KRISTEN BELL AND MICHAEL B. JORDAN TO HOST ACADEMY'S SCI-TECH AWARDS

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Actors Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan will host the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, February 15, at The Beverly Hills Hotel. They will present 19 awards to 52 individual recipients during the evening.

“We are thrilled to have Kristen and Michael join us as hosts for this year’s Sci-Tech Awards,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “They are bright, young talents in the film community and will be a great addition to a night that honors the industry’s technical achievements.”

Bell recently lent her voice to the Oscar®-nominated Disney animated feature “Frozen.” She also will be seen in the title role of the upcoming feature “Veronica Mars,” in theaters this March. Bell’s other film credits include “The Lifeguard,” “Hit & Run,” “When in Rome” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

In 2013, Jordan appeared in his first major leading role in the critically acclaimed film “Fruitvale Station.” He also will be seen in “That Awkward Moment,” with Zac Efron and Miles Teller, due out this Friday. His other credits include “Chronicle” and “Red Tails.”

Portions of the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation will be included in the Oscar telecast.

Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars®, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

BUY THIS RESTAURANT - SEASON PREMIERE AIRS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 AT 9PM ET/PT

Pictured here: Keith Simpson, Host of “Buy This Restaurant”

 

SEASON PREMIERE

"A Juicy New Business"
Two years ago, Texas native, Joanie Friedan, with the help of her husband Cary, turned a healthy juicing habit into a family business. As their business continues to grow they are on the hunt for a brick and mortar space. Nervous about taking a huge financial risk, Cary and Joanie turn to restaurant broker, Keith Simpson for guidance. Keith will push them to step out of their comfort zone and make their restaurant vision a reality by showing them a variety of spaces all over Austin, including a bar and restaurant on popular 6th street, a former music store and an abandoned Thai restaurant.

About Buy This Restaurant
Aspiring restaurant owners take the first steps toward achieving their dreams in new Food Network series Buy This Restaurant. With the help of commercial real estate expert Keith Simpson, each hopeful restaurateur searches to find the ideal space to launch their new business. In each episode, Keith shows each novice three different properties that could work for their restaurant concept and helps them visualize how the space can work for their business.  From a turn-key operation complete with supplies but little room for creativity to a vacant, dilapidated space that needs renovation but has tons of potential, Keith helps the newbies secure the foundation to run the restaurant of their dreams.

For more information visit:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/buy-this-restaurant.html

SOURCE Frank PR

2014 ACADEMY NICHOLL SCREENWRITING COMPETITION NOW UNDERWAY

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is now underway.  In November, as many as five $35,000 fellowships will be awarded.

Since 1986, 133 fellowships have been awarded, including one to Destin Daniel Cretton, who wrote and directed “Short Term 12” from his 2010 Nicholl Fellowship-winning script.  Other fellows include Creighton Rothenberger, who co-wrote “Olympus Has Fallen,” which opened in theaters last March; Rebecca Sonnenshine, a writer and co-producer on “The Vampire Diaries”; Andrew Marlowe, the creator of and an executive producer on “Castle”’; and Terri Edda Miller, a writer and consulting producer on “Castle.”  Fellow Raymond De Felitta directed “Rob the Mob,” which is slated to open theatrically on March 21, 2014.

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships competition is open to any individual who has not earned a total of more than $25,000 from the sale or option of screenplays or teleplays, or received fellowships or prizes of more than $25,000 that include a "first look" clause, an option or any other quid pro quo involving the writer's work.  To enter, writers must submit a completed application online, upload one PDF copy of their original screenplay in English and pay the entry fee before the regular deadline at 5:00 p.m. PT on April 10, 2014.

Entry fee schedule and deadlines are as follows:
      Early deadline:  5:00 p.m. PT, February 28; entry fee US$35
      Deadline:  5:00 p.m. PT, April 10; entry fee US$50
      Late deadline:  5:00 p.m. PT, May 1; entry fee US$65

Online applications, rules and other details are available at www.oscars.org/nicholl.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a new feature-length screenplay during the fellowship year.  The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.

Last year's competition drew a record 7,251 entries.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

ACADEMY RESCINDS ORIGINAL SONG NOMINATION FOR "ALONE YET NOT ALONE"

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — On Tuesday night, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to rescind the Original Song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone,” music by Bruce Broughton and lyric by Dennis Spiegel. The decision was prompted by the discovery that Broughton, a former Governor and current Music Branch executive committee member, had emailed members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period.

 

"No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President.

 

The Board determined that Broughton’s actions were inconsistent with the Academy’s promotional regulations, which provide, among other terms, that “it is the Academy's goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner. If any campaign activity is determined by the Board of Governors to work in opposition to that goal, whether or not anticipated by these regulations, the Board of Governors may take any corrective actions or assess any penalties that in its discretion it deems necessary to protect the reputation and integrity of the awards process.”

 

An additional nominee in the Original Song category will not be named. The remaining nominees in the category are:

 

“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

 

“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

 

“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

 

“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

 

The members from each of the Academy’s branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, musicians and composers nominate song and score.

