and “The Quiet Man.”

An actor, producer, singer and lifelong activist, Belafonte began performing in theaters and nightclubs in and around Harlem, where he was born.  From the beginning of his film career, he chose projects that shed needed light on racism and inequality, including “Carmen Jones,” “Odds against Tomorrow” and “The World, the Flesh and the Devil.”  He was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, marching and organizing alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and often funding initiatives with his entertainment income.  Belafonte was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987 and currently serves on the boards of the Advancement Project and the Institute for Policy Studies.  His work on behalf of children, education, famine relief, AIDS awareness and civil rights has taken him all over the world.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

images Credit: 
Harry Belafonte at the Vienna International Film Festival 2011. Taken by Manfred Werner via Wikimedia.
Screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière giving a lecture on scenario writing at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France during the festival Paris-Cinéma. Taken by Roman Bonnefoy via Wikimedia.
Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. Taken by Thomas Schulz via Wikimedia.
O’Hara at the 2014 TCM Film Festival. Taken by Greg Hernandez via Wikimedia.

Read more

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Cheryl Boone Isaacs was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (August 5) by the organization’s Board of Governors.

In addition, Jeffrey Kurland was elected first vice president, Leonard Engelman and John Bailey were elected to vice president posts, Dick Cook was elected treasurer, and Bill Kroyer was elected secretary.

Boone Isaacs is beginning her second term as president and her 22nd year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch. Last year Kurland served as vice president. Both Engelman and Cook were re-elected to their posts. These will be the first officer stints for Bailey and Kroyer.

Boone Isaacs currently heads CBI Enterprises, Inc., where she has consulted on marketing efforts on such films as “The Call,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Tupac: Resurrection.”Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Rush Hour.” Prior to joining New Line in 1997, she was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Forrest Gump” and “Braveheart.” This year, she was inducted into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Hall of Fame, and received the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Horizon Award and the 2014 Trailblazer award from Essence magazine.

Academy board members may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms, while officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.

Press Release via AMPAS

 

Read more

 Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.  Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2014.

“This year’s class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.  “Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy.”

The 2014 invitees are:

Actors
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”
Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”
Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,” “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Josh Hutcherson – “The Hunger Games,” “The Kids Are All Right”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Enough Said,” “Planes”
Kelly Macdonald – “Brave,” “No Country for Old Men”
Mads Mikkelsen – “The Hunt,” “Casino Royale”
Joel McKinnon Miller – “Super 8,” “The Truman Show”
Cillian Murphy – “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception”
Lupita Nyong’o – “Non-Stop,” “12 Years a Slave”
Rob Riggle – “21 Jump Street,” “The Hangover”
Chris Rock – “Grown Ups 2,” “Madagascar”
June Squibb – “Nebraska,” “About Schmidt”
Jason Statham – “Parker,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”
David Strathairn – “Lincoln,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Casting Directors
Douglas Aibel – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Immigrant”
Simone Bär – “The Monuments Men,” “The Book Thief”
Kerry Barden – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Nikki Barrett – “The Railway Man,” “The Great Gatsby”
Mark Bennett – “Drinking Buddies,” “Zero Dark Thirty”
Risa Bramon Garcia – “Speed,” “Wall Street” 
Michelle Guish – “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Nanny McPhee”
Billy Hopkins – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Disconnect”
Ros Hubbard – “Romeo & Juliet,” “The Mummy”
Allison Jones – “The Way, Way Back,” “The Heat”
Christine King – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith”
Beatrice Kruger – “To Rome with Love,” “The American”
Marci Liroff – “Mean Girls,” “Pretty in Pink”
Debbie McWilliams – “Skyfall,” “Quantum of Solace”
Joseph Middleton – “TheTwilight Saga: New Moon,” “Legally Blonde”
Robi Reed – “For Colored Girls,” “Do the Right Thing”
Kevin Reher – “Monsters University,” “Finding Nemo”
Paul Schnee – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Gail Stevens – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Lucinda Syson – “Gravity,” “Fast and & Furious 6”
Fiona Weir – “J. Edgar,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Ronnie Yeskel – “The Sessions,” “Atlas Shrugged Part 1”

