AWN Oscar Travelogue

More Pics from William Morris, AWN/Acme Party, Sony and CAA

oscartour — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:29:43 +0000

The nominees answer the questions of the literary agents at William Morris. © AWN Inc.

Seeing the pictures from the Oscar Showcase tour is a great way to convey all the events that took place. Here are some more shots from Ron from William Morris, the AWN/Acme Oscar party, Sony Animation and CAA.

Ron poses for a snapshot with Charles Aidikoff on his 92nd birthday at the William Morris screening. © AWN Inc.

Ari Sandel, Oscar nominee of live-action short West Bank Story chats with Bob Balser. © AWN Inc.

Acme Filmworks' Lita O'Donnell, Eric Orner, Rebecca Battle and Pernille D'Avolio at the AWN/Acme party. © AWN Inc.

At the AWN/Acme party, Bob Balser, Richard Permutter and Cima Balser pose for a pic. © AWN Inc.

Oury Atlan, director of Overtime, with guest Genya. © AWN Inc.

Entertainment lawyer Shelley Surpin and AWN co-founder Dan Sarto. © AWN Inc.

Gwynn Adik, Acme's co-executive producer, and Simpsons storyboard artist John Mathot. © AWN Inc.

Chiat Day's David Roth, who worked on this year's Oscar ad campaign with Spike Lee, Torill and Eric Orner. © AWN Inc.

Bill Kroyer and Don Hahn at the AWN/Acme party. © AWN Inc.

Indie animator Paul Vester and Platform Festival director Irene Kotlarz. © AWN Inc.

Don Hahn attacks the cake at the AWN/Acme party. © AWN Inc.

Platform Fest's Marilyn Zornado chats with AWN's Rick DeMott. © AWN Inc.

The Oscar Showcase tour takes a swing by Sony Pictures Animation. © AWN Inc.

Geza Toth and Marcy Page pose by the beautiful cherry tree on the Sony campus. © AWN Inc.

Sandra Rabins (left), executive vice president Sony Pictures Animation, chats with the nominees. © AWN Inc.

Don Levy, Sony's senior vice president of marketing and communications, heads up the tour for the nominees. © AWN Inc.

Don Levy leads the nominees through the labyrinth of servers in the Sony machine room. © AWN Inc.

The Hungarian giants Geza Toth and Tamas Liszkas at CAA. © AWN Inc.

Roger asks Geza what drink was poured in Maestro. © AWN Inc.

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Nominees Unwind at the DreamWorks Brunch & Chocolate Foscas

oscartour — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 11:18:56 +0000

Mike Thurmeier (center) catches up with Tamas Liszkas (left) and Maestro's Geza Toth at the DreamWorks brunch. © AWN Inc.

With the screenings now complete, Saturday — the day before the big event — was filled with parties to celebrate the nominees. Both the DreamWorks brunch at Campanile and the Chocolate Foscas were chances for the nominees to reconnect and meet other animation pros.

Mike Thurmeier poses for a pic with Over the Hedge helmer Tim Johnson. © AWN Inc.

It was nice to see Mike Thurmeier again and meet his younger brother Tim, who is a recent film school grad. Mike wanted me to show him where the others were at Campanile so that he could saw hi to everyone. Mike and Torill then shared pictures of their kids. Mike later chatted with Over the Hedge director Tim Johnson about working with actors. Tim shared a story about working with Gene Hackman, who told Tim that working on Antz was like the way he thought acting would be when he first started.

At the DreamWorks brunch, I had a great talk with Bee Movie director Steve Hickner (right). © AWN Inc.

I had an opportunity to chat with Bee Movie director Steve Hickner. He told me that working with Jerry Seinfeld has been a great pleasure and that it’s a project he is not looking forward to ending. His favorite animated feature of the year was Monster House, saying that he was impressed with how the kids acted like real young teens. He added that at first he was unsure why the film was animated, but felt the fantastic moments with the house at the end would have stretched the film’s believability too much if it were live-action.

Marilyn Zornado and Libby Simon introduce the Chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

The brunch was also great chance for the nominees to relax a bit before the big day on Sunday. This was the same with 17th annual Chocolate Fosca party, which was hosted by Marilyn Zornado and Libby Simon at the home of Renate Kempowski and Paul Demeyer. The annual event was originally started by Mike Gribble, the co-founder of the Spike & Mike festival, as a way to celebrate the animated shorts nominees within the community. Originally called the Chocolate Oscars, the event was renamed after Fosca, a character from Marv Newland’s Anijam, after the Academy objected to the creation of chocolate Oscars.

Again the event allowed time for various members of the animation community to meet with the nominees. Don Hahn chatted with ASIFA-Hollywood president Antran Manoogian about how great the Animation Archive was. Don recently received some original Mary Blair paintings, which he says he doesn’t own, but will look over them for the rest of his life. It was nice to introduce Cartoon Network’s senior director of development Heather Kenyon to The Danish Poet producer Lise Fearnley, who also works at the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, because Heather is always introducing me to people.

Frank Gladstone tells a joke to Mike and Tim Thurmeier. © AWN Inc.

The wonderful laid-back and fun vibe of the party was the perfect ending to a crazy week and a half. It was a party where people could chat about anything animation related or not. Frank Gladstone told his latest and greatest joke to Mike Thurmeier and Chris Renaud. Maestro rep Tamas Liszkas told me that he had a dream about the Oscars and Mike and Chris won. I talked with host Paul Demeyer about real estate. During the course of the night, I met all the staff from the upcoming Platform Animation Festival and there might be a panel in my future. The nominees all got a chance to add to the guest book as well as a huge banner that’s been a part of the Chocolate Foscas for years.

Roger and Don couldn't have given a better Foscas speech if they had planned it. © AWN Inc.

In celebration of all the nominees, Marilyn and Libby officially presented the heavy, dark chocolate Foscas to the filmmakers. All the nominees and their fellow filmmakers thanked everyone for the honor. Roger Allers joked that it was the “sweetest award.” Don Hahn countered with saying, but it’s “bittersweet” that it’s all coming to an end. Allers added, “Well, let’s not get syrupy” and Don finished with “Okay this is going to a dark place.”

For me, when it was time to leave, it was like saying good-bye after a week at camp. It’s been a busy time, but thoroughly rewarding. I found it inspiring to be around such talented people. And it seemed to me that the feeling was the same for all the nominees. I really think the best way to sum up the feeling of the final day before the Oscars is to share some photos. It was a fun, unforgettable experience that I will never forget.

The No Time for Nuts filmmakers and their family pose for a pic. © AWN Inc.