 

During the nominations process, all 240 voting members of the Music Branch received a Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Song category and a DVD copy of the song clips with film and song title only (additional information including composer and lyricist is not provided). Members were asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five nominees in the category. A maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film.

 

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

 

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

STATEMENT REGARDING THE PASSING OF FORMER ACADEMY PRESIDENT TOM SHERAK

 

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy is deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved former president Tom Sherak.

Sherak joined the Executives Branch of the Academy in 1983. He served three terms on the Board of Governors, from August 2003 through July 2012, the last three as President.

He was most recently named Los Angeles film czar by Mayor Eric Garcetti to support local film production and serve as a liaison between state lawmakers and the entertainment industry.

Sherak’s remarkable five-decade career has seen him at the pinnacle of motion picture marketing, distribution and production at companies including Revolution Studios, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures.

He was founder and chairman of the MS Hope Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting the needs of the Multiple Sclerosis community.

His passion and tireless energy impacted the Academy in countless ways – especially his support of our new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Statement from Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President
“In the more than 30 years I’ve known Tom, his passionate support of and excitement about the motion picture business, the Academy, his family and friends never wavered. He was truly larger than life, and he will be missed.”

Statement from Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO
“He was my mentor and my friend.  I learned from him, I laughed with him, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the time we shared together.  He had a huge influence on the direction of our Academy and on me personally.  I will miss laughing with him most of all.”

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The VA Experience: A GIFF and CVA Video Contest

“THE VA HEALTHCARE EXPERIENCE”

Top Three Video Submissions to receive cash prizes and “official selection status” at GI Film Festival DC, May 19-25, 2014

Arlington, Virginia – The GI Film Festival (www.gifilmfestival.com) announced today that the veterans advocacy organization Concerned Veterans for America (www.CV4A.org) is sponsoring a video contest in partnership with the festival entitled, “The VA Experience.” The contest focuses on the experiences of American military servicemen and women with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), specifically VA healthcare and/or the disability claims process. The video must be between three to five minutes in length and submitted no later than April 16, 2014.

There is no submission fee required to participate.

The top five videos as determined by the festival’s panel of judges, will be screened at the 2014 GI Film Festival in Washington, DC, May 19-25, 2014 as “official selections,” and will be posted on the GI Film Festival website. The top three winning videos will be awarded cash and prizes that include:

• $5,000 and 2 VIP tickets to the 2014 DC GI Film Festival (grand prize)
• $3,000 and 2 VIP tickets to the 2014 DC GI Film Festival (second prize)
• $1,000 and 2 VIP tickets to the 2014 DC GI Film Festival (third prize)

For contest rules and/or to submit a video, visit HERE (http://gifilmfestival.com/cvacontest/).

GIFF, a 501c3 non-profit organization described as “Sundance for the Troops,” preserves the stories of veterans through film, television and training. GI Film Festival events provide an exceptionally diverse line-up of programming, covering all branches of service, every major conflict, and every major film genre while addressing a variety of issues of concern to the veteran community, including post-traumatic stress, homelessness, and unemployment.

“The GI Film Festival is all about showcasing the ground truth experience of our men and women in uniform in combat and back on the home-front,” said GI Film Festival co-founder and President Brandon Millett.

“With so many veterans coming home after service in Iraq and Afghanistan, healthcare is of primary concern for service-members and their families.  We  believe this video contest will put the spotlight on what we are doing right and what we need to improve as we seek to take care of those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”

CVA, a 501c4 veterans and military families organization, works with veterans and military families to advance reform on issues that impact veterans, their families, and all Americans. CVA seeks to translate the experiences, concerns, and hopes of military veterans and their families into a common vision of liberty and freedom—and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is central to the organization’s mission.

“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is charged with serving our nation’s veterans in every way possible. And while some veterans have a good experience, many others are frustrated by long-wait times or substandard care,” said Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America.  “The goal of this contest is to channel the stories of veterans and their experiences—good and bad—toward reforms that make VA more effective. CVA is honored to partner with GIFF, and provide a platform for veterans and their families to share their stories.”

The GI Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization and neither supports nor opposes legislation or candidates for public office. Concerned Veterans for America is a non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for policies that preserve the freedom and prosperity veterans and their families sacrificed to defend.

Winners of the 29th Annual TEC Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards Announced

HOSTED BY FILM COMPOSER, DANCE MUSIC TECHNOLOGIST “BT”

 

TODD RUNDGREN RECEIVES THE LES PAUL AWARD

 

HAL BLAINE & JOHN MEYER INDUCTED TO THE NAMM TEC HALL OF FAME

 

Presenters include: Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, electro-funk icon George Clinton, EVERCLEAR’s Art Alexakis, “T-Boz” and “Chilli” of the pop group TLC, Jim Keltner (famed session drummer), Dennis Leonard (sound editor and engineer), Ed Cherney (producer and engineer), Al Schmitt (recording engineer), Jimmy Douglass (recording engineer), and musician-writer Michael Bradford

Anaheim, Calif., (Jan. 24, 2014) – Recording industry legends, musicologists and titans of the audio universe came together for an evening of musical celebrations and honors at the 29th Annual NAMM TEC AWARDS (Technical Excellence & Creativity). Winners were announced in 30 technical and creative categories at the show, which was held at the Anaheim Hilton in Anaheim, Calif., January 24, 2014. The awards event recognizes the individuals, companies and technical innovations behind the sound of recordings, live performances, films, television, video games and other media.

