AWN Oscar Travelogue

Animated Shorts Celebration At DreamWorks

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:07:47 +0000

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.

Jeffrey Katzenberg gives an introduction to the screening.

He introduced the filmmakers to the audience before the showing. The films were shown to a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience. The theater was absolutely packed, with several people standing. Questions were then asked of the filmmakers as to what their inspiration were in making their particular films. Why the style it was made in? How long did it take, etc? The one common thread that ran through the answers was that the filmmakers wanted to keep things simple and direct. They felt the film could only communicate well if it was kept simple. When you only have a few minutes to tell a story, it’s important to not have too many distractions to confuse the audience, thus keeping them involved.

It was also interesting that there was almost NO dialogue in any of the films. This was also a means to keep things simple and communicate to variety of audiences worldwide. There was no language barrier problem because of this choice.

Kunio Kato explains the making of his Oscar-winning film.

The director of LA MAISON EN PETIS CUBES, Kunio Kato said that his inspiration for his film about a man who relives his past through building layers onto his house, was simply the idea of houses building additions on top of their structure. The plot of the man revisiting points in his life came later. Kunio is a painter, who feels through animation he can express his art more fully and communicate his ideas better.

The directors of OKTAPADI (about two octopi in love) felt it was best to keep the idea very simple and have the two get separated and try to reunite. They wanted no dialogue to keep it visual, and short to keep it to the point. They also felt they wanted to keep one step ahead of the audience to keep it unpredictable.

The two directors of THIS WAY UP, Smith and Foulkes, felt they also needed to keep the plot simple and dialogue free. The simple plot of the mishaps that befall them as they try to deliver a corpse in a coffin worked very well and kept audiences interested in what would happen next.

The director of LAVATORY LOVESTORY, Konstantin Bronzit, took a full year to do the storyboards, and two years to make the film, which was hand drawn and very charming. He also stated his preference for having no dialogue to keep things simple, citing Charlie Chaplin as an inspiration.

The question of 2D or 3D came up as well. The two filmmakers who did their films in 2D, Konstantin Bronzit and Kunio Kato were adamant that hand drawn animation is the ONLY way they would ever work. They felt it expressed best the feeling they were trying to get across to an audience, and it made it more personal for them.

It was interesting to find out that some of the filmmakers were going on to other feature length projects, while others were staying in the shorts field.

A luncheon was served afterwards, with some DreamWorks staff attending, where more stories were shared between filmmakers and other attendees. One common thread that tied everyone together was a real love for animation and an excitement at what lies ahead for them as individuals in their careers, and the art form in general. You really got the feeling that these people where in this for the long haul continuing to explore and create great work.

The This Way Up filmmakers get ready for Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D.

There was then a tour of DreamWorks, where we were treated to a screening of some sequences of the upcoming release, MONSERS VS ALIENS in 3-D. The sequences looked amazing, and the 3-D was some of the best I’ve ever seen. We saw some new technology in a hand held 3D virtual camera that can move around an environment with already created animation, giving the director the chance to change camera angles on the spot. I can’t remember exactly what it’s called, but it was really impressive. We then were shown some test animation by Kristof Serrand for a new feature called HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.

The day was winding down, but everyone still had a lot of enthusiasm for everything they were seeing. The Oscars were only two days away, so you could really feel the excitement among the filmmakers. It’s important to note that they just seemed to really enjoy being part of the whole Oscar celebration and not too concerned about winning awards. They were happy to be a part of something pretty wonderful, and just sharing this special time with one another, being supportive and complimentary of each other’s outstanding work. It was pretty inspiring to realize that this art form of the animated short film is very alive and well. Regardless of the medium that is used to tell the story, or the country it comes from, or budget or time, there are still a lot of great stories to be told. It’s nice to know there are such enthusiastic filmmakers out there who feel the animated short film is a vital tool to inform and entertain. Let’s just hope they all get the support and accolades they deserve. From what I observed, the animated short film has a very bright future!

Rick Farmiloe
Animator and Executive Board Member of the Short Films/Animation Branch AMPAS

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Oscar Showcase 09 DreamWorks Brunch/Chocolate Foscas Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:06:46 +0000

Every year the day before the big event offers two annual events that allow the nominees to take a chance to relax with fellow members of the animation community. Check out this year’s pics.

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Oscar Showcase 09 DreamWorks Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:05:50 +0000

Oktapodi director Olivier Delabarre (r) meets DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The last stop on the 2009 Oscar Showcase tour was DreamWorks. View the day in photos.

Monsters vs. Aliens animation supervisor Dave Burgess (2nd right) chats with tour host Ron Diamond (r), Academy board member Rick Farmiloe (l), and AWN senior editor Bill Desowitz (2nd left).

Oktapodi director Julien Bocabeille (l) and Oktapodi composer Kenny Wood.

