Madame Tutli-directors Chris Lavis (l) and Maciek Szczerbowski (2nd r) share a laugh with Maciek's mother and the head of the NFB Tom Perlmutter. © 2008 AWN Inc.

The night before the Big Night was a chance for the animation community to come together for the 18th 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. 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. View the fun that was had by all.

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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.

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