“The TEC Awards are a natural extension of the NAMM Show’s ‘gathering of the tribes’ to recognize the important products and people in our musical ecosystem,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO of NAMM. "In making the TEC Awards a signature event at NAMM, we celebrate the innovation and creativity that happens when those who make wonderful music and sound products connect with the artists who then use this gear to create the music that has changed the world.”

Held as a signature event during the global, four-day NAMM Show, the TEC Awards featured video tributes and rollicking performances before a live audience of the sound industry’s most revered representatives. Trance music artist and host for the evening, BT, opened the show with his thumping hit instrumental “Flaming June.”

Creative sound wizards behind Hollywood blockbusters, hit records and interactive entertainment were honored. Winner highlights in both the Technical Achievement and Outstanding Creative Achievement categories included Record Production / Single or Track: “Skyfall,” by Adele; Television Sound Production: “Game of Thrones;” Remote Production / Recording or Broadcast: “The 55th Annual Grammy Awards;” Sound Reinforcement Loudspeakers: JBL Professional PRX 700 Series portable loudspeakers; Headphone / Earpiece Technology: AKG K712 Pro Headphones; Workstation Technology: Avid Pro Tools 11 software; the complete list of category winners can be accessed at http://tecawards.org/tec/13winners.html.

Les Paul Foundation Trustee Jeff Salmon presented music revolutionary Todd Rundgren with the Foundation’s highest honor, the Les Paul Award.  “It makes a big difference that I am being honored by my peers, especially when the namesake for the award is someone so influential and pivotal to my career,” said Rundgren, who recently launched The Spirit of Harmony Foundation to offer music education and support to school programs. He performed three signature songs: “I Saw the Light,” “Hello It’s Me” and “Open My Eyes.”

New inductees to the NAMM Foundation’s TEC Hall of Fame included Hal Blaine and John Meyer. Blaine has performed drums on more than 5,000 records. “I’m absolutely thrilled at being recognized for creating an amazing career that has managed to survive for much of the golden era of recording excellence,” Blaine said. “A thank you to the ‘techies’ for their never-ending inventiveness that keeps the world connected.” He was inducted by Chad Smith, drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jim Keltner, a famed session drummer.

John Meyer, an engineer and sound researcher, who was instrumental in significant developments to loudspeaker acoustics and technology was inducted by Dennis Leonard of Skywalker Sound. “To turn a concept into a useful piece of technology requires hard work and risk taking,” says Meyer. “By rewarding engineers’ contribution to the industry, the TEC Awards has inspired us to pursue ambitious new ideas and fostered an innovative spirit in our field.”

Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein To Appear at Dean Markley NAMM Booth!

Legendary Misfits guitarist and punk icon Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein will be hosting a meet and greet at the Dean Markley NAMM Booth # 5766 in Hall B on Saturday, January 25th at 1:00pm!

Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein’s massive onslaught of thunderous riffs from his new eponymous band’s premier release Abominator, reverberate through the metal scene. The monster man himself is making appearances at NAMM Show and Kurt Hammett’s Fear FestEvil.

Doyle is a morbid metal quartet comprised of Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (former Misfits guitarist), Dr. Chud (ex-Misfits drummer), Left Hand Graham (ex-Graves bassist), and Alex Story (Cancerslug vocalist).

For more information about Doyle please visit http://officialdoyle.com .

Blackbird El Capitan - debuts at NAMM 2014 - first acoustic guitar with Ekoa construction for vintage tone and carbon fiber-like stability

San Francisco- Blackbird, acoustic instrument manufacturer launches
‘El Capitan’ made of new, high performance Ekoa and tuned for vintage tone. Along with its little sibling, Clara ukulele, these ecological, wood-free instruments are the first made with the revolutionary construction.

From a distance El Capitan looks like a 100 year old instrument, but upon closer inspection it's actually made out of a plant fiber material Blackbird developed called Ekoa. It is a truly eco-friendly construction that offers the stability of carbon fiber only with a vintage sound, look and feel. "Blackbird has spent the better part of a decade developing small, travel-friendly, carbon-fiber instruments with world class tone," said Joe Luttwak, Blackbird's chief musical officer. "With the El Capitan guitar and Clara ukulele, musicians get what was previously unobtainable -- the experience of a premium vintage old-growth wood instrument in a lightweight, durable, and sustainable package."

From its patented hollow-neck design to its high-tech Ekoa eco-fabric and resin construction, El Capitan's every detail is engineered to generate the acoustic quality and volume of an even larger instrument.