Torill lies her head on the shoulder of her husband Kevin, who composed the music for The Danish Poet. © AWN Inc.

DreamWorks' John Tarnoff poses with his wife at the DreamWorks brunch. © AWN Inc.

Torill (left) chats with Bee Movie animator Simon Otto and Shrek the Third story artist Gabriele Pennacchioli. © AWN Inc.

Geza Toth (l to r), Chris Renaud and Marcy Page grab some food at the Chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

Guests chat over dinner at the Chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

Marcy Page, indie animator Christine Panushka, Anima Mundi director Léa Zagury & Cartoon Network's Heather Kenyon. © AWN Inc.

Mikrofilm's Kajsa Naess and Lise Fearnley chat with Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett. © AWN Inc.

Roger, Don, Geza and Geza's wife share a laugh. © AWN Inc.

Lise, Skunk Fu producer Paul Young and Marcy pose for a snapshot at the Chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

Danish Poet's Marcy Page, sound designer Hakan Lammetun and Lise Fearnley accept their chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

Maestro director Geza Toth (l to r), composer Attila Pacsay and rep Tamas Liszkas admire their Chocolate Foscas. © AWN Inc.

No Time for Nuts' Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier can't think of any more chocolate puns to use in accepting their Foscas. © AWN Inc.

Chris Renaud adds Scrat to the Chocolate Foscas' banner. © AWN Inc.

Every party has to have cake! © AWN Inc.

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Oscar Tour Wraps Up at Sony and CAA

oscartour — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:42:19 +0000

Don Hahn answers a question about Little Matchgirl at Sony. © AWN Inc.

The second and final Friday of the Oscar Showcase tour began with a screening at Sony Animation. In an effort to get up a new photo gallery before I left, I didn’t leave enough time to get to screening, only making my journey a chore. I ended up arriving just as The Danish Poet was ending. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I’m sick of the films after seeing them so many times in a short span of time, but a trial separation might be good. Roger Allers said he can’t watch Little Matchgirl anymore. Like No Time for Nuts directors Mike Thurmeier and Chris Renaud, he keeps seeing things he wishes that he could change.

When it came time for the Q&A, many of the Sony artists had some of the same questions as the other studios like whether Geza Toth’s single camera move was intended from the start, which it was, and how Roger and Don Hahn convinced Disney to go with the sad ending on Little Matchgirl, which was by waiting until Michael Eisner had left the studio. There was a question about how the co-production between Canada and Norway worked out on The Danish Poet. The producers Marcy and Lise said it worked out wonderfully. Lise joked that it’s perfect because Canada thinks director Torill Kove is Canadian and Norway knows that she is Norwegian. Marcy added that the co-production on Torill’s first short My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts helped launch a co-production treaty between the two countries. That first film’s Oscar nomination was a sensation in Norway with the king actually seeing the film. The hoopla around that film made it easier to find funding for The Danish Poet.

Sony's David Schaub gets to discuss current projects with Blur Sky's Chris Renaud. © AWN Inc.

Another artist asked what was the motivation for making another Scrat short. Chris said it was partly to keep the Ice Age franchise going, but when the idea of doing a short for the DVD was opened freely to the artists most of the pitches were Scrat stories anyway. Chris then answered a question about the sound on No Time for Nuts, which was mixed and edited by Sean Garnhart, who worked on the original Ice Age and Robots. Chris complimented the talent of the sound artist and said that the initial pass of the sound mix was done in Sean’s home studio in New Jersey. Then someone asked Geza who did the music for Maestro and he said Attila Pacsay. Ron joked that you go to Hungary and you can meet people named Attila. The last question was about the new shorts being done at Disney. Don said that the 2D Goofy short is a way to ramp up for the upcoming 2D feature The Frog Princess. Don went on to say that at the time they were making Matchgirl, they thought it was going to be the last 2D project at Disney. “A tragic depressing story on top of a tragic depressing story,” Don added, getting a chuckle from the crowd.

After the Q&A, we were invited to another nice lunch. Barry Weiss, senior vice president of Animation Production, gave everyone a warm welcome and congratulated the nominees, saying that it was an honor to have everyone come and visit Sony. I sat with Chris Renaud, Ron and David Schaub, who was animation supervisor on Polar Express and is serving as directing animator on Surf’s Up. Chris told David that he was really impressed with the look and feel of Surf’s Up, which uses a new camera system that provides virtual cinematography capabilities. David actually said that animation was going to wrap on that day. We asked him about Beowulf, which he told us is really pushing the cutting edge of performance capture and photoreal CG. And I can say that after seeing the fully rendered characters during the tour, I would have to agree with him. Additionally, David said that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs recently made a big story breakthrough and might be coming out sooner than originally anticipated. We were impressed with how artists at Sony have the flexibility to move from projects at Sony Pictures Animation to visual effects projects at Sony Imageworks.

David had questions for Chris about Horton Hears a Who. David was very complimentary of the look that Blue Sky created for the Dr. Seuss inspired project. Chris added that gaining Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s widow, Audrey, confidence in the project was tough at first, because she was not satisfied with the live-action The Cat in the Hat. In regards to the story, Chris said that he learned that the original intent of the book was to illustrate how the Japanese should be treated after WWII and he feels that the message still retains its poignancy. Ron then asked Chris about the story process at Blue Sky. Chris told us that it depends on the project. Some projects have had members of the story team taking passes on various scenes as the overall story is being worked out. But the new project Chris Wedge is working on has a fully completed script, which is being worked off of. Chris saids it’s mainly the preference of the director. For him, he likes to move from storyboard to editorial quicker than other directors who like to board out scenes in more detail. Both Chris and David said that projects that don’t have their theme worked out completely beforehand typically have the most problems.

Kajsa Naess, Lise Fearnley, Geza Toth and Chris Renaud check out some artwork from Sony's Surf's Up. © AWN Inc.

Following lunch, Sony handed out generous gift bags to all of us. Then we headed out for the studio tour. In the lobby of the animation building, we checked out designs for Surf’s Up. Roger was happy to run into fellow Open Season director Tony Stacchi, who was not allowed to show us some recent storyboards from his next project Hotel Transylvania. Don Levy, senior vice president of marketing and communications, met up with us and took us around the studio, seeing where the animators work. It was nice to be able to peek in at the animators at work finishing up Surf’s Up. Don actually took us into the inter-sanctum of the machine room where the serious computing power is stored to make a CG feature a reality. Along our tour, we bumped into Oscar nominated Richard Hoover, who garnered his Academy Award nod for visual effects on Superman Returns.

