AWN Oscar Travelogue

Oscar Showcase Tour 09 Sony Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:03:50 +0000

A group shot in front of the doors of Sony.

Sony was the second stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour this year. See the day in pics.

The nominees meet with Sony execs before the morning screening.

The tour swings by concept art from Sony's Oscar-nominated Surf's Up.

Lavatory Lovestory's Konstantin Bronzit (l-r) with Robot Communications' Taki Tsuyoshi and La Maison's Kunio Kato at the Sony Q&A.

The nominees answer the questions of the Sony crowd.

Kunio talks about his inspiration for La Maison en Petits Cubes.

The men of Oktapodi.

Oktapodi's Olivier Delabarre explains how Gobelins works with its students to Kunio and Taki.

Tour host Ron Diamond (r) makes a call to the Academy on behalf of Konstantin.

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My Day at Sony with the Nominees

oscartour — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:44:55 +0000

Introducing myself to Oktapodi director Julien Bocabeille.

written by Bill Kroyer

Wednesday I had the pleasure of joining Ron Diamond and the players in the traveling Oscar Tour on their visit to Sony Pictures Animation. The Oscar-nominated directors of the animated short films “Oktapodi,” “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” and “Lavatory Lovestory” had a chance to tour the studio and answer questions from the animation crew.

Not lost on the Sony audience was the fact that there is not a single spoken word in the five nominated films, a condition that emphasizes the international make-up of the nominees and the universal appeal of the films. The top Sony animation executives, including Hannah Minghella and Barry Weiss, hosted a luncheon following the screening.

Konstantin stands out in any panel... with or without a bright orange shirt.

For Konstantin Bronzit, the director of “Lavatory,” this visit to Los Angeles is his first taste of America. Coming from St. Petersburg, Russia, he was enjoying not only a 70 degree increase in temperature but a 100 degree reversal in glamour. His Russian studio has over 200 employees and does every kind of production for the state, including film, TV shows, commercials, and their version of Public Service Announcements. Konstantin apologizes for his spotty English, but he has a sharp wit and was being touted as the stand-up comic of the group for his hilarious turn on-stage Tuesday at the Motion Picture Academy. His wry humor surfaced again in the Q&A with the Sony staff. When the filmmakers were asked how they financed their films, Konstantin said; “With us, the government pays for everything.” And after the perfect beat, he added: “But the pay is not so much.”

I saw Konstantin at a party later that night and he was clearly awed by the crowds, the food, the music, and the revelry. “Do Americans party like this all the time?”

Who would have thought that glamour and revelry would be synonymous with animation?

Walking over to the animation studio with the Oktapodi director (background) and La Maison's Kunio Kato (foreground).

“Oktapodi,” as you may know, had six directors, and they achieved two remarkable feats; making a great film and getting six people to agree on how to make it. From the sound of it the six were equal contributors, a situation that created great angst at Oscar nomination time. The rules of the Academy allow a maximum of two names to be placed in nomination, so only two of the guys are formally named on stage. In addition, those two get tickets AND one added guest ticket to the show and the Governor’s Ball, the swanky, exclusive affair that follows the telecast. That meant four total tickets, excluding two of the directors. The good news was the Academy sprung for the extra two tickets to the show. I never found out how they chose the lucky guests.

They did ask me about the logistics of arriving at the Oscars. I think they were concerned that the nominees got to enter through the red carpet and the peon ticket-holders were banished behind the bleachers. I assured them that everybody goes through the same metal detectors. There is a red rope that separates you from the nominees - but you can still walk side by side. Until Joan Rivers grabs you…

Hannah Minghella made a point of reminding the artists to enjoy the moment. Being nominated, and enjoying the people and festivities that accompany that honor, are to be savored and remembered.

This seems especially poignant this year, when the race for the statuette seems too close to call. It’s a great list of films, each with a unique style and tone. Any one of them would be a worthy representative as best of the medium, and we never know how a close a vote separates the winner from the…I’ll just say “other nominees.”

Congratulations to the filmmakers, and thanks to Ron Diamond and the AWN crew who make these artists welcome and made to feel a part of the Hollywood film community.

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Sony Day, aka Visiting Emud’s Work

oscartour — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:22:12 +0000

The nominees meet their latest Academy guest Bill Kroyer (r).

Well, the second to last tour stop brings the filmmakers to Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. For Emud, it was a return to his workplace where he is on the Disney live-action/CG flick, “G-Force.” He was thankful that Sony gave him ten days off to tour both in San Francisco and L.A.

We arrived and were greeted by a dapper looking Don Levy, marketing master for Sony, who had to leave us early to hand out an award at the publicist’s awards that afternoon. For each stop of the L.A. leg, Ron invited a different member of the Academy board. At Sony, the filmmakers had the pleasure of meeting Bill Kroyer. FX was particularly impressed with meeting someone who worked on “Tron.” Bill shared a story of “Ice Age” director Chris Wedge entering x-sheet data into the computer on the film. Bill said he was glad that Chris stuck with computers after the job.