El Capitan is a game-changing instrument, delivering unmatched performance and sustainability, while transcending our reliance of ever-diminishing old growth wood stocks. El Capitan will be available April/May 2014  (Blackbird Clara ukulele is already shipping).

ABOUT BLACKBIRD
Founded in 2005, Blackbird has built a loyal global following crafting uncommonly resonant and resilient Ekoa and carbon fiber composite acoustic guitars and ukuleles. Designed for the most demanding musicians, these performance-grade, travel-ready instruments have weathered everything from packed concert halls to the brutal Antarctic winter. Building on this success, Blackbird dedicated several years of research and development to incorporating resonant eco-materials into advanced composite construction. The result of this effort is Ekoa -- a unique, plant-based tone material. Sustainable and renewable, lighter than carbon fiber, and extraordinarily strong, Ekoa combines the tone of vintage wood with superior responsiveness, stability and strength.

ABOUT EKOA
Ekoa is produced in partnership with Lingrove, a distributor of natural high performance materials. It offers high performance with exceptional strength, dampening, resilience and even lighter weight than carbon fiber. Like all composite materials, Ekoa is made up of fiber reinforcement fabric in resin matrix, but one that is worker and planet-friendly. The plant-based fabrics and biobased resins have a beautiful designer material quality, which does not always require finishing along with distinct performance advantages over other composites. The Clara ukulele, is the debut application of Ekoa which is suitable for numerous other applications from sports equipment to furniture.

Finally an acoustic instrument with a beautiful sound and Earth-friendly construction - to debut at NAMM 2014

Wood-free ukulele offers a huge, warm sound as well as lightweight durability that fits in a backpack.

San Francisco, Jan 23rd 2014 - Blackbird Clara Ukulele is officially in production. This revolutionary instrument offers the tone of vintage wood and the durability of cutting-edge, eco-friendly composite construction. Made from Ekoa - a proprietary, renewable material - the Clara is a game-changing instrument, delivering unmatched performance and sustainability, while transcending our reliance of ever-diminishing old growth wood stocks.

"Blackbird has spent the better part of a decade developing small, travel-friendly, carbon-fiber instruments with world class tone," said Joe Luttwak, Blackbird's chief musical officer. "With the Clara, musicians get what was previously unobtainable -- the experience of a vintage old-growth wood instrument in a lightweight, durable, and sustainable package."

Clara's every detail is engineered to generate the acoustic quality and volume of a much larger instrument. From its patented hollow-neck design to its high-tech Ekoa eco-fabric and resin construction, the Clara is meticulously crafted by skilled artisans at Blackbird's San Francisco workshop, aided by computer-driven precision technology.

Founded in 2005, Blackbird has built a loyal global following crafting uncommonly resonant and resilient carbon-fiber composite acoustic guitars and ukuleles. Designed for the most demanding musicians, these performance-grade, travel-ready instruments have weathered everything from packed concert halls to the brutal Antarctic winter. Building on this success, Blackbird dedicated several years of research and development to incorporating resonant eco-materials into advanced composite construction. The result of this effort is Ekoa -- a unique, plant-based tone material.

Sustainable and renewable, lighter than carbon fiber, and extraordinarily strong, Ekoa combines the tone of vintage wood with superior responsiveness, stability and strength.
With professional-quality tone and legendary toughness in an earth-friendly compact package, Blackbird Clara's Ekoa construction offers players unmatched performance ready for every situation.

The Clara concert ukulele starts at $1150. The initial limited production of fifty include a premium reinforced soft case. Visit the Clara page to learn more.

ABOUT BLACKBIRD
Blackbird guitars was founded in 2005 to create a satisfying but durable travel guitar for taking out and about. Non-traditional product design and development resulted in radically new directions and a family of travel instruments that are the standard-bearers of acoustic performance.

ABOUT EKOA
Ekoa is produced in partnership with Lingrove, a distributor of natural high performance materials. It offers high performance with exceptional strength, dampening, resilience and even lighter weight than carbon fiber. Like all composite materials, Ekoa is made up of fiber reinforcement fabric in resin matrix, but one that is worker and planet-friendly. The plant-based fabrics and biobased resins have a beautiful designer material quality, which does not always require finishing along with distinct performance advantages over other composites. The Clara ukulele, is the debut application of Ekoa which is suitable for numerous other applications from sports equipment to furniture.

ANDY MCKEE TO PERFORM FOR ERNIE BALL AT NAMM ON JANUARY 24th

** Acclaimed Acoustic Guitar Master to Perform Favorites and Songs from His Upcoming New EP Mythmaker **

 

** Both Announcing Breakthrough in Guitar String Technology **

Attendees of the 2014 NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center will be delighted to know that acoustic guitar virtuoso Andy McKee will perform several live sets followed by signing sessions at the Ernie Ball booth on Thursday, January 23rd at 12:00pm and 4:00pm, and Friday, January 24th at 12:30pm and 2:30pm. On Friday he will also play selected duo pieces with fellow guitarist Antoine DuFour between 3:00pm and 4:00pm.

During this time Andy and Ernie Ball will also be announcing a major breakthrough in acoustic guitar string design.