Cinematographers
Sean Bobbitt – “12 Years a Slave,” “The Place beyond the Pines”
Philippe Le Sourd – “The Grandmaster,” “Seven Pounds”
James Neihouse – “Hubble 3D,” “Nascar: The IMAX Experience”
Masanobu Takayanagi – “Out of the Furnace,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Bradford Young – “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” “Pariah”

Costume Designers 
William Chang Suk Ping – “The Grandmaster,” “In the Mood for Love”
Pascaline Chavanne – “Renoir,” “Augustine”
Daniela Ciancio – “The Great Beauty,” “Il Divo”
Frank L. Fleming – “Draft Day,” “Monster’s Ball” 
Maurizio Millenotti – “Hamlet,” “Otello”
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor – “Great Expectations,” “Good Will Hunting”
Karyn Wagner – “Lovelace,” “The Green Mile”

Designers
William Arnold – “Lovelace,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
K.K. Barrett – “Her,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Susan Benjamin – “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”
Bill Boes – “The Smurfs 2,” “Fantastic Four”
Tony Fanning – “Contraband,” “War of the Worlds”
Robert Greenfield – “Priest,” “Almost Famous”
Marcia Hinds – “I Spy,” “The Public Eye”
Sonja Brisbane Klaus – “Prometheus,” “Robin Hood”
David S. Lazan – “Flight,” “American Beauty”
Diane Lederman – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Tower Heist”
Heather Loeffler – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Christa Munro – “Jack Reacher,” “Erin Brockovich”
Andy Nicholson – “Gravity,” “The Host” 
Adam Stockhausen – “12 Years a Slave,” “Moonrise Kingdom”

Directors
Hany Abu-Assad – “Omar,” “Paradise Now”
Jay Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
Mark Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
David Gordon Green – “Joe,” “Pineapple Express”
Gavin O’Connor – “Warrior,” “Miracle”
Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Love and Basketball”
Paolo Sorrentino – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Jean-Marc Vallée – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Young Victoria” 
Felix van Groeningen – “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” “The Misfortunates”
Denis Villeneuve – “Prisoners,” “Incendies”
Thomas Vinterberg – “The Hunt,” “The Celebration”

Documentary
Malcolm Clarke – “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” “Prisoner of Paradise”
Dan Cogan – “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Queen of Versailles”
Kief Davidson – “Open Heart,” “Kassim the Dream”
Dan Geller – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Dayna Goldfine – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Julie Goldman – “God Loves Uganda,” “Gideon’s Army”
Sam Green – “Utopia in Four Movements,” “The Weather Underground”
Gary Hustwit – “Urbanized,” “Helvetica”
Eugene Jarecki – “The House I Live In,” “Why We Fight”
Brian Johnson – “Anita,” “Buena Vista Social Club”
Ross Kauffman – “E-Team,” “Born into Brothels”
Morgan Neville – “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Troubadours”
Matthew J. O’Neill – “Redemption,” “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
Rithy Panh – “The Missing Picture,” “S-21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine”
Lucy Massie Phenix – “Regret to Inform,” “Word Is Out”
Enat Sidi – “Detropia,” “Jesus Camp”
Molly Thompson – “The Unknown Known,” “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
Cynthia Wade – “Mondays at Racine,” “Freeheld”

Executives
Adrian Alperovich 
Sean Bailey 
Len Blavatnik
Nicholas Carpou
Nancy Carson
Charles S. Cohen
Jason Constantine
Peter Cramer
William Kyle Davies
Christopher Floyd
David Garrett
David Hollis
Tomas Jegeus
Michelle Raimo Kouyate
Anthony James Marcoly
Hiroyasu Matsuoka
Kim Roth
John Sloss