Bill Desowitz (c) reconnects with This Way Up's Adam Foulkes (l-r), Alan Smith and writer/producer Chris O’Reilly.

Oktapodi PR rep Mary Reardon gets her own autographed copy of Oktapodi.

DreamWorks' John Tarnoff (front right) runs down the day's activities with the filmmakers.

Jeffrey Katzenberg gives an introduction to the screening.

Tour host Ron Diamond introduces the filmmakers.

This Way Up crew Chris (l-r), Adam, producer Charlotte Bavasso, and Alan enter their first tour Q&A.

The fullest panel of any tour stop.

The DreamWorks stand-room-only crowd.

Adam and Alan have a laugh during the Q&A.

Lavatory Lovestory's Konstan Bronzit listens to Oktapodi's Mokhberi.

Madagascar 2 director Tom McGrath (l-r) sits down at lunch with Kenny, Emud, and Julien.

DreamWorks animator Simon Otto (l-r) chats with Adam, Charlotte and Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre at lunch.

Olivier gets ready for a 3-D sneak peek at Monsters vs. Aliens.

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Oscar Tour Comes to Close at DreamWorks

oscartour — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:21:11 +0000

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.

Jeffery Katzenberg meets the Oscar shorts filmmakers.

DreamWorks Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg introduced Ron to the standing room only crowd in the Campanile Theater on the DreamWorks lot. He said it was a great year for animation and that he was particular proud of the success of “Kung Fu Panda,” as well as “Oktapodi” directors and DreamWorks India employees Julien Bocabeille and Thierry Marchand. Ron thanked the crowd for coming out and making the filmmakers, who came from all over the world, feel welcome.

During the screening, DreamWorks exec John Tarnoff took the filmmakers to get a hands on demonstration of the studio’s newly developed virtual-set camera system, which like the system used at Sony on “Surf’s Up,” allows the filmmakers to layout shots in previs like a live-action photo shoot. The system can be scaled so that the camera can be used for helicopter shots and the like. The studio has also begun developing a game engine system that can light and provide effects in realtime over the previs animation allowing the filmmakers to get an even better idea of the shots and layout they are selecting. One surprise use the system is for location scouting. Modelers have been using the cameras to virtually walk through their sets and make sure their models are perfect from every angle. The system will get its big screen debut on “Monsters vs. Aliens,” where the technology was used extensively in action sequences. Alan and Adam were quite envious, and hoped that one day systems like this one would be available on smaller houses.

The Q&A brought forth many of the same questions that were asked at the other screenings. John Tarnoff broke the ice asking what the most interesting question the filmmakers have been asked. Alan said the most annoying question was why did you use animation.

Alan, Adam, and Chris put on their 3-D glasses for a sneak peek at Monsters vs. Aliens.

After lunch, the filmmakers were treated to 20 minutes of “Monsters vs. Aliens” in 3-D stereoscopic. Head of character animation Dave Burgess was asked if 3-D makes animating more difficult. He said that cheats that once were used no longer work, because the depth of field needs to be so precise. Alan asked if they have to spend more time on background characters that were previously no more than decoration. Dave said that their new crowd simulation software helps in this area, giving the crowds more life. Dave also revealed that they finished animation six weeks ago, and he is eagerly awaiting the first test screenings. He told me that it was nice to finally watch the footage with a group of people who haven’t be entrenched in the process.

After the screening, the filmmakers broke up into smaller groups to accompany animators to their offices to get a look at what they are working on. I joined Rick Farmiloe, FX, and Konstantin in a visit to Kristof Serrand’s office to see footage from “How to Train Your Dragon.” We had the chance to see early animation test and scene work featuring the main character Hiccup and his dragon. Hiccup, his dragon and other characters’ designs have changed over the course of the project and we saw the different stages as well. The most impressive peek was at one of the fully rendered characters. The hair work on the character’s large bushy beard and long mustache was another step forward in realism. Konstantin was curious how much animation each animator is required to finish in a week. Kristof said the average is supposed to be four seconds, but it depends on what they are animating. For instance, this week he is doing simple reaction shots so he might get as much as 10 seconds done, while in weeks with heavy action shots he might only get two seconds done. As he was showing us some of the wonderful dragons, he pointed out that the snake-like movement of a long-necked two-headed dragon was particularly hard to animate. He made the observation that what was easy in 2D is tough in CG, and visa versa.

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Oscar Showcase 08 DreamWorks Brunch Photo Gallery

oscartour — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:16:40 +0000

The day before the Oscars DreamWorks hosts a brunch at Campanile. Look at the animation who’s who gallery.

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Oscar Showcase 08 DreamWorks Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:32:04 +0000

On Thursday, Feb. 24th, the Oscar Showcase tour pulled into DreamWorks. View the fun we had there.