Andy’s highly-anticipated new EP Mythmaker will be released on January 28th, and shows him moving in new directions with his electric guitar recording debut on the multi-instrumental piece “Lumine” and the solo piano piece “June”. The EP rounds out with its title track and “The Reason” which both feature Andy’s world-renowned, unique and expressive fingerstyle playing.

Andy will continue his intense worldwide touring schedule all though 2014 and is expected to release new music to fans much more frequently via EPs released though his own imprint that will launch fully later this year. A full-length concert video will also be released later in the year on DVD and Blu-ray.

Official Site – Facebook – YouTube – iTunes – Twitter

ROB THE MOB

Distributed by Millenium Entertainment.

Limited Release in March!

Michael Pitt ("Boardwalk Empire," Seven Psychopaths), Tony Award® winner Nina Arianda (Midnight in Paris, Broadway's "Venus in Fur"), Academy Award® nominee Andy Garcia (The Godfather: Part III, Ocean's Twelve) and Emmy® winner Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond," "Parenthood") star in Rob the Mob, a thrilling and poignant crime-thriller about two lovers whose audacious heists of Mafia social clubs result in a discovery that could forever change the face of organized crime in America. Directed by Oscar® nominee Raymond de Felitta (City Island, Bronx Cheers), the film is based on the true story of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva.

New York City, 1991. Small-time crooks TOMMY (Pitt) and ROSIE (Arianda) have two things in common: a crazy-passionate love for one another and-after they're caught robbing a florist on Valentine's Day-prison records. Trying to go straight, Rosie lands a job at a debt-collection agency and persuades Tommy to join her. But soon Tommy is skipping his shifts to do something much more interesting-attend the landmark trial of Gambino-family boss John Gotti where Mafia hit man Sammy "The Bull" Gravano provides graphic testimony that could finally bring him down.

Tommy's fascination with the mob is deeply personal; when he was a boy, he saw his father suffer a brutal beating beat at the hands of local gangsters. So when he hears Sammy name a Mafia-owned social club where no guns are permitted, he has an idea: Why not rob the joint? And so begins a series of Bonnie-and-Clyde-style stickups of mob hangouts around the city, with Tommy wielding an Uzi and Rosie driving the beat-up getaway car. The brazen daylight raids net enough cash for the lovers to move in together, taking their fiery romance to the next level. They also draw the attention of the FBI and veteran mob reporter CARDOZO (Romano), who splashes their unlikely story across the front page of the paper. But while the attacks enrage the mob, Bonanno crime family head BIG AL (Garcia) orders his men only to scare the couple.

After all, he says, eagles don't kill flies.

It's a decision Big Al will come to regret. During one of their heists, Tommy and Rosie stumble upon a Mafia secret so closely guarded that rank-and-file mobsters don't even know it exists. To the Feds, it's the smoking gun they've been looking for-a key to finally dismantling New York's already-faltering crime syndicate. To Big Al, it's the high cost of his earlier leniency-a mistake he quickly moves to correct. For Tommy and Rosie, caught between the law and a mob contract, the future all depends on who gets to them first.

Distributor: Millennium Entertainment
Cast: Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy Garcia, Michael Rispoli, Samira Wiley and Ray Romano
Director: Raymond De Felitta
TRT: 104 Minutes
Release Date: March 21st, 2014

86TH OSCARS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominations for the 86th Academy Awards® today (January 16).

Hemsworth and Boone Isaacs announced the nominees at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives.  For a complete list of nominees, visit the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc.  In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees.  All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members on Saturday, January 25, at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.  Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all categories.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nominations for the 86th Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role
•Christian Bale in “American Hustle”
•Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”
•Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
•Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”
•Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
•Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips”
•Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle”
•Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave”
•Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
•Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
•Amy Adams in “American Hustle”
•Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”
•Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”
•Judi Dench in “Philomena”
•Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
•Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine”
•Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle”
•Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave”
•Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County”
•June Squibb in “Nebraska”

Best animated feature film of the year
•“The Croods” Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
•“Despicable Me 2” Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
•“Ernest & Celestine” Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
•“Frozen” Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
•“The Wind Rises” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

Achievement in cinematography
•“The Grandmaster” Philippe Le Sourd
•“Gravity” Emmanuel Lubezki
•“Inside Llewyn Davis” Bruno Delbonnel
•“Nebraska” Phedon Papamichael
•“Prisoners” Roger A. Deakins

Achievement in costume design
•“American Hustle” Michael Wilkinson
•“The Grandmaster” William Chang Suk Ping
•“The Great Gatsby” Catherine Martin
•“The Invisible Woman” Michael O’Connor
•“12 Years a Slave” Patricia Norris

Achievement in directing
•“American Hustle” David O. Russell
•“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón
•“Nebraska” Alexander Payne
•“12 Years a Slave” Steve McQueen
•“The Wolf of Wall Street” Martin Scorsese

Best documentary feature
•“The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
•“Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
•“Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
•“The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
•“20 Feet from Stardom” Nominees to be determined