Film Editors
Alan Baumgarten – “American Hustle,” “Gangster Squad”
Alan Edward Bell – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”
Dorian Harris – “The Magic of Belle Isle,” “The Mod Squad”
Sabrina Plisco – “The Smurfs 2,” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”
Tatiana S. Riegel – “Million Dollar Arm,” “The Way, Way Back”
Julie Rogers – “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl”
Mark Sanger – “Gravity”
Joan Sobel – “Admission,” “A Single Man”
Crispin Struthers – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Tracey Wadmore-Smith – “About Last Night,” “Death at a Funeral”
Joe Walker – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
John Wilson – “The Book Thief,” “Billy Elliot”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Vivian Baker – “Oz The Great and Powerful,” “Conviction”
Adruitha Lee – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “12 Years a Slave” 
Robin Mathews – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The Runaways”
Anne Morgan – “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” “A Little Bit of Heaven”
Gloria Pasqua-Casny – “The Lone Ranger,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”

Members-at-Large
Peter Becker
Jeff Dashnaw 
Kenneth L. Halsband
Jody Levin
Tom MacDougall
Chuck Picerni, Jr.
Spiro Razatos 
Mic Rodgers
Kevin J. Yeaman

Music
Kristen Anderson-Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Stanley Clarke – “The Best Man Holiday,” “Boyz N the Hood”
Earl Ghaffari – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Steve Jablonsky – “Lone Survivor,” “Ender’s Game”
Robert Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Steven Price – “Gravity,” “The World’s End”
Tony Renis – “Hidden Moon,” “Quest for Camelot”
Angie Rubin – “Pitch Perfect,” “Sex and the City”
Buck Sanders – “Warm Bodies,” “The Hurt Locker”
Charles Strouse – “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” “Annie”
Eddie Vedder – “Eat Pray Love,” “Into the Wild”
Pharrell Williams – “Despicable Me 2,” “Fast & Furious”

Producers
Jason Blumenthal – “Hope Springs,” “Seven Pounds”
Dana Brunetti – “Captain Phillips,” “The Social Network”
Megan Ellison – “American Hustle,” “Her”
Sean Furst – “Daybreakers,” “The Cooler”
Nicola Giuliano – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Preston Holmes – “Waist Deep,” “Tupac: Resurrection”
Lynette M. Howell – “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Blue Valentine”
Anthony Katagas – “12 Years a Slave,” “Killing Them Softly”
Alix Madigan – “Girl Most Likely,” “Winter’s Bone”
Paul Mezey – “The Girl,” “Maria Full of Grace”
Stephen Nemeth – “The Sessions,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
Tracey Seaward – “Philomena,” “The Queen”
John H. Williams – “Space Chimps,” “Shrek 2”

Public Relations
Larry Angrisani
Nancy Bannister
Christine Batista
Karen Hermelin
Marisa McGrath Liston
David Magdael
Steven Raphael
Bettina R. Sherick
Dani Weinstein

Short Films and Feature Animation
Didier Brunner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “The Triplets of Belleville”
Scott Clark – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Pierre Coffin – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Esteban Crespo – “Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me),” “Lala”
Peter Del Vecho – “Frozen,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Kirk DeMicco – “The Croods,” “Space Chimps”
Doug Frankel – “Brave,” “WALL-E”
Mark Gill – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
David A. S. James – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Megamind”
Fabrice Joubert – “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” “French Roast”
Jean-Claude Kalache – “Up,” “Cars”
Jason Katz – “Toy Story 3,” “Finding Nemo”
Jennifer Lee – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Baldwin Li – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
Nathan Loofbourrow – “Puss in Boots,” “How to Train Your Dragon”
Lauren MacMullan – “Get a Horse!,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Tom McGrath –  “Megamind,” “Madagascar”
Dorothy McKim – “Get a Horse!,” “Meet the Robinsons”
Hayao Miyazaki – “The Wind Rises,” “Spirited Away”
Ricky Nierva – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Chris Renaud – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Benjamin Renner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “A Mouse’s Tale (La Queue de la Souris)”
Michael Rose – “Chico & Rita,” “The Gruffalo”
Toshio Suzuki – “The Wind Rises,” “Howl’s Moving Castle”
Selma Vilhunen – “Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitta? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?),” “The Crossroads”  
Anders Walter – “Helium,” “9 Meter”
Laurent Witz – “Mr. Hublot,” “Renart the Fox”

