AWN Oscar Travelogue » Jeffrey Katzenberg

Animated Shorts Celebration At DreamWorks

24 02 2009

Me on the left with This Way Up director Alan Smith.

written by Rick Farmiloe

I was lucky enough to be included in part of the Oscar Showcase tour this year. Every year the nominees for animated short films are given a tour and luncheon at some of the animation studios here in the Los Angeles area. The organizer of these celebrations, Ron Diamond, invited me to join them at DreamWorks on the last day of the tour. Ron and I are on the Executive Committee of the Short Films/Animation Branch of the Academy, and see scores of animated shorts every year. There is always a wide range of styles and ideas presented in various mediums. It’s always interesting to see which ones will make the final cut for the Oscar nominations. This year the field was exceptionally strong, with every film being quite unique and different from the rest. Meeting the filmmakers and hearing about their thought process and methods of getting it on the screen was extremely interesting and inspiring.

Everyone gathered outside the Campanile Building where the theater is located. There would be a screening for the DreamWorks staff, then a question and answer period with the filmmakers afterwards. It was fun to meet the filmmakers beforehand and mingle around a bit. The director of PRESTO, Doug Sweetland, could not attend this day, unfortunately. This was the last of the tour stops, so they were very friendly with each other by this point. There seemed to be a common bond, regardless of language or background. They were joined together by a love and passion for filmmaking and animation. There was absolutely no competitive vibe among them. They were just all together as filmmakers, celebrating the animated art form. Jeffrey Katzenberg showed, and greeted everyone very warmly, making everyone associated with this tour feel extremely welcome. Jeffrey is one of animation’s biggest fans and supporters.

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Categories : Personal Musings, People, Tour Destinations, DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Lavatory Lovestory, La Maison en Petits Cubes, Oktapodi, This Way Up, Oscar Tour 2009

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

21 02 2007

Jeffrey Katzenberg introduces the screening at DreamWorks. © AWN Inc.

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?”

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Categories : Personal Musings, Oscar Tour 2007, 20th Century Fox, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, DreamWorks Animation, Lifted, No Time for Nuts, The Danish Poet, Little Matchgirl, Maestro, Jeffrey Katzenberg

A Long Day Rewarded With A Night at Skywalker Ranch

16 02 2007

Don Hahn (l to r), Roger Allers, Ron Diamond, Mike Thurmeier and Marcy Page talking about their films at PDI/DreamWorks. © AWN Inc.

Thursday was an absolute whirlwind day on the tour. I couldn’t possibly write everything interesting that was said during the course of the day. So I’m going to set out to recap the day in full, but tease you with details to come later.

Roger Allers and Don Hahn meet the rest of us at our hotel and we ventured right down the street to EA. Boy, that seems like days ago and not just this morning. Our host Bob Nicoll showed us the immense campus, which has pool tables and videogame systems set up in a common area for the employees to use. A Starbucks is even opening up in the building so that the employees don’t have to leave to get their caffeine fix in the morning. During crunch times, the studio brings in oil change services, masseurs and dry cleaners to help the employees balance their personal lives with their busy schedules.

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Categories : Personal Musings, Oscar Tour 2007, ILM, Skywalker Ranch, PDI/DreamWorks, EA, No Time for Nuts, The Danish Poet, Little Matchgirl, Maestro, Jeffrey Katzenberg

John Canemaker’s Thoughts on The Oscar Experience

8 02 2007

Canemaker & producer Peggy Stern

It’s exciting to able to share with the rest of the community the thoughts and experiences of the Oscar nominees. And it’s a great pleasure to share with you today the feelings of last year’s Oscar winner John Canemaker. The Moon and the Son director tells us why the Oscar Tour was such a special event in the whole Oscar extravaganza. Here is what he had to say:
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