Best documentary short subject
•“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
•“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
•“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
•“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
•“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens

Achievement in film editing
•“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
•“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
•“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
•“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
•“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker

Best foreign language film of the year
•“The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium
•“The Great Beauty” Italy
•“The Hunt” Denmark
•“The Missing Picture” Cambodia
•“Omar” Palestine

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
•“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
•“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
•“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
•“The Book Thief” John Williams
•“Gravity” Steven Price
•“Her” William Butler and Owen Pallett
•“Philomena” Alexandre Desplat
•“Saving Mr. Banks” Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
•“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
•“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
•“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
•“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
•“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

Best motion picture of the year
•“American Hustle” Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
•“Captain Phillips” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers
•“Dallas Buyers Club” Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers
•“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers
•“Her” Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers
•“Nebraska” Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers
•“Philomena” Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers
•“12 Years a Slave” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers
•“The Wolf of Wall Street” Nominees to be determined

Achievement in production design
•“American Hustle” Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
•“Gravity” Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
•“The Great Gatsby” Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn
•“Her” Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
•“12 Years a Slave” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

Best animated short film
•“Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
•“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
•“Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
•“Possessions” Shuhei Morita
•“Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

Best live action short film
•“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo
•“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
•“Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
•“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
•“The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

Achievement in sound editing
•“All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
•“Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney
•“Gravity” Glenn Freemantle
•“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge
•“Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing
•“Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
•“Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
•“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
•“Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
•“Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

Achievement in visual effects
•“Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
•“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
•“Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
•“The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
•“Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay
•“Before Midnight” Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
•“Captain Phillips” Screenplay by Billy Ray
•“Philomena” Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
•“12 Years a Slave” Screenplay by John Ridley
•“The Wolf of Wall Street” Screenplay by Terence Winter

Original screenplay
•“American Hustle” Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
•“Blue Jasmine” Written by Woody Allen
•“Dallas Buyers Club” Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
•“Her” Written by Spike Jonze
•“Nebraska” Written by Bob Nelson

Oscar® Production Team Announced

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron today announced 13 key members of the production team for the Oscars®, which will air on Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

Director Hamish Hamilton returns to the show after having directed the 82nd Oscars in March 2010. Hamilton has directed many celebrated live televised events, including the 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards,” the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Beyoncé, and the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics, for which he received an Emmy® nomination. Hamilton also shared in the 2011 Peabody Award for the fifth annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” and was a 2003 Grammy Award® nominee for directing the musical special “Robbie Williams – Live at the Albert.” He will direct the upcoming 2014 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bruno Mars.

Production designer Derek McLane was part of the team behind the 85th Oscars, which Zadan and Meron produced. During his career, McLane has designed sets for numerous acclaimed Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. He has received four Tony Award® nominations and won one for his work on 33 Variations. McLane designs can currently be seen in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. His other Broadway credits include The Heiress, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Follies, Anything Goes, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Grease and I Am My Own Wife. McLane’s television credits include the recent NBC event “The Sound of Music Live!” He was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction for Variety or Nonfiction Programming for his work on the 85th Academy Awards.

Choreographer Rob Ashford has worked on two previous Oscar telecasts, including last year’s show and the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009, for which he won an Emmy.  Ashford was recently nominated for a Directors Guild Award in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series for NBC’s broadcast of “The Sound of Music Live!” which was executive produced by Zadan and Meron. Ashford has been nominated for eight Tony Awards and won for Best Choreography in 2002 for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Additional Broadway choreography credits include The Wedding Singer, Curtains, Cry-Baby and Evita. He also served as choreographer on the upcoming feature film adaptation of “Cinderella,” directed by Kenneth Branagh.

In addition to Ellen DeGeneres’ team of writers, Zadan and Meron have brought in Kristin Gore, Amy Ozols and Jon Macks to complete the writing staff. Gore is a novelist and screenwriter whose past credits include “Futurama” and “Saturday Night Live” and whose current projects include a Showtime pilot with director Bennett Miller, an HBO pilot with director Jay Roach, and a Dreamworks movie with director Lance Accord.  Ozols was formerly a writer and producer for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Macks, a longtime writer for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and has been nominated for 6 Emmys.  He has written for numerous major awards shows, Including 17 prior Oscar telecasts.

Music director William Ross returns to the Oscars after working on the 79th, 83rd and 85th Academy Awards. Ross is a four-time Emmy winner whose musical arrangements have played a part in the opening ceremonies of several Super Bowls as well as the opening and/or closing ceremonies of five Olympic Games. Ross earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Direction for his work on the 85th Academy Awards show. He has also composed music for numerous feature films, including “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,” “The Tale of Despereaux” and “Ladder 49.”

Costume designers Julie Weiss and Bruce Pask return to the Oscars after working together on the 85th Academy Awards. Pask is the Men's Fashion Director of T Magazine at The New York Times. He has served as fashion editor at notable publications for more than two decades and has worked with Annie Leibovitz on numerous covers for Vanity Fair and on advertising campaigns for “The Sopranos.” Pask debuted as a costume designer for the stage in Joe Montello’s Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s “Design for Living.” He has created costumes for the Broadway musical revival of “Promises, Promises,” directed by Rob Ashford, who also worked with him on the 33rd Kennedy Center Honors for which Pask received Emmy honors.