Sound
Niv Adiri – “Gravity,” “The Book Thief”
Christopher Benstead – “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Gravity”
Steve Boeddeker – “All Is Lost,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Beau Borders – “Million Dollar Arm,” “Lone Survivor”
David Brownlow – “Lone Survivor,” “The Book of Eli”
Chris Burdon – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Brent Burge – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
André Fenley – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “All Is Lost”
Glenn Freemantle – “Gravity,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Greg Hedgepath – “Frozen,” “The Incredible Hulk”
Craig Henighan – “Noah,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Tony Johnson – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Avatar”
Laurent M. Kossayan – “Red Riding Hood,” “Public Enemies”
Thomas L. Lalley – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”
Ai-Ling Lee – “Godzilla,” “300: Rise of an Empire”
Stephen Morris – “Monsters University,” “Fruitvale Station”
Jeremy Peirson – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Looper”
Mike Prestwood Smith – “Divergent,” “Captain Phillips”
Alan Rankin – “Iron Man 3,” “Star Trek”
Oliver Tarney – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Chris Ward – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”

Visual Effects
Gary Brozenich – “The Lone Ranger,” “Wrath of the Titans”
Everett Burrell – “Grudge Match,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Marc Chu – “Noah,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
David Fletcher – “Sabotage,” “Prisoners”
Swen Gillberg – “Ender’s Game,” “Jack the Giant Slayer”
Paul Graff – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Identity Thief”
Alex Henning – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Hugo” 
Evan Jacobs – “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Olympus Has Fallen”
Chris Lawrence – “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Gravity” 
Eric Leven – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1”
Steven Messing – “Godzilla,” “Oz The Great and Powerful”
Ben Matthew Morris – “Lincoln,” “The Golden Compass”
Jake Morrison – “Thor: The Dark World,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Eric Reynolds – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
David Shirk – “Gravity,” “Elysium”
Patrick Tubach – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Bruno Van Zeebroeck – “Lone Survivor,” “Public Enemies”
Tim Webber – “Gravity,” “The Dark Knight”
Harold Weed – “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Star Trek”

Writers
Chantal Akerman – “A Couch in New York,” “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”
Olivier Assayas – “Summer Hours,” “Irma Vep”
Craig Borten – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Scott Z. Burns – “Side Effects,” “Contagion”
Jean-Claude Carrière – “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”
Steve Coogan – “Philomena,” “The Parole Officer”
Claire Denis – “White Material,” “Beau Travail”
Larry Gross – “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “48 Hrs.”
Mathieu Kassovitz – “Babylon A.D.,” “Hate (La Haine)”
Diane Kurys – “For a Woman,” “Entre Nous”
Bob Nelson – “Nebraska”
Scott Neustadter – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Jeff Pope – “Philomena,” “Pierrepoint – The Last Hangman”
John Ridley – “12 Years a Slave,” “Undercover Brother”
Paul Rudnick – “In & Out,” ”Jeffrey”
Eric Warren Singer – “American Hustle,” ”The International”
Melisa Wallack – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Mirror Mirror”
Michael H. Weber – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Terence Winter – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”

Associates
Matt Del Piano
Joe Funicello
Robert Hohman
Paul Christopher Hook
David Kramer
Joel Lubin
David Pringle
Melanie Ramsayer
Beth Swofford
Meredith Wechter

Each year Academy members may sponsor one candidate for membership within their branch.  New member application reviews take place in the spring.  Applications for the coming year must be received by March 19, 2015.

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception in September.

Read more

 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday night honored fifteen student winners from colleges and universities around the world at the 41st Student Academy Awards ceremony, held at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Hollywood.  The gold, silver and bronze medals were announced and presented by actors Adrian Grenier, Nate Parker and Oscar® nominee Demian Bichir, and the Oscar-winning directing/producing team from the animated feature “Frozen,” Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and Peter Del Vecho.