Before lunch the filmmakers joined top execs from the studio for a screening of the shorts. The filmmakers had a chance to meet with Bob Osher, the president of Sony Pictures Digital Prods. and COO of Columbia Pictures; Hannah Minghella, president of production at SPA; Debbie Denise, evp of production and exec producer of Imageworks; and Barry Weiss, svp of animation production.

After the screening, the filmmakers sat down with the top brass for lunch in their newly renovated office space. Bob Osher paid the “Oktapodi” directors a big compliment, saying their film should be shown to all students, so they could learn how to tell tight narratives with universal stories. Osher chatted with Quentin, Emud and Olivier about the hectic schedules during Oscar season while he was at Miramax. He said with night after night of parties one became close to a select group of people that he saw day in and day out. Sounds kind of like the Oscar Tour. Whether it was actors or other nominees, they shared a good deal of time together in a short period of time. This intense experience brought them together then when the awards were over, you didn’t see them again. He said it was a strange experience. Afterward, everyone always needed a vacation, he added.

In talking with Eric, Osher revealed that he was recently in London to meet with the filmmakers at Aardman. Originally it was supposed to be a visit to Bristol, but snow prevented that from happening. Osher said that their new relationship with the “Wallace and Gromit” makers is fantastic. This story was spurred by Emud relating his tale of driving down the California coast with the other “Oktapodi” directors during the recent heavy rains. They had planned to go to Big Sur, but had to turn around due to mudslides. A possibility he did not tell the others before leaving, so they could enjoy the rainy ride without worry. During their trip, the French directors had a chance to have their first root beer float, which was an American treat they described as drinking medicine.

The filmmakers check out Surf's Up art.

After the lunch, while the screening for the artist was taking place, the tour took a quick spin through the facilities. The filmmakers checked out concept art from “Surf’s Up” in the studio lobby then we swung into the production space to check out storyboards and concept art for Sony’s next projects “Cloudly with Chance of Meatballs” and “Hotel Transylvania.” FX particularly liked the environment designs for “Hotel,’ which had a dark, but illuminated color palette. The next stop on the tour was the layout department where the filmmakers had a chance to see Sony’s preparatory camera system, which allows the artists to use a real camera to layout shots for animated productions. Because the program of shorts was an hour shorter than last year, the filmmakers didn’t have a chance to play the camera this time around. The last stop of the tour was Emud’s cubicle. The entire tour crammed into his workspace so he could get a picture of them all.

Emud at his desk.

Many of the Q&A questions were the same from previous screenings. However, one person did ask about funding. For the “Oktapodi” directors, it was part of their tuition at Gobelins. However, music was up to the filmmakers. At first they had made a deal with a professional composer, who said he’d do the work for free, however, they would have had to pay for the instrumentalists. Because they couldn’t afford it, a second option had to be used. Emud contacted a music student from his days at UCLA named Kenny Wood, and he agreed to do the music for free. For Konstantin, funding came from the Russian government. Kunio received funding from his studio Robot, which usually produces commercials. His film was their third short.

Another new question was what was the biggest challenge on the projects. On “Oktapodi,” animating the octopi was a tough task, and decisions needed to be made on the number of legs and suction cups in order to get the short done in time. Konstantin joked that his toughest challenge was convincing his producer to make what was originally supposed to be a colorful film in black & white.

In answering the common question of why his film has a French title, Kunio from Japan promised that he’d never name another film of his in French again, so it would save confusion.

New friends Konstantin and Kunio.

After the tour, the filmmakers went their separate ways to rest up before the AWN/Acme Filmworks party at Ron Diamond’s abode. Before heading off, Ron gave some help to Taki and Kunio with the Academy on seating logistics at the Oscar ceremony, just in case Kunio wins and needs his interpreter to accompany him on stage. Ron also helped Konstantin contact the Academy about getting better seats for some of his crewmembers who are currently sitting in the balcony.

Kunio asked Olivier if the “Oktapodi” crew had worked on any other projects at school together. At Gobelins, which is three-year program, the students work on individual animation exercises for the first two years. Then in the third year, around December, they are split into groups and must work out how they as a group will make decisions together.

FX and Quentin had a chance to have their portfolios reviewed by Sony recruiting then Emud took his fellow “Oktapodi” directors to see some of the work he had been doing on “G-Force.” Bill Kroyer met up with a friend to sneak off and see CG tests for the “Smurfs” film. Instead of shlepping back to Encino from Culver City, Konstantin was happy to join Ron on his shopping stops for the party.

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Exclusive Video: Chris on Madame Tutli-Putli Performance

oscartour — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:30:49 +0000

Watch It On AWN TV!

At the Sony Pictures Animation lunch, Madame Tutli-Putli director Chris Lavis talks about how they worked with actress Laurie Maher to inform their stop-motion animation and provide the eyes for their puppets.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Sony Animation Photo Gallery

oscartour — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:35:54 +0000

Here are some more pics from the first stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour - Sony Pictures Animation.

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Nominees Hang Ten with Surf’s Up Directors & Sony Artists

oscartour — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:22:09 +0000

Josh Raskin (l to r), Chris Lavis, David Verrall, Samuel Tourneux, Marcy Page, Jerry Levitan, Rick DeMott, Suzie Templeton, James Braithwaite, Ron Diamond, Hugh Welchman, Rosto and Alan Dewhurst. © 2008 AWN Inc.