Oscar nominees Roger Allers, Geza Toth, Richard Hoover and Chris Renaud. © AWN Inc.

After Sony, the nominees headed over to Creative Artists Agency (aka CAA) for the final screening on the 2007 Oscar Showcase tour. The screening at ICM was the first in their new screening room while the screening at CAA was the second at their new home on the Avenue of the Stars. When I was talking with Roger and Chris before the screening, it was interesting how I felt the William Morris screening went better than ICM because the agents at William Morris seemed to have more questions after the screenings. However, Roger felt the ICM screening went better because the agents spent more time mingling with the filmmakers after the screening. It goes to show that two people at the same event can have completely different reactions to something due to their perspective.

CAA’s John Levin introduced the screening and shared with the audience that when he was younger he had the desire to go become an animator and that it was his pleasure to have the nominees there for the screening. The first question was about distribution. The next question was about Little Matchgirl’s initial intent to be included in a world music Fantasia. Don Hahn said that Matchgirl was supposed to be the sad close to act two before the big celebratory ending. The next question was a general one about the state of animation, making the observation that there seems to be more animation today than ever before. Roger said that it was great that animators from all around the world are getting their projects seen. John asked if shorts are making their way back in front of features and Roger said that it was rare, except for Pixar who will be putting Lifted in front of Ratatouille. Lise added that in Norway shorts still do play in theaters before features, which Roger was happy to hear. The final question was about what people are working on next. In closing, John Levin again thanked the nominees for coming to share their films and hoped they will bring their next projects for a screening.

After the CAA screening, Geza Toth (right) gets a chance to chat with Chris Paine, the director of the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? © AWN Inc.

That ended the screenings, but nominees still had another day of events before the big night. On Saturday, DreamWorks held an industry brunch and the Chocolate Oscar was a wonderful intimate event for the nominees and others in the industry to celebrate animated shorts. Check back for pics and thoughts from those events.

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Bill Kroyer’s Thoughts on Visiting the Oscar Tour

oscartour — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:48:10 +0000

Bill Kroyer poses for a pic with Little Matchgirl's Don Hahn and Roger Allers at Sony. © AWN Inc.

Ron Diamond has created as new Oscar tradition: his yearly tour of the major West coast animation studios by the nominees for Best Animated Short Film. In a few short years this has become such an established event that all of the nominated films are represented by their respective directors, producers or both. At studios, which include ILM, Pixar, PDI, DreamWorks. and Sony, all five of the nominated films are screened for crowds of enthusiastic employees. The nominees have a chance to meet their professional counterparts and see their facilities.

Taking part in this tour is not a trivial thing, and I’m not talking about the singular difficulty of just achieving the status of Academy Award Nominee. There is the much more mundane obstacle of coming up with the money to take several weeks of unpaid leave and pay for travel costs.

Animation (thank God) remains the last bastion of the individual artist. It is still possible to make a film with little money and a few dedicated friends and supporters and have that film stand toe-to-toe with the productions made by the major studios.

While the nominees from Pixar, Disney and Blue Sky enjoy the painless financial support of their parent companies, many of the folks who worked on Maestro (Geza M. Toth, Hungary) and The Danish Poet (Torill Kove, co-produced in Canada and Norway) had a more personal travel experience. They flew coach and paid their own way to bask in the Oscar limelight. I can picture a live-action director throwing a hissy fit over such a predicament, but animation people? They just do it. Don’t you love ‘em?

Ron Diamond invited me to spend a day with the tour, in part to compare the pre-show buzz of the animation nominees in 2007 to the experience I had in 1989 when I was nominated for my short film Technlogical Threat.

That year, I shared the spotlight with John Lassiter (Tin Toy) and Cordell Barker (The Cat Came Back). But there wasn’t much of a pre-show spotlight to share. I recall the three of us getting together with our wives for dinner – and we split the check.

Bill Kroyer has a chance to have lunch with Kajsa Naess of Mikrofilm and Marcy Page of the NFB. © AWN Inc.

The animation industry has exploded since then, and with that explosion has come new and well-deserved attention to the artform’s honorees. At each stop on the Ron Diamond tour, the entire program of films is screened in 35mm, the nominees answer questions from the audience, tour the facility and have a catered lunch. These visits are squeezed between the various press and interview events.

The day I tagged along, the nominees visited Sony Imageworks, and, in an excursion that speaks volumes for the new esteem animation enjoys, CAA, the Creative Artists Agency.

CAA has just moved into their sleek new multi-million dollar headquarters in Century City, and we were informed that our program of five films was to be only the second screening to be held in the spanking new state-of-the-art theater. The rust showed a little when the projectionist managed to reveal the tail leader on Lifted, but otherwise the room lived up to its look.

In the Q&A that followed, you might have guessed that no questions were asked about the making of the films. The agents wanted to know about the marketing of the films. Who watches shorts? How do they make money? What’s happening to the industry in general?

Happily, the Academy’s new program of theatrical releasing the nominees, the advent of short films on iTunes, and the general health of the animation business made the answer a positive one.

At Sony, the Q&A was notable for the lack of questions. Ron said that it was not unusual to have very few questions from studio audiences. Why, you may ask? Maybe people don’t want to give the impression that they don’t know more than the guy sitting next to them.

I remember years ago at the Academy’s “Bake-off” (the night when the Visual Effects branch views potential FX nominees) when Richard Taylor had the same experience when he presented Tron. That picture featured the first-ever use of high-end computer graphics in a motion picture, and it was a certainty that not one member of the audience had ever used the technology. I can attest to that because we literally invented it as we made the picture.

Yet, in the Q&A, only one question: what kind of camera did you use?

Why no others? Richard always suspected that no one wanted to reveal they were behind the curve. There is another side to this, of course. Many of the animation crew in today’s audience actually do know how these films are made because they use the technology every day.

Then there are the human elements…

The Little Matchgirl is unusual for a Disney film – it has a tragic ending. Director Roger Allers fought for this, and it took literally years for him to achieve it. He accomplished it in a simple way – he outlasted the opposition. Management at the studio changed, but Roger’s vision will now be on film forever.

Maestro has the distinction of having the shortest credit list of any film. Director Geza M. Toth of Budapest, Hungary, had to teach himself how to use the software that he used to create the film.

Gary Rydstrom, director of Lifted, is famous for being the premiere sound designer on most of Pixar’s features. He could not attend the Sony screening because he was, we were told, behind schedule on a Pixar film with a release date of 2013.

Bill Kroyer (right) gets a chance to chat with No Time for Nuts director Chris Renaud at Sony. © AWN Inc.

