22
02
2009
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| Kunio Kato (l) with Robot Communications Taki Tsuyoshi. |
Congratulations to Oscar winner Kunio Kato, as well as everyone at Robot Communications, especially Taki Tsuyoshi. I’d also like to congratulate all the nominees on their wonderful films. Even though I only had a chance to follow the filmmakers on the L.A. leg this year, I believe the overall tour was again a success.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Films & Filmmakers, La Maison en Petits Cubes
22
02
2009
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| The tour members pose outside the Campanile Theater. |
The Oscar Showcase tour came to an end on Friday with a visit to DreamWorks. The filmmakers were clearly tired from their long week and a half, but their excitement hasn’t wavered. Ron invited Academy board member Rick Farmiloe to join us for the day to experience the tour with the filmmakers. The day was a bit of a homecoming for Farmiloe, who served as a story artist on the original “Shrek.” At Disney, he animated classic characters like Lefou in “Beauty and the Beast” and Abu in “Aladdin.”
For the first time, the “This Way Up” filmmakers were able to join the tour. Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes have been busy though, spending much of the week meeting with execs around town on feature projects. Alan said they met with the Hensons, former Fox exec Chris Meledandri, and Sony’s Hannah Minghella. Accompanying the famed commercials directors, their most recent work was seen during the Super Bowl — the Coca-Cola “Avatar” spot — were writer/producer Chris O’Reilly and producer Charlotte Bavasso, who I had met two nights prior at the AWN/Acme Filmworks party. She said the party at Ron’s house was especially nice, because she was tired of restaurant after restaurant every night that she has been in L.A.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, DreamWorks Animation, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, This Way Up, Oscar Tour 2009
20
02
2009
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| The nominees check out Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland art selected by Oktapodi director Julien Bocabeille (m) to view. |
More amazing pics from the nominees experience at Disney’s Animation Resource Library, where the history of Disney animation art is housed.
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Categories : Photo Galleries, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009, Animation Resource Library
20
02
2009
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| The Oscar tour poses for a shot in front of the giant Luxo Jr. statue outside Pixar. |
Time to take a quick trip back in time for some great additional pics from the Pixar visit in the Bay Area last week.
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Categories : Photo Galleries, People, Pixar, Ed Catmull, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009
19
02
2009
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| Introducing myself to Oktapodi director Julien Bocabeille. |
written by Bill Kroyer
Wednesday I had the pleasure of joining Ron Diamond and the players in the traveling Oscar Tour on their visit to Sony Pictures Animation. The Oscar-nominated directors of the animated short films “Oktapodi,” “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” and “Lavatory Lovestory” had a chance to tour the studio and answer questions from the animation crew.
Not lost on the Sony audience was the fact that there is not a single spoken word in the five nominated films, a condition that emphasizes the international make-up of the nominees and the universal appeal of the films. The top Sony animation executives, including Hannah Minghella and Barry Weiss, hosted a luncheon following the screening.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Sony Pictures Animation, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009
19
02
2009
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| The nominees meet their latest Academy guest Bill Kroyer (r). |
Well, the second to last tour stop brings the filmmakers to Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. For Emud, it was a return to his workplace where he is on the Disney live-action/CG flick, “G-Force.” He was thankful that Sony gave him ten days off to tour both in San Francisco and L.A.
We arrived and were greeted by a dapper looking Don Levy, marketing master for Sony, who had to leave us early to hand out an award at the publicist’s awards that afternoon. For each stop of the L.A. leg, Ron invited a different member of the Academy board. At Sony, the filmmakers had the pleasure of meeting Bill Kroyer. FX was particularly impressed with meeting someone who worked on “Tron.” Bill shared a story of “Ice Age” director Chris Wedge entering x-sheet data into the computer on the film. Bill said he was glad that Chris stuck with computers after the job.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Sony Pictures Animation, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009
19
02
2009
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| Oktapodi's Julien Bocabeille and I talked over lunch. |
written by Bob Degus
For more than a decade, I’ve been a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Short Film and Feature Animation Branch. Each year I look forward to our fall screenings where we get to see the finest short animated films from around the world and select the five nominees. It’s like attending the best film festival in the world.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending the day with the filmmakers of three of the nominated shorts — “Oktapodi,” “Lavatory Lovestory,” and “La Maison en Petite Cubes” — as they were welcomed into and toured the “birthplace” of American animation – Walt Disney Studios.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Walt Disney Animation, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009, Animation Resource Library
18
02
2009
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| The nominees - Oktapodi's Emud Mokhberi (l-r), Oktapodi's Thierry Marchand, Lavatory Lovestory's Konstantin Bronzit, La Maison's Kunio Kato, This Way Up's Alan Smith, This Way Up's Adam Foulkes, and Presto's Doug Sweetland |
The screening at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences is always an exciting event for the nominees. Sell out crowds are eager to see the films and are always very receptive. The screening is also a big press event with the nominees juggling interviews and photo ops with news outlets from around the world.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Presto, This Way Up, Oscar Tour 2009
18
02
2009
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| The tour poses for a pic with the Animation Resource Library archivists in front of background painted for a Donald Duck promotional tour. |
As the tour swings from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the Oscar Travelogue switches chroniclers from Barbara Robertson to me, Rick DeMott.
Walt Disney kicks off the L.A. leg. For a touch of morning inspiration, we gathered at the Animation Resource Library. Having traveled with the Oscar Tour for the past two years in both San Fran and Los Angeles, it feels strange coming in midstream. I missed out on the bonding that took place in the Bay Area as the filmmakers from around the globe were getting to know each other. For the “Oktapodi” crew, the tour was the first chance for them to be together since graduating from Gobelins. Julien Bocabeille and Thierry Marchand, who both work for DreamWorks in Bangalore, India, joined FX, Olivier, Quentin and Emud, who already had a taste of the tour last week. Joining the six “Oktapodi” directors were Konstantin and Kunio, who having met for the first time in San Fran, have clearly bonded quickly, despite not speaking the same language.
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Categories : Personal Musings, Tour Destinations, Films & Filmmakers, Walt Disney Animation, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Oscar Tour 2009, Animation Resource Library
15
02
2009
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| From France to Skywalker Ranch - four of the six Oktapodi directors - Olivier, Francois, Emud and Quentin. |
On Friday the 13th, the Oscar tour made stops throughout the Lucas empire, including Skywalker Ranch, Big Rock, and ILM. Here some the great pics from the adventures.
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Categories : Photo Galleries, People, ILM, Skywalker Ranch, Tour Destinations, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, Presto, Oscar Tour 2009, George Lucas, Big Rock