The 2014 Student Academy Award® winners are:

Alternative
Gold Medal: “Person,” Drew Brown, The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Florida
Silver Medal: “Oscillate,” Daniel Sierra, School of Visual Arts, New York

Animation 
Gold Medal: “Owned,” Daniel Clark and Wesley Tippetts, Brigham Young University, Utah
Silver Medal: “Higher Sky,” Teng Cheng, University of Southern California
Bronze Medal: “Yamashita,” Hayley Foster, Loyola Marymount University, California

Documentary
Gold Medal: “The Apothecary,” Helen Hood Scheer, Stanford University
Silver Medal: “White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen, Stanford University
Bronze Medal: “One Child,” Zijian Mu, New York University

Narrative
Gold Medal: “Above the Sea,” Keola Racela, Columbia University, New York
Silver Medal: “Door God,” Yulin Liu, New York University
Bronze Medal: “Interstate,” Camille Stochitch, American Film Institute, California

Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “Nocebo,” Lennart Ruff, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany
Silver Medal: “Paris on the Water,” Hadas Ayalon, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Bronze Medal: “Border Patrol,” Peter Baumann, The Northern Film School, United Kingdom

This year saw first-time honors go to Tel Aviv University, Israel, and The Northern Film School, United Kingdom, in the foreign competition. 

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level.  Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards.  They include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

 image: via The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its 41st Annual Student Academy Awards® on Saturday, June 7, in Hollywood.

Front row (left to right): Teng Cheng, Zijan Mu, J. Christian Jensen, Wesley Tippetts, Lennart Ruff, Daniel Sierra, Peter Baumann and Drew Brown.

Back row (left to right): Helen Hood Scheer, Hayley Foster, Camille Stochitch, Daniel Clark, Keola Racela, Yulin Liu and Hadas Ayalon.

Read more

Fifteen students have been selected as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Student Academy Awards® competition.  They will arrive in Los Angeles for a week of industry activities that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 7, at 6 p.m., at the DGA Theater in Hollywood.  The medal placements – gold, silver and bronze – in the five award categories will be announced at the ceremony. 

The winners are (listed alphabetically by film title):

Alternative
“Oscillate,” Daniel Sierra, School of Visual Arts, New York
“Person,” Drew Brown, The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Florida

Animation 
“Higher Sky,” Teng Cheng, University of Southern California
“Owned,” Daniel Clark and Wesley Tippetts, Brigham Young University, Utah
“Yamashita,” Hayley Foster, Loyola Marymount University, California

Documentary
“The Apothecary,” Helen Hood Scheer, Stanford University
“One Child,” Zijian Mu, New York University
“White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen, Stanford University

Narrative
“Above the Sea,” Keola Racela, Columbia University, New York
“Door God,” Yulin Liu, New York University
“Interstate,” Camille Stochitch, American Film Institute, California

Foreign Film
“Border Patrol,” Peter Baumann, The Northern Film School, United Kingdom
“Nocebo,” Lennart Ruff, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany
“Paris on the Water,” Hadas Ayalon, Tel Aviv University, Israel

This year saw first-time honors go to Tel Aviv University, Israel, and The Northern Film School, United Kingdom, in the foreign competition.  Academy members voted the winners from a field of 49 finalists, announced earlier this month.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards. They include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

Read more

`40th Student Academy Award winners

Forty-one students from 23 U.S. colleges and universities as well as 10 students from foreign universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Student Academy Awards competition. 

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level.  Past Student Academy Award® winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards.  They include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

Academy members will now vote to determine up to three winning films in each category. The winners, but not their medal placements, will be announced later this month.  The winning students will be brought to Los Angeles for a week of industry activities and social events that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 7, at 6 p.m., at the DGA Theater in Hollywood, at which time the gold, silver and bronze medalists will be revealed.