Chris Renaud got a chance to direct No Time For Nuts because he won a competition at Blue Sky to come up with a new Scrat concept. Chris, a former comic book artist, boarded the whole film himself.

Torill Kove, director of The Danish Poet, made the film as a co-production between Canada and Norway by virtue of her own personal friendships. Although currently residing in Montreal and working at the National Film Board of Canada, she went to art school in the tiny coastal village of Volda, Norway, where she met the future founders of Mikrofilm, a tiny studio in Oslo that split the work with Canada.

Spending even a day with these nominees reminds me and reassures me of one of the enduring joys of animation. The artists really love their work, and that love translates into a common bond that trumps any barrier of age, distance or nationality.

In my mind, that’s the real benefit of the Ron Diamond tour. The industry is healthy, the industry makes money, the industry creates product. But what makes it special to those in it is that the industry makes art. The creators of the five honored films represent that in a very personal way.

This pilgrimage to the studio doesn’t serve as just a publicity event or parade of kudos. It’s an exercise in connection, a chance for all of us to bask in the glow. Not the Oscar glow, but the glow of remembering that we belong to a community of artists that can create something special.

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Ron’s Pics from DreamWorks, Fox, the Academy, Disney & ICM

oscartour — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:38:09 +0000

The group gathers for a photo op at DreamWorks. Don Hahn (l to r), Roger Allers, Katherine Sarafian, Chris Renaud, Gary Rydstrom, Marcy Page, Badgered director Sharon Colman, John Tarnoff, Torill Kove, Rick DeMott, Geza Toth and Lise Fearnley. © AWN Inc.

Here it is the long awaited gallery of select pics from Ron’s camera from the Oscar Showcase tour’s swing by DreamWorks, Fox, the Academy, Disney and ICM. There’s also a couple special pics at the end courtesy of No Time for Nuts director Mike Thurmeier.

Chris Renaud and No Time for Nuts producer Lori Forte lead the way along the beautiful DreamWorks campus. © AWN Inc.

Roger Allers catches up with Kathy Altieri, the production designer of The Lion King and DreamWorks upcoming How to Train Your Dragon. © AWN Inc.

Roger poses for a picture with Lorna Cook, the director of Spirit and DreamWorks' forthcoming How to Train Your Dragon. © AWN Inc.

Geza, Marcy and Katherine admire the NYC street set on the Fox lot. © AWN Inc.

This is much better New York weather than when Geza was stuck in the airport in the real NYC. © AWN Inc.

Lifted duo Katherine and Gary pose for a picture on the NYC set. © AWN Inc.

Group photo op on the Fox lot. Chris Renaud (l to r), Marcy Page, Katherine Sarafian, Gary Rydstrom, Geza Toth, Torill Kove, Don Hahn and Lise Fearnley. © AWN Inc.

The nominees field questions at Fox studios. © AWN Inc.

The nominees grab a bite to eat at Kate Mantellini's before heading over to the Academy screening. © AWN Inc.

Roger gets interviewed before the Academy screening. © AWN Inc.

The nominees field Taylor Hackford's questions. © AWN Inc.

The nominees and Taylor Hackford pose with the big gold guy. © AWN Inc.

Roger talks with Geza and Tamas before the Disney screening. © AWN Inc.

As Roger calls it, the animation oxymoron — Big Dwarves. © AWN Inc.

Torill answers questions about The Danish Poet after the Disney screening. © AWN Inc.

The curved, striped wall's vertigo causing effect made Roy Disney leave the office after two weeks. © AWN Inc.

An artsy shot up at the ceiling of the sorcerer's hat ceiling at Disney. © AWN Inc.

Thanks to Ed and John, offices were removed to make room for the new coffee lounge. © AWN Inc.

Marcy poses on the newly installed American Dog pod. © AWN Inc.

The nominees get a chance to mingle with ICM agents after the screening. © AWN Inc.

As the nominees and agents chat, ICM vice chairman Bob Broder introduces Ron to Henry Winkler (on left). © AWN Inc.

Roger considers what he'll draw in Ron's special guest book featuring drawings by Animation Show of Shows, Oscar Showcase and Acme/AWN guests. © AWN Inc.

No Time for Nuts director Mike Thurmeier had to leave the tour early to receive another special award.

Introducing Katelyn Ivy Thurmeier.

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Canadians, William Morris & the AWN/Acme Filmworks Oscar Party

oscartour — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:49:37 +0000

Torill Kove is the center as she receives a special certificate from the Canadian government. © AWN Inc.

I thought I was going to have Thursday morning to catch up, but I was wrong. Wednesday night Ron invited me to be his guest to the Canadian consulate general’s home for a lunch the next day. I’ve been to two previous Oscar functions at the Canadian consulate general’s beautiful house in Hancock Park and couldn’t pass up the chance to go again. The luncheon took place in the lovely courtyard in back by the pool. They were prepared for the rain and had tents and heaters set up, making it comfortable on the rainy L.A. day.

The consulate general made a brief speech congratulating all the Canadian nominees, which included The Danish Poet’s Torill Kove, Best Foreign Language production Water, Best Actor nominee Ryan Gosling, Best Screenplay nominee Paul Haggis and one of the sound editors from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Both Gosling and Haggis were no shows at the event. But Torill was quite happy to meet her favorite actress Laura Dern. But she was kind of embarrassed because she had one of those “why did I say that” moments when she told Laura Dern that she was her “all time favorite actress” or something like that. She shouldn’t feel bad; I think everyone in the industry has at least one of those moments. The first time I had the pleasure of interviewing Stan Lee, I ridiculously gushed to him at the end that much of my desire to get into creative endeavors was inspired by this work. I felt embarrassed afterward, but I couldn’t help it. But I digress. Then the consulate general introduced a member of the Canadian parliament. The parliament had passed a resolution formally congratulating all the Canadian nominees. Torill was presented with a nice certificate. I wonder if they know that No Time for Nuts co-director Mike Thurmeier is originally from Canada.

NFB composer Normand Roger chats with Ron Diamond Canadian consulate general's luncheon. © AWN Inc.

Ron introduced me to Marcy’s husband, Normand Roger, the famed composer at the NFB. He has scored such films as Tragic Story Happy Ending, Michael Dudok de Wit’s Father and Daughter, Aleksandr Petrov’s Oscar-winning The Old Man and the Sea, Frédéric Back’s Crac and Paul Driessen’s Cat’s Cradle. He had done sound work on Torill’s first Oscar nominated short, My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts. During lunch, Ron met a woman who participated in the same Jewish youth organization he was part of when he was in high school. He’s certain that she has to have been in some of the photos he has. As they reminisced about people and place they had in common, I listened in about Danish Poet producer Lise Fearnley’s trip to Africa where receiving medical treatment for her son’s sore throat was quite an experience. Later in the day, Torill said that Lise normally only gets about four hours sleep a day, because of her busy schedule balancing between family, working at the Norwegian Broadcast Company and producing other films.