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DreamWorks Day on the Oscar Showcase Tour

oscartour — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:03:47 +0000

With the Oscar Showcase beginning to slow down, Thursday marked our chance to see DreamWorks L.A. While the screening was taking place, John Tarnoff, the head of the DreamWorks’ “incubator” department, showed us around the facility. After seeing production art from Bee Movie, Kung-Fu Panda and Madagascar 2, we got to see some production art and CG characters from DreamWorks’ 2009 releases Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. Being that Monsters vs. Aliens is the studio’s first stereoscopic production and the release date was moved up to March, the production is in furious mode. In regards to the challenges of working in 3-D, John said that DreamWorks looks at stereoscopic as they do stereo sound – a subtle enrichment of the movie going experience. Though the release will not be in 3-D, a test was done using the opening action sequence from Kung-Fu Panda to discover the limits to which they could push the technology. David Verrall, the exec producer of Madame Tutli-Putli, who has a hand in every English language film produced at the NFB, said they have artists working on eight foot screens for stereoscopic productions so they can get a better idea of how the mind processes the images as they are working on them.

When it comes to development of stories, John said they have the entire story department brainstorming on the projects at the beginning then pare down the writers on each film. He added that usually the scribes will be the first on the project and can stay involved with the project as late as three months before release.

When it came to research on their films, karate demos were done for Kung-Fu Panda, and John said that one of the lead animators is a karate guru, making him the go-to guy for any questions. For Madagascar 2, a group of 25, including the producers, directors, art directors and department heads, took a trip to Africa where they went on photo safaris to help inform the design of the film. Peter and the Wolf producer Hugh Welchman asked if any of the staff got in any trouble while there, because while in Russia doing research on Peter, director Suzie Templeton was picked up by the police, thinking that she might be an eco-terrorist, for taking photos in the wrong spot. Lucky no such incidents happened in Africa for the DreamWorks crew. The look of Monsters vs. Aliens is very influenced by the work of Jack Davis and Mad Magazine, while How to Train Your Dragon is trying to stay true to the illustrations featured in the original young adult novel by Cressida Cowell.

Because some of the tour crew missed the screening at PDI/DreamWorks, we caught the clips from Madagascar 2 and Kung-Fu Panda a second time, in addition to the opening sequence from the latter film. Next up the filmmakers had a chance to see the “magic” conference room that I had told them about, which we weren’t able to see up in San Fran. An entire wall of the room is a screen, which is directly linked to the Northern California campus with no delay. John said that they often have parties in the room uniting the two studios clear across the state. Unlike Pixar and Disney who use different software, PDI/DreamWorks and DreamWorks in L.A. do share staff on projects with members working at both locations sometimes on the same film.

With a bit of time remaining before the Q&A, the lure of more ping-pong was hard to resist. After hearing great praise about Hugh’s skills at Disney TV yesterday, Ron Diamond, the owner of Acme Filmworks and host of the tour, challenged the Peter and the Wolf director to a match. Though Hugh kept his title as the tour’s reigning table tennis champ, Ron gave him a run for his money. Next up James Braithwaite, illustrator on I Met the Walrus, demanded a rematch against Hugh for the honor of Canada. However, the game was interrupted when famed children’s book author and illustrator William Joyce walked out of a door close by and James and Walrus director Josh Raskin couldn’t pass up the chance to meet him.

The Q&A touched on some old and some new questions. With the directors not there, producer Marcy Page handled the #1 Madame Tutli-Putli question – how did you do the eyes? Next up Josh was asked what was his process in developing the look of his film, replying that he listened to the tape of producer Jerry Levitan’s interview with John Lennon hundreds of times, and played many games of ping-pong. The Peter and the Wolf producers Hugh Welchman and Alan Dewhurst where asked how they controlled the boiling effect that happens in stop-motion with furry characters. Hugh said that they used a great deal of digital clean-up, and Alan added that hairspray help a lot as well. Lola did the clean-up and few CG touches for the film. Because the print of Alexander Petrov’s My Love has no subtitles and is in Russian, Ron explained that the story follows a young man, who falls for a servant girl, but spurns her for the town beauty. But when he discovers that the beauty is not perfect, he falls into a fever and the servant girl promises to God that if he saves the boy she will become a nun. In the end, the boy lives and loses both his loves. “A very Russian story,” as Ron described it.

After the Q&A, we had lunch with some of the DreamWorks staff. We were joined by tour veteran Sharon Colman, who was nominated in 2006 for Badgered. She claims that the tour is responsible for why she is now working in the story department at DreamWorks. Hugh asked John Turnoff about their indie label Go Fish and John said that various people in the organization want to bring it back from its dormant state as a venue to release foreign produced animated features in the U.S. The lunch was also an opportunity for old colleagues to catch up. Marcy and David chatted with former NFB artist Dave Burgess and Hugh and Alan had worked with Rejean Bourdages, head of story on Shrek the Third, in the past.

After the lunch, the tour moved on to our next stop the William Morris agency. Check back for a peek at the Q&A and some photos.

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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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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.

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.

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.

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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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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