12
02
2008
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| Suzie Templeton holds the grandfather puppet from Peter and the Wolf. |
Suzie Templeton, director of Peter and the Wolf, has taken some time to answer The Six Questions. Like many of the other nominees, she is passionate about filmmaking, not about receiving awards. However, she hopes the Oscar experience gives her a chance to expand the scope of her work. Here is what she had to say:
Rick: How did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Suzie: I knew we had a good chance of being nominated as the Academy had already let me know that Peter and the Wolf was on the shortlist of nine and that five would be nominated. On the day, I was working in the studio with [animator] Rosto and his assistant Elte. I banned them from talking about it as I was getting so nervous and then I checked the Oscar website in the afternoon and there we were! And then the phones all started ringing and Rosto gave me some flowers and champagne and whisked me off to dinner!
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2008, Peter and the Wolf
12
02
2008
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| Would you have the guts to sneak into John Lennon's hotel room? © Josh Raskin. |
I Met the Walrus director Josh Raskin and Jerry Levitan have written in to answer The Six Questions. If you don’t already know about their film, it’s based on audiotapes that Jerry made as a teen when he snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room and asked for an interview. Josh then transformed the sound recordings into a whirlwind of images that depict and comment on what is being said. The funny and poignant film says just as much about Jerry as it does about the rock ‘n roll icon Lennon. Here is what Jerry had to say:
Rick: How did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Jerry: I was stuck on a hill in a snowstorm driving my six-year-old to school. My girlfriend called me.
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2008, I Met the Walrus
7
02
2008
Even Pigeons Go To Heaven was a project that director Sam Tourneux started then abandoned. Well, I’m sure he’s glad that he picked it back up again. Here is what the filmmaker had to say about his film and the Oscar experience thus far.
Rick: How did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Sam: Someone called me when I had friends over for dinner. It was someone who speaks English. I needed time to switch my brain in the English mode, but I understood: “…academy… motion picture…. Congratulations!!!” So I answered, “Yes ?! Thank you!” But I didn’t really understand what it was all about. When I hung up, I had a few ideas of what they were calling about: “Is it the Oscars ?!” So the day after, I called my distribution company who told me that I was in the top 10 for the nomination. A few weeks later I was stuck to the Internet waiting for the announcement… And the dream came true…
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2008, Even Pigeons Go to Heaven
7
02
2008
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| Hugh Welchman |
Hugh Welchman, who is nominated for producing Peter and the Wolf, has answered the Six Questions. From concept to today, he has been involved with this film for seven years! It’s a major part of his life and he’s happy that the Oscar nod will allow more people to see the labor of love. Here’s what he had to say:
Rick: How did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Hugh: I was told by the Academy that it would be announced at 2:30 pm UK time on their website, at the same time as the television broadcast, so we were all working away at our office, when at 2:00 pm we suddenly got inundated with emails, texts and phone calls!!! So that is how we found out! We had about 30 calls/texts/emails within half an hour!
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2008, Peter and the Wolf
6
02
2008
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| Marcy (right) celebrating with the The Danish Poet team after the Oscar win last year. © AWN Inc. |
I sent out six questions to the nominees and producers of the nominated shorts. I’m hoping everyone will have time to answer them before the Tour begins, however I know how unbelievably busy they are at the moment. Marcy Page, producer of Madame Tutli-Putli and Oscar Tour alum, has written back and here is what she had to say about the Oscar experience, as well as the eye-catching stop-motion film that she worked on. (Okay, that was a pun I couldn’t resist).
Rick: How did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Marcy: My husband, Normand, and I listened to the Academy announcement on television in the morning in Montreal and when Kathy Bates stopped after the major film nomination categories, I immediately went to the website and saw Madame Tutli-Putli listed with the other short animated films. I screamed. And hugged Normand who was not only excited for me but also because of Petrov’s nomination for My Love (he had composed the music for the sound track). So we hugged and screamed. I then immediately called Chris and Maciek, who were at the Sundance Festival. It was around 5:45 am for them but Chris was already up, having checked the Academy site himself. He had just called and woken Maciek. We basically exchanged a lot of inarticulate exclamations of delight and amazement and hysterical laughter. When I got off the phone, it immediately rang and I was surprised and happy to hear Ron Diamond’s voice calling with congratulations. I think I was relatively restrained and I don’t think I screamed in his ear (too much). Then Mia Desroches, our new NFB marketing coordinator, called and I’m sure I did scream again. That sort of thing seemed to play out all day at the NFB.
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2008, Madame Tutli-Putli
13
02
2007
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| Roger Allers |
Today we get the second part of our Little Matchgirl interviews — this time chatting with director Roger Allers. The veteran Disney story man made his directing debut on The Lion King. Talk about hitting one out of the ballpark on your first at bat. Allers not only worked with producer Don Hahn on The Lion King, but also the Oscar nominated Beauty and the Beast. Allers, who wasn’t even awake when the nominations were announced, doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who makes films to win awards, however, I still wanted to find out what the Oscar experience has been like for him as well as his feelings about making Matchgirl and his other work.
Rick: I talked to [Little Matchgirl producer] Don Hahn and he said that he had called you in the morning and left a message on your answering machine on the morning of the nominations, when you heard that message what was your feeling?
Roger: Actually, I didn’t hear his message first. I was still up in bed and the phone was down in my home office so I didn’t hear the message. I heard the phone ring, but I didn’t hear it. It was actually a call I got up to answer, which was from an animator friend who actually worked on the show. But, be that as it may, it was thrilling. It was a big thrill. Before that I wasn’t thinking about it very much and I was surprised at how much it sort of made my head spin (laughs).
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2007, Little Matchgirl
9
02
2007
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| Don Hahn |
As a precursor to the tour, I had a chance to talk with Little Matchgirl producer Don Hahn about what the Oscar experience has been like thus far. He’s not an Oscar newbie by any stretch, having been nominated for producing Beauty and the Beast and the animated short Lorenzo. He was also behind mega-hits such as The Lion King and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I talked to him over the phone and his voice was genial and he seemed very humbled by the experience. I look forward to meeting him in person as we kick off the tour next week in San Fran. Well with no further ado, here’s what he had to say.
Rick: The first question is — how did you hear about your nomination? Did you wait up? Did someone call you?
Don: (laughing) No, I got up early and I actually went to the Internet at about 5 or 6 in the morning in my pajamas and saw it there. And I just couldn’t believe it. It was just great to have the work of these artists that made this movie getting acknowledged. You know it’s not always that way and there are so many great contenders for the short films this year, it’s really nice to hear the announcement that we were nominated.
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Categories : Interviews, Oscar Tour 2007, Little Matchgirl