Torill Kove smiles for the camera with Barrie Nelson and Marcy Page. © AWN Inc.

Legendary director Norman Jewison was there and he congratulated Torill and told her that he loved her film. Pat Dillon from the NFB was nice enough to give him a copy of the film. Later I sat down with Marcy and Barrie Nelson, a veteran animator from such productions as the Hubley’s Windy Day and Watership Down. Ron had distributed Barrie’s films when he was 21 and was the first person he met in the animation industry. Barrie and a Canadian student named Jo, who is studying at UCLA, were discussing how animators describe things using sounds, which to many non-animation folk is strange. Barrie said he’s had many a weird look from people after a sentence containing “whips,” “blams” and “plops.”

With the rain coming down harder, Ron was gracious enough to drive Torill, Marcy and myself to the Oscar Showcase screening at the Aidikoff Screening Room for the William Morris agency. Chris Renaud was already there when we arrived. The topic of whether Chris lived in New York his whole life came up and he said he was originally from Baltimore, Maryland, but went to high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Allentown! I’m from Allentown, I said. He asked what high school I went to (which was Salisbury) and he had gone to Parkland, where my cousin went. Chris is going to introduce me to his friend from high school who works for ABC, because he went to Penn State where I went to college. Ron meets someone from his youth group and I find out that an Oscar nominee went to Parkland in the same day. How strange are those coincidences?

The nominees discuss their films with the agents from William Morris. © AWN Inc.

When the agents arrived, we headed into the screening room. As has become the tradition, Ron introduced the nominees. With the addition of agencies to the tour, the nominees are really getting a chance to make new connections and in roads. The crowd of a dozen or so was receptive to the shorts and seemed to enjoy Lifted and Maestro quite a bit. Afterward, the agents were eager to ask questions — surprisingly more so than many of the animation studio screening crowds. They wondered how long it took to make the films, which ranged from 10 months for Maestro and No Time for Nuts to five years for Little Matchgirl. Geza was asked what the inspiration for his film was and this time he said that it was originally created as an informational piece for his students to illustrate a film that used a single camera move. Geza and Tamas had a chance to hand out copies of their film to the agents, who all wanted a copy. One of the agents told Chris that Scrat was a very popular character with her kids. A Canadian agent had been at the consulate earlier in the day and was happy to have received a trusty NFB/Danish Poet lens cleaner, which they have been passing out along the tour. I must say as a man who wears glasses; it’s a first-rate glasses cloth, despite Marcy’s earlier hesitancy with what she felt was a strange thing to hand out. Well, now when my glasses are smudged, I’ll think — where’s the NFB when I need them? Making the event even more special was the presence of Hollywood fixture Charles Aidikoff, who was celebrating his 92nd birthday. He was proud to show us his birthday toy — a Lexus hardtop convertible.

After the screening, Ron took Torill, Marcy and myself to a nice jewelry store called First Hand. Torill was looking to accessorize for the Oscars. Apparently it wasn’t the first Oscar nominee to have come into the store that day, but the owner wouldn’t tell us who had beat us there. Because of the time constraints of getting to the AWN/Acme Filmworks party, Torill couldn’t make a discussion and was thwarted on finding new spangles for the big night.

We arrived at Joseph’s Café in Hollywood right on time for the party. I introduced AWN’s Andy Strum and Michelle Lima to Torill and Marcy. Before too long, the party was filled. Don Hahn and Chris Renaud came. Geza Toth had to attend the Miramax party at the same time. The best was their reactions to Roger Allers drawing in Ron’s black book, which includes sketches from Acme artists, guests and other Oscar Showcase tour veterans. Roger drew a picture of the Little Matchgirl from the end of the film with Scrat and the time machine popping up in the scene. Hilarious.

Bill Kroyer and Don Hahn at the AWN/Acme Filmworks Oscar cocktail party. © AWN Inc.

The party was a chance for the nominees to meet or catch up with other artists and animation pros like Milch director Igor Kovalyov, Frank Gladstone, Bill Kroyer, Platform Animation Fest’s Irene Kotlarz and Marilyn Zornado and Bob Balser, the animation director on Yellow Submarine. AWN’s Sarah Baisley shared stories with Don Hahn about her time at California State Northridge, where Don went to school, as well as her time at Hanna-Barbera. Don found it interesting how tough, but fun, it was to be in animation during the ’80s. He said when the surge in the ’90s happened and artists right out of college were making big bucks, it was veterans like him and Tom Sito who said save your money, it won’t always be like this. Again Don expressed his happiness about participating on the tour and getting to meet everyone and reconnecting with people he hasn’t seen in years. Don and one of the artists he hadn’t seen in years have been exchanging emails of their painting over the past couple of days since running into each other on the tour.

Don felt the same as many other Oscar tour participants of the past that he’ll be happy for whomever wins because the films are so solid this year and all the filmmakers are such wonderful people. Hearing stories, about Michael Dudok de Wit using tealeaves to create his latest film, makes him want to create his own personal film in his garage. It’s funny that he said that because the tour has made me want to animate as well. He encouraged me to do it. It’s inspiring to be around such talent. Ron asked Torill earlier in the day if the nomination would influence her next film and she said that in a good way it will push her to make a better film and take the time to work out the areas that she is unsatisfied with.

The party was a wonderful way to unwind from the busy week. The food at Joseph’s is always great and you have to see the cake. Tomorrow, the tour swings by Sony Animation for a studio tour, screening and luncheon followed by a screening at the agency CAA. And I know everyone is waiting for the wonderful pics, which will be up very soon I promise.

Mmmmmmm... cake! © AWN Inc.

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Guess Whom the Nominees Ran Into at Disney & ICM?

oscartour — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:50:36 +0000

The Disney leg of the Oscar Tour poses for a pic in front of the studio. Courtesy of Disney.

Officially one week of the Oscar Tour is up and we’re nearing the home stretch. Today was less crazed than yesterday, but still wonderfully eventful nonetheless. The day was a home coming for Roger and Don. Every time we turned a corner someone was ecstatic to see them. After Tenny Chonin, head of artistic development at Disney Features, introduced the screening, Don took us on a special tour of the old animation building across the street from the new animation complex (you know, the building with the big hat on it). On the way, even, someone crossing the street lit up when he saw Don and pleaded him to come back to work soon. He has been like the Zen master of the group. His peaceful nature is just unforgettable. I had thought before that it must be a pleasure to work for him and after today I think many of the Disney employees confirmed my feeling.