Weiss has designed costumes for more than 50 feature films, including her Oscar-nominated work for “Frida” and “Twelve Monkeys.” Her credits include “Steel Magnolias,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “American Beauty,” “Hitchcock,” “Bobby,” “Auto Focus,” “Blades of Glory,” “The Freshman,” “A Simple Plan,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer” and “The Missing.”  Weiss has earned Emmys for her work in “The Dollmaker” and “Woman of Independent Means” and has an additional five Emmy nominations.  Her Broadway credits include “The Elephant Man” for which she received a Tony nomination and has worked with Rob Ashford in last season’s production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” She is currently designing for Ashford’s production of the opera, “Carmen.”  Weiss is the recipient of the Career Achievement Award from The Costume Designers Guild.

This is the first time talent producer Taryn Hurd has worked on an Oscar telecast or collaborated with the show’s producers. Hurd has served as talent producer on events including the FOX network’s “New Year’s Eve Live,” the Breeders’ Cup telecast, “Teen Choice 2013” and “VH1 Divas Salute the Troops.” She also has served as talent producer on the FOX series “So You Think You Can Dance” and ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Previously, Hurd amassed numerous credits as talent executive on broadcasts such as “The ESPYS,” the “Billboard Music Awards” and the “Critics’ Choice Awards.”

Also rejoining the production team are supervising producer Michael Seligman, co-producer Lee Lodge and lighting designer Robert Dickinson.

Seligman has more than 300 major television events to his credit and has earned a total of 11 Emmy nominations, including nine for his work on Oscar telecasts. Seligman’s other producing credits include “The American Giving Awards,” “America Celebrates July 4th at Ford’s Theatre,” “Stand Up to Cancer” and “Return to the Titanic…Live!”

Lodge has served as either co-producer or creative producer for the past five Oscar broadcasts. His credits also include co-executive producer on the “MTV Video Music Awards” in 2012 and 2013, creative producer on the “CMA Awards” since 2010 and creative producer on the “Billboard Music Awards” since 2011.

Winner of 18 Primetime Emmys, lighting designer Robert Dickinson has worked on 26 Oscar broadcasts, including the 85th Academy Awards in 2013. His numerous other credits include the “Kennedy Center Honors,” “Grammy Awards,” “ The Emmy Awards,” “Tony Awards,” “American Music Awards,” Olympic Ceremonies in Atlanta, Salt Lake and Vancouver, the broadcast of the “Sound of Music Live!” and “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.”

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater by actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, will also be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

OSCARS® TO CELEBRATE MOVIE HEROES

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The 86th Academy Awards® will be a celebration of movie heroes, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. Offering their first preview of the upcoming Oscar broadcast, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, the producers said the show will honor big-screen real-life heroes, super heroes, popular heroes and animated heroes, both past and present, as well as the bold filmmakers who bring them to life. The Oscars will air on Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

“We wanted to unify the show with an entertaining and emotional theme,” said Zadan and Meron. “People around the world go to the movies to be inspired by the characters they see on the screen. By celebrating the gamut of heroes who have enriched our movie-going experience, we hope to create an evening of fun and joy. And that includes the filmmakers and actors who take risks and stimulate us with provocative subjects and daring characters. They are all heroes in the cinematic landscape."

“Of course, there will be no shortage of comedy with Ellen DeGeneres as our host,” the producers added. “There may also be a few musical surprises along the way.”

To coincide with the Oscar telecast theme, the Academy will present “The Oscars Celebrates Movie Heroes,” an exhibition in the Grand Lobby Gallery of its Beverly Hills headquarters. On display Friday, January 17 through Wednesday, March 5, the show will feature still photographs and posters from 70 titles spanning nine decades, as well as video montages comprised of excerpts from classic and contemporary films.

The exhibit will include films centered on real-life heroes (“Gandhi,” “Silkwood”), super heroes (“Superman,” “The Dark Knight”), animated heroes (“Shrek,” “The Incredibles”), action heroes (“Seven Samurai,” “Gladiator”), literary heroes (“To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Grapes of Wrath”) and more.

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:35 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater by Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Chris Hemsworth.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, will also be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

2014 Student Academy Awards® Competition Now Underway

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Academy is now accepting applications for its 2014 Student Academy Awards competition. Past Student Academy Award® winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards.  Winners include Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with cash prizes, may be presented to student filmmakers in the following categories: Alternative, Animation, Narrative, Documentary and Foreign Film.

The rules and online application forms are available at www.oscars.org/saa.

The U.S. competition is open to all full-time college and university students at accredited institutions, whose films are made within the curricular structure of a film program or class at their respective schools. For 2014, the Academy has again limited the accepted accreditation agencies for U.S. institutions to the following: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; New England Association of Schools and Colleges; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; Western Association of Schools and Colleges; and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. U.S. entries must be submitted by Tuesday, April 1, 2014.