The Los Angeles leg of the Oscar Showcase tour kicked off at Sony Pictures Animation. The group congregated in the lobby where I met the new members of our merry band — I Met the Walrus producer Jerry Levitan, Madame Tutli-Putli executive producer David Verrall and Even Pigeons Go to Heaven producer Simon Vanesse. Not joining us for the first two events of the day was Madame director Maciek Szczerbowski, whose lobster taco from the night before was not sitting well with him. Jerry laughed when Walrus director Josh Raskin revealed that he had been describing him as “a 14-year-old kid with balls of steel.” I leave Jerry’s response to your imagination, because Walrus illustrator James Braithwaite warned Jerry not to say things like that around the human mimeograph as he pointed to me. I like to think of myself as the unofficial stenographer of the animated Oscar nominees.

While the films were screening for the studio artists, we were treated to a backstage look at the making of Sony’s Oscar-nominated animated feature Surf’s Up. VFX supervisor Rob Bredow gave us a nice overview of creating the beautiful waves and mockumentary style of the film. For the waves, they were animated using rigging that allowed the animators to control the curl and break of the waves as they moved along a horizontal plane. Later, effects and lighting artists came in an added layer after layer of details such as stray and various color reflections, making lush realistic water. Peter and the Wolf producer Hugh Welchman asked how many people worked on the waves and Rob said that several different departments had a hand in their creation, but that it amounted to approximately 1/3 of the production crew.

Next up Rob showed us how they created the handheld documentary style. A system was devised using an old Sony camcorder the studio bought on eBay where the filmmakers could actually film the animation. Animators would animate the scene, but the camera angles and moves were recorded using the handheld camera like a live-action documentary DP would use. By using this technique, the animation was nearly 80% done before final framing was locked on the picture, which is very rare. Overall 85% of Surf’s Up was filmed using the handheld camera. Later we actually had a chance to use the camera used on the production, which was impressive and fun. Madame Tutli-Putli director Chris Lavis wondered whether having the ability to shoot hundreds of shots made choosing the right shot daunting. James C.J. Williams, layout supervisor on the film, said it was actually the opposite, because by using the camera they were able to scout the 3D sets and discover the best angles.

Actually, before we got our hands on this wonderful toy, Surf’s Up directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, along with producer Chris Jenkins, joined us. James asked whether the handheld camera created a lot of wasted animation, but Ash said the shots were pretty well thought out before hand so this wouldn’t happen. Also unique to the film was the group rehearsals and ad-libbing on the production. Many times the actors were interviewed in character, from which books of lines for each role where created to use when appropriate.

After checking out the special camera, Kevin Field, production manager on 3-D projects, showed us some stereoscopic clips from Open Season and Beowulf. The challenge of Open Season was that it wasn’t originally meant to be in 3-D, so the crew had less than four months to transform the film. James asked if that caused a great need for recutting or reframing, however Kevin said that only minor reframing, when characters came close to the edge of the frame, was needed.

Right before the Q&A began, we were all given nice swag bags, which included the Surf’s Up DVD and the Art of Surf’s Up book. A second year in a row Sony has really gone way out to treat the nominees well. As for the questions after the screening, they ranged the usually questions about Jerry meeting John Lennon and what was the inspiration for the films.

During lunch, Barry Weiss, SVP of Animation Production, warmly greeted the nominees. He mentioned that every couple years there’s a move to get rid of the shorts category and he and governors like John Lasseter fight the call, saying that shorts is where so many great filmmakers get their start. Barry was fascinated with Jerry’s story and how they decided what to include and cut from the 30-minute interview. Jerry told a story of bringing a copy of John Lennon’s album “Two Virgins,” where Lennon and Yoko Ono are naked on the cover, into the delicatessen where his mother worked. The owner told him to get that out of his store. Jerry then pointed to a pin-up calendar the man had on the wall and said what about that? The owner replied, “That’s art. That [referring to the album] is pornography.” Jerry told this story to Lennon, who laughed heartily over it. Josh said that was just one of the gems they couldn’t include in the film.

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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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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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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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John Canemaker’s Thoughts on The Oscar Experience

oscartour — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:58:26 +0000

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:

The Oscar award ceremony is exciting; but the build-up to that evening — the tour of studios and screenings of your films as organized by Ron Diamond — is one of the best parts of the whole experience. Screening your films at Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney, Sony, Electronic Arts, Lucasfilm and other studios — and the huge AMPAS theatre — to standing room only crowds eager to see your work and ask you questions is thrilling!

Ron knows everyone in the industry and is well-liked and admired. Through his personal contacts, you are greeted at the studios by and dine and converse with and the likes of John Lasseter, Jeffrey Katzenberg and other top execs — a marvelous opportunity afforded to few.

One of the best parts of the whole experience was getting to really know our fellow nominees as we toured the studios, the several parties, lunches and dinners that Ron also planned. We all bonded and were (and are) very supportive of each other.

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