Ed Catmull and John Lasseter surprised to run into the Oscar nominees. © AWN Inc.

Right as Don got into the swing of his tour guide mode, he goes “and there’s John Lasseter and Ed Cutmall coming our way.” And sure enough everyone turns around and there is John and Ed. I think John was just as surprised to run into a crowd of Oscar nominees as we were to run into him. Ron introduced everyone to John and Ed. Having seen all the shorts, John was complimentary to all the nominees. Marcy has known John for years and he gave her a big hug when he saw her. Marcy reminisced about when back in the day John was her tour guide around Pixar. John asked about Frédéric Back and Marcy was sad to report that he isn’t doing well. His wife suffered a stroke recently and he was skin cancer. After each of the filmmakers had a chance to chat with John, he and Ed had to leave. Now that was a seriously awesome star sighting.

Oscar Tour poses at the corner of Dopey Drive & Mickey Lane. Roger Allers (l to r), Geza Toth, Marcy Page, Tamas Liszkas, Torill Kove, Lise Fearnley, Don Hahn, Chris Renaud, Katherine Sarafian, VFXWorld editor Bill Desowitz, Ron Diamond & AWN co-founder Dan Sarto. © AWN Inc.

Don resumed the tour taking us into the old animation building. A tunnel runs underground connecting the animation building to the ink & paint building so that cels never had to be transported outside. Don also pointed out Walt Disney’s corner office. Throughout the building, there’s great artwork hung on the walls from the classic films. Don pointed to a beautiful Lion King background and commented that it was still hard for him to see projects he worked on at Disney up on the wall alongside classics like Snow White.

We made it back to the packed auditorium just as the final film was hitting the mid-point. Ron introduced the filmmakers and opened it up for questions. The audience asked similar questions about the inspiration for the shorts and distribution means. Marcy was very happy to share the fact that the Magnolia Pictures compilation film of the Oscar shorts that is playing in the U.S. finished 44th at the box office in its debut weekend. I went and looked up the stats — it’s playing on 38 screens and garnered a per screen average of $2,781, which is almost a $1,000 better than the 7th ranked film, Hannibal Rising, scored per screen.

Disney employees stood in line to get into the packed screening. © AWN Inc.

The final question asked was what everyone is working on. Geza is working on a new 3D animated short, which will be completed later in the year. Chris is working on Horton Hears a Who. Torill isn’t finished with The Danish Poet; she’s working on a picture book based on the film. Marcy is producing shorts at the NFB with Chris Landreth, Chris Hinton and Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis. Lise Fearnley is working at the Norwegian Broadcast company as well as producing two additional shorts. Katherine Sarafian is producing Lifted director Gary Rydstrom’s next project. Roger is working on the book for a Broadway musical, titled Grasshopper. Don said he was working on changing the oil in his car this afternoon.

After the Q&A, we were again treated to a nice lunch. I joked with Lise that after the tour I’m really going to have to go back to the gym, because I’ve been fed so well. Ron encouraged everyone to sit by people they don’t know so that everyone could get more out of the experience. I’m glad he did, because I had a wonderful chance to chat with Lise. In Norway, The Danish Poet’s nomination is a big deal, because it’s only one of five or six nominations the country has ever received. And two of them have gone to Torill. However, Lise said that many of the Norwegian film fan sites were debating for months which Norwegian film would get an Oscar nod and when the Norwegian entry didn’t even make the Foreign Language category shortlist, they were writing off any Norwegian nods at all. It goes to show that all around the world shorts aren’t even on the radar. But it also shows how much an Oscar nomination sends them into orbit.

Everyone chats over lunch at Disney. But whose job is it to water the flower in the middle of the table? © AWN Inc.

I asked Lise, “how big will it be in Norway, if Torill wins? Will they throw a parade and erect statues in her honor?” She laughed and said, “We hope so.” But she also made an interesting comment about he nature of fame and success in Norway. Norwegians, she said, seem to hate people who get too famous. Some very much rejected the idea of Liv Ullmann providing the voice over for the film. It’s surprising that in the States several people, including myself, couldn’t think of a better voice. Ullman’s tone and delivery matches Torill’s low-key, sardonic humor perfectly. As for distribution, she told me that in the main theater in Oslo, there is a free screening at 6 pm on weekends of short Norwegian productions. Additionally, studios in Norway still have the opportunity to distribute their films before feature films much like the U.S. in the 1940s. However, just like the States now, the theaters want shorter shorts around five minutes long so that they can fit in more screenings of the features in a day.

After we all finished eating, we were treated to a thorough tour of the new animation studio. Our tour guide Jay took us first into the new coffee lounge, which was proposed courtesy of John Lasseter as an area for the artists to gather, relax and communicate. Disney provides an extensive reference library for the artists to use for inspiration and a recording of the Oscar Showcase will be added to that collection. The building is set up to hold two full productions. Each production has its own pod. Currently, the studio is about to wrap on Meet the Robinsons and is gearing up to finish American Dog. The various pods are filled with artwork and style inspirations. American Dog has a very unique look unlike anything Disney has made in CG thus far. The style is inspired by the work of painter Edward Hopper. Some of the cinematic references that were posted include Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Thelma and Louise. The pods are also decorated in a similar style to that of the picture. The American Dog pod includes an authentic 1950s dinner and refrigerator.

Ever wonder what’s in the sorcerer’s apprentice’s hat, which tops the animation building at Disney? Well, originally it was Roy Disney’s office, however the curved, striped walls cause a feeling of vertigo. An interesting factoid about the room was that at the time it was built, Roy smoked and was going to be the only person allowed to smoke in the building. So a special air ventilation system was installed in the sorcerer hat bookshelf so that the smoke would be filtered outside. However, Roy quit smoking soon before moving into the office, which he only stayed in for two weeks anyway. Now the room is used as a conference room. And another secret factoid that Jay shared was that the middle star in the bookshelf actually pops out to provide access to the ventilation system, which was something no one knew about until someone investigated why the middle star was the only star on the bookshelf to have a dark border around it.