The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):

Alternative
“Dreamers,” Joseph Dwyer, Boston University
“Entropic Apogee,” Bill Manolios, Art Institute of California – San Francisco
“Jaspa’ Jenkins,” Robert Carnilius, Columbia College Chicago
“Oscillate,” Daniel Sierra, School of Visual Arts, New York
“Passer Passer,” Louis Morton, University of Southern California
“Person,” Drew Brown and Ramona Ramdeen, The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Florida
“The Private Life of Fenfen,” Leslie Tai, Stanford University
“Staircases,” Steinar Bergoy Nedrebo, School of Visual Arts, New York

Animation 
“Baxter,” Ty Coyle, Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia
“Goodnight Boon,” Jeremy Jensen, New York University
“Higher Sky,” Teng Cheng, University of Southern California
“Marcel,” Eric Cunha and Seung Sung, School of Visual Arts, New York
“Owned,” Daniel Clark and Wesley Tippetts, Brigham Young University, Utah
“Roadkill Redemption,” Karl Hadrika, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida
“Two Ghosts,” Amy Lee Ketchum, University of Southern California
“Umbra,” Pedro Jesus Atienzar Godoy, Pratt Institute, New York
“Yamashita,” Hayley Foster, Loyola Marymount University, California

Documentary
“The Apothecary,” Helen Hood Scheer, Stanford University
“Eth“no”representation,” Ryan Metzler and Scott Kulicke, Occidental College, California
“Heel’d,” Thomas Smith and McKenna Hinkle, Villanova University, Pennsylvania
“Light Mind,” Jie Yi, School of Visual Arts, New York
“My Sister Sarah,” Elizabeth Chatelain, University of Texas at Austin
“One Child,” Zijian Mu, New York University
“Punches & Pedicures,” Ashley Brandon and Dennis Höhne, Wright State University, Ohio
“Scattered,” Lindsay Lindenbaum, School of Visual Arts, New York
“White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen, Stanford University

Narrative
“AM800,” James Roe, University of New Orleans
“Above the Sea,” Keola Racela, Columbia University, New York
“Door God,” Yulin Liu, New York University
“Interstate,” Camille Stochitch, American Film Institute, California
“Istifa (Resignation),” Rahat Mahajan, Art Center College of Design, California
“So You’ve Grown Attached,” Kate Tsang, New York University
“Sweepstakes,” Mark Tumas, Temple University, Pennsylvania
“Way in Rye,” Goran Stankovic, American Film Institute, California
“What Remains,” Julie Koegl, University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Foreign Film
“Border Patrol,” Peter Baumann, The Northern Film School, United Kingdom
“Intruder,” Geun Buem Park, Korean Academy of Film Arts, South Korea
“Kam,” Katarina Morano, University of Ljubljana – Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, Slovenia
“Nocebo,” Lennart Ruff, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany
“North,” Philip Sheerin, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
“Paris on the Water,” Hadas Ayalon, Tel Aviv University, Israel
“Sacred Defense,” Nima Mohaghegh, Netherlands Film Academy
“Souffle Court,” Johann Dulat, ENS Louis-Lumière – The National Film, Photography & Sound Engineering School, France
“The Oasis,” Carl Marott, The National Film School of Denmark
“Wo Wir Sind,” Ilker Çatak, Hamburg Media School, Germany

To reach this stage, U.S. students competed in one of three regional competitions.  Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories.  The Student Academy Awards Nominating Committee screened and voted on the finalists in the Foreign Film category.

Read more

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network today announced the dates for the 87th Oscars.  The Academy Awards® presentation will air live on ABC on Oscar®Sunday, February 22, 2015.

Key dates for the Awards season are:

Saturday, November 8, 2014	The Governors Awards
Wednesday, December 3, 2014	Official Screen Credits and music submissions due
Monday, December 29, 2014	Nominations voting begins 8 a.m. PT
Thursday, January 8, 2015	Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 15, 2015	Oscar nominations announced
Monday, February 2, 2015	Oscar Nominees Luncheon
Friday, February 6, 2015	Final voting begins 8 a.m. PT
Saturday, February 7, 2015	Scientific and Technical Awards
Tuesday, February 17, 2015	Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Oscar Sunday, February 22, 2015	87th Academy Awards begins 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT

The Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Read more