Next we ventured up to the third floor were development of future projects takes place. The first short we saw artwork from was the new 2D Goofy short, How To Install Your Home Theater, which will return Goofy to his popular “How To” shorts, which were popular in the ’40s and ’50s. The project is being co-directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers. Katherine commented that she has seen the Goofy short at Pixar and promises that it’s hilarious. The next film was a CG short titled, Golgo’s Guest, where a Russian frontier guard meets a space alien. Chris Williams is doing double directing duty, juggling both Golgo’s and American Dog. The stark design style of Golgo’s matches the Siberian setting nicely. The design of the main character is wonderful as well. There’s a lived in look to the character’s face that I liked. We also saw two sketches from the two other shorts in development — The Ballad of Nessie, an origin story of the Loch Ness monster, and Prep and Landing, which has two hapless elves wreck havoc on a house in preparation for Santa’s arrival. Jay told us that John Lasseter likes the Prep and Landing idea so much that he’s considering turning into an ABC Christmas special. Last, but not least, we were able to gaze upon the character and production designs for Glen Keane’s Rapunzel. Keeping true to the original fairy tale, the look of the film is like Victorian paintings coming to life. If the CG looks anything like what Tenny described to us, it’s going to be breathtaking.

With the tour coming to a close, the nominees were appreciative of being given the chance to see things that others do not get to see. We had to say good-bye to Katherine who was hopping into a cab to head back to Pixar while the rest of the group was headed to the agency ICM. No Time for Nuts producer Lori, who works around the corner from ICM at Fox, joined us for the second screening of the day. Robert Lazar greeted us and told us that the screening was the first in their new swank screening room. Attending the screening was ICM vice chairman Bob Broder, who had warm congratulations for all. The shorts went over pretty well. Afterward, the agents mingled with the nominees, chatting with the filmmakers of their favorite shorts. And the nominees were treated to a second surprise celebrity sighting of the day when Henry Winkler came into the lobby to talk to Bob Broder.

That closed another filled day on the Oscar Showcase tour. Tomorrow, I’ll be accompanying Ron to an NFB luncheon at the Canadian consulate, followed by a screening of the shorts at the William Morris agency. Check back soon for new updated pictures in this post as well as a new photo gallery with some great pictures from DreamWorks, the Academy screening and Disney as well as Mike’s beautiful baby girl.

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Katzenberg, Fox Lot, Mirren: Another Whirlwind Day on the Oscar Tour

oscartour — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:03:22 +0000

Well, I just got back from the Academy screening, which closed another whirlwind day on the Oscar Showcase tour. In addition, to Roger, Don, Marcy, Geza and Tamas, Gary Rydstrom, Lifted producer Katherine Sarafian (who we’d all meet at the Pixar screening), Torill Kove, The Danish Poet’s Norwegian producer Lise Fearnley, co-director of No Time for Nuts Chris Renaud and No Time for Nuts producer Lori Forte all joined the fun. Mike Thurmeier is back in New York with his wife and we’re happy to announce their new daughter has arrived. Her named is Katelyn Ivy. She was born on Feb. 18th at 2:23 in the afternoon. She was 21 inches long and a healthy 8lbs 10ozs!!!

We began our day at DreamWorks, where we were greeted by John Tarnoff, the head of the studio’s “incubator” department, which develops the initial artistic designs and storyboards for the company’s feature animated films. Jeffery Katzenberg came to meet the nominees and introduce the screening. He commented that the current renaissance in animated shorts is inspiring. He added that one of his dreams when he started in the industry was to be involved with a project that was nominated for an Academy Award, because it was an acknowledgement from your peers, and told the nominees to cherish this moment. In addition, he was delighted to finally have Roger and Don, who he worked with at Disney, visit the DreamWorks studio. During the screening, Jeffery requested a private screening of Lifted, which Ron provided for him. The audience at the screening was receptive and had many of the same questions that artists at the other studios had such as “what was your inspiration” and “how long did it take to make the film?”

Over lunch, DreamWorks animators Simon Otto and Fabio Lignini discuss filmmaking with The Danish Poet producer Lise Fearnley. © AWN Inc.

Following the screening, we were treated to lunch with some of the artists, which included last year’s Oscar nominee Sharon Colman, and executives from DreamWorks. Simon Otto, who has been an animator at DreamWorks since The Prince of Egypt, and Fabio Lignini, who is head of character animation on Bee Movie, wanted to know more about Geza and his film Maestro. Simon asked why Geza made the film and with his trademark sly grin, Geza said, “So that I can meet all of you.” All joking aside, Geza loves meeting other animators and talking about the filmmaking process.

Simon seemed a bit envious of animators who can make shorts just because they have a need to express themselves. This was especially so when The Danish Poet producer Lise Fearnley answered Simon’s question to “why her company would want to make a short film if there were no chance of making money,” by saying, “because we wanted to make this film.” Simon, who was also trained in 2D, seemed very impressed to hear that Maestro was Geza’s first CG film and that the character animation and intricate camera moves were done together. Having the ability and means to do anything you want inside a big studio, Simon observed, is a hindrance to innovation sometimes.

After our nice lunch, the nominees were treated to some DreamWorks shwag. John Tarnoff gave us a tour of the studio, which started off with the famed conference room. The new additions to the tour were just as marveled with the high-tech facility as the rest of us were when we saw the PDI/DreamWorks mirror version last week. We got to walk through the animation building and gaze upon the artwork for the upcoming films. Roger admired the character design work of Nicolas Marlet and the production design work of Pierre-Olivier Vincent on How to Train Your Dragon. We also learned that Madagascar 2, or Madagascar: The Crate Escape, will have Alex the lion meeting his family in Africa on his way back to the zoo. The new characters for the sequel still retain the wonderful angular design style of the original. Torill said that on Christmas day her daughter was uninterested in opening presents and was more excited about watching Madagascar again. Another nice treat was the chance to peak in the offices of the animators, especially Dave Burgess who’s hard at work on Bee Movie. Rumor has it that Jerry Seinfeld will be at the DreamWorks brunch on Saturday. Check back later to find out if that’s true.

Next on the day’s lineup was the debut Oscar Showcase screening at Fox. Having a bit of spare time before the screening, we were let loose on the Fox lot. The photo op over on the old New York set was irresistible. While we were there the conversation turned to a very important Oscar concern — what are you wearing? Katherine had picked out a dress she liked, but when her friends objected she felt obligated to go with their choice. Torill had friends help her pick out a dress, but was unhappy with the beige color. When she showed her husband, he simply said, “no” and she went back to the store and picked out another. Geza’s designer friend begged him to let her make his suit for the awards show. Marcy is living out a childhood fantasy and wearing a red Spanish flamenco style gown. Chris is sporting the Calvin Klein tux that he wore at his wedding while Gary is just happy that long ties are en vogue again so he doesn’t have to struggle getting his bowtie just right.

Fox Animation vp John Cohen and president Vanessa Morrison meet the nominees, including Katherine Sarafian (foreground), Lori Forte (l to r), Chris Renaud and Gary Rydstrom. © AWN Inc.

As we arrived back at The Little Theater for the screening, Ron introduced all the nominees to Vanessa Morrison, the new president of Fox Animation. She was very excited to see the films and Geza and Torill had a chance to give her copies of their films. While the screening took place, Geza was whisked away to encounter the dreaded Errol Morris interview for the Academy documentary. I had warned Geza that Mike and Roger had said that the interview with Morris was strange. However, it seems that Geza had no problem with the Interrotron. Ron told me that he came off very charming. As for questions from the small crowd, they were similar to the other studios. However, unique to Fox was an applause for Roger in fighting to keep the ending he wanted for Little Matchgirl.

From Fox, we hopped in our cars and headed to Beverly Hills for the Academy Shorts screening. It was lucky that I met up with Geza and Tamas, because I wasn’t on the guest list and ended up slipping in as Tamas’ guest. Knowing Oscar nominees is already paying off. In a very Hollywood fashion, there was a small section set up for press to interview the nominees. As Academy receptions usually are, the crowd was a collection of Academy members and the nominees with their guests. Photographers with print outs of what the nominees looked like buzzed around the room snapping photos. Academy staff collected the nominees for a nice group photo as well.

Because Taylor Hackford, director of Ray, was the host of the evening, his wife and Oscar nominee Helen Mirren was at the event. She was very receptive when meeting Geza and Torill. As a fan, Marcy was delighted to meet the star of the Best Picture nominated The Queen. Tamas grabbed me to take pictures of Geza hobnobbing with movie stars so that they can send the picture back to Hungary. It’s kind of nice to think that my picture could be in every Hungarian newspaper in the not so distant future.

During the reception, I had a chance to talk with Lori, who used to work on live-action sitcoms before coming into animation. Crazy as it sounds she is busily unpacking the boxes in her new home in L.A. before jetting off to New York where she will be staying for the next two years producing a new animated feature at Blue Sky. Throughout the day, I had a chance to talk with Torill, who seemed more interested in finding out how I got wrapped up in animation then answering questions about herself. The humble filmmaker seems uneasy about all the praise she has been getting. But the day couldn’t have ended any better for her. The sold-out crowd loved her film, receiving choruses of laughs throughout. I actually heard an audible gasp of dismay during the screening of The Danish Poet when the mailman loses the lover’s letter. However, The Danish Poet wasn’t the only film that had the audience in stitches. All the films (except for Little Matchgirl for obvious reasons) all received huge laughs. Having been a part of the tour for almost week now and having gotten to know the filmmakers, it was strangely gratifying for myself to live vicariously through their experience. It’s the kind of audience everyone hopes for. I was so happy for everyone and eagerly awaited the next joke, knowing what was in store for the audience next.

The screening was followed up with a short Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by Hackford, who asked the filmmaker about their inspiration for the various films. Torill said The Danish Poet was inspired by a time in her life when she wondered about how she got to where she was in life. Gary’s wonderful sense of humor shined through in saying his film was an act of revenge on years as a soundman. Roger and Don said they had loved the original Hans Christian Andersen story and felt the pre-revolution Russian setting fit the material best. And apparently the Borodin piece of music fit the original storyboards so well that only bits had to be cut. Geza’s witty response was that he wanted to make a successful film and this was the story he came up with. Chris said that when Blue Sky wanted to make a new Scrat short, he thought it would be a good idea to take a cue from classic Looney Tunes shorts where Daffy Duck started out as a duck in the marsh and ended up as Robin Hood.

Director Taylor Hackford poses with animated shorts nominees -- Roger Allers (l to r), Don Hahn, Gary Rydstrom, Torill Kove, Chris Renaud and Geza Toth. © AWN Inc.

Hackford’s second question was how the filmmakers got into animation. Torill originally studied urban planning, but found it unfulfilling. So she contacted an animation professor she made meet and studied for a year. Then she showed her portfolio at the NFB and landed a post as an assistant. She worked up ideas on her own and eventually pitched them and her first short, My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts, was nominated for an Oscar. Gary said he took the quick way into animation and worked for 20 years in sound. When he was offered the chance to make an animated short at Pixar he jumped at it. He said that he saw a level of control in animation that was similar to post-production, which was appealing. Roger said he was sold on being in animation when he was 6 years old and saw his first Disney film. Don, who was a music major in college, got an assistant job in the archive department at Disney. Upon meeting such legendary animators as Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Grim Natwick, he was hooked. He started out as a clean-up artist and eventually moved into producing, which lead to him eventually becoming president of feature animation. Geza had debated on becoming a pharmacist, but felt animation was the only way he could truly express himself. Chris started as an illustrator for comics and applied to Blue Sky when they first began work on Ice Age.

During the intermission, many in the crowd came up to the filmmakers and expressed how much they loved their films. It seems to me this screening will be hard to top. Tomorrow is yet another busy day with a screening at Disney and our first agency screening at ICM, which will be very interesting.

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Ron’s Oscar Tour Pics from Skywalker Ranch & Pixar

oscartour — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:13:45 +0000

While you wait for more details from the San Fran leg of the tour. Here’s some more pics to check out from Skywalker Ranch and Pixar, courtesy of Ron.

Before the Ranch, we had dinner with ILM. Rick DeMott (r to l), Roger Allers, journalist Barbara Robertson, ILM animator Steve Rowlins & Clone Wars' Athena Yvette Portillo. © AWN Inc.

Roger gets a closer look at what appears to be a gorgeous original Maxfield Parrish painting at Skywalker Ranch. © AWN Inc.

Monster, Inc. director Pete Docter chats with Roger Allers while Mike Thurmeier talks with Gary Rydstrom in the background. © AWN Inc.

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Ron’s Oscar Tour San Fran Pics Gallery

oscartour — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:43:09 +0000

Outside the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood Shores. Rick DeMott (l to r), Mike Thurmeier, Marcy Page, Roger Allers, Don Hahn & Ron Diamond. © AWN Inc.

Ron and I snapped quite a few pictures during the San Fran leg of the tour. Here’s a gallery of some of the pics that Ron took. Keep checking back for more exclusive photos from the Oscar Tour.

Bob Nicoll (center left) shows us around the expansive EA campus.

The nominees check out PDI/DreamWorks state-of-the-art conference room, which is link directly to the L.A. studio. © AWN Inc.

The nominees have lunch with PDI/DreamWorks head Gloria Borders and Beauty and the Beast director Gary Trousdale (right of Gloria). © AWN Inc.

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