In the Foreign Film category, entries are accepted only from full-time college and university students attending schools that are members of the international film school organization known as CILECT (www.cilect.org) and located outside the borders of the United States. The deadline to submit a foreign student film for consideration is Friday, March 21, 2014.

The 41st Annual Student Academy Awards presentation will be held in June at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

19 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO BE HONORED WITH ACADEMY AWARDS

Peter W. Anderson to receive Gordon E. Sawyer Award;
Charles “Tad” Marburg to receive John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 19 scientific and technical achievements represented by 52 individual award recipients will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on Saturday, February 15, at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

In addition, visual effects supervisor and director of photography Peter W. Anderson will receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award (an Oscar® statuette) for technological contributions that have brought credit to the industry.  Post-production and distribution executive Charles “Tad” Marburg will receive the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy.

For the first time in the history of the Scientific and Technical Awards, a large number of individuals, collectively, will be recognized with an Academy Award® of Merit (an Oscar statuette). The award is dedicated to “all those who built and operated film laboratories, for over a century of service to the motion picture industry.”

“This year’s honorees have in a myriad of ways enabled today’s moviegoing experience,” said Richard Edlund, Academy Award-winning visual effects artist and Scientific and Technical Awards Committee Chair. “Their efforts have advanced not only the art and science of motion pictures, but the work of countless global industries.”

Unlike other Academy Awards to be presented this year, achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards need not have been developed and introduced during 2013. Rather, the achievements must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.

The Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievements are:

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (ACADEMY CERTIFICATES)

To Olivier Maury, Ian Sachs and Dan Piponi for the creation of the ILM Plume system that simulates and renders fire, smoke and explosions for motion picture visual effects.
The unique construction of this system combines fluid solving and final image rendering on the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) hardware without needing an intermediate step involving the CPU. This innovation reduces turnaround time, resulting in significant efficiency gains for the ILM effects department.

To Ronald D. Henderson for the development of the FLUX gas simulation system.
The use of the Fast Fourier Transform for solving partial differential equations allows FLUX a greater level of algorithmic efficiency when multi-threading on modern hardware. This innovation enables the creation of very high-resolution fluid effects while maintaining fast turnaround times.

To Andrew Camenisch, David Cardwell and Tibor Madjar for the concept and design, and to Csaba Kohegyi and Imre Major for the implementation of the Mudbox software.
Mudbox provides artists powerful new design capabilities that significantly advance the state of the art in multi-resolution digital sculpting for film production.

To Martin Hill, Jon Allitt and Nick McKenzie for the creation of the spherical harmonics-based efficient lighting system at Weta Digital. The spherical harmonics lighting pipeline precomputes and reuses a smooth approximation of time-consuming visibility calculations. This enables artists to quickly see the results of changing lights, materials and set layouts in scenes with extremely complex geometry.

To Florian Kainz, Jeffery Yost, Philip Hubbard and Jim Hourihan for the architecture and development of the Zeno application framework. For more than a decade, Zeno’s flexible and robust design has allowed the creation of a broad range of Academy Award-winning visual effects toolsets at ILM.

To Peter Huang and Chris Perry for their architectural contributions to, and to Hans Rijpkema and Joe Mancewicz for the core engineering of, the Voodoo application framework. For more than a decade, Voodoo’s unique design concepts have enabled a broad range of character animation toolsets to be developed at Rhythm & Hues.

To Matt Pharr, Greg Humphreys and Pat Hanrahan for their formalization and reference implementation of the concepts behind physically based rendering, as shared in their book Physically Based Rendering. Physically based rendering has transformed computer graphics lighting by more accurately simulating materials and lights, allowing digital artists to focus on cinematography rather than the intricacies of rendering. First published in 2004, Physically Based Rendering is both a textbook and a complete source-code implementation that has provided a widely adopted practical roadmap for most physically based shading and lighting systems used in film production.

To Dr. Peter Hillman for the long-term development and continued advancement of innovative, robust and complete toolsets for deep compositing. Dr. Hillman’s ongoing contributions to standardized techniques and a common deep image file format have enabled advanced compositing workflows across the digital filmmaking industry.

To Colin Doncaster, Johannes Saam, Areito Echevarria, Janne Kontkanen and Chris Cooper for the development, prototyping and promotion of technologies and workflows for deep compositing. Their contributions include early advancements in key deep compositing features such as layer and holdout-order independence, spatial and intra-element color correction, post-render depth of field, and precise blending of complex layer edges.

To Thomas Lokovic and Eric Veach for their influential research and publication of the fundamental concepts of deep shadowing technology. Providing a functional and efficient model for the storage of deep opacity information, this technology was widely adopted as the foundation of early deep compositing pipelines.

To Gifford Hooper and Philip George of HoverCam for the continuing development of the Helicam miniature helicopter camera system. The current Helicam system is a high-speed, extremely maneuverable, turbine-engine, radio-controlled miniature helicopter that supports professional film and digital cinema cameras. Helicam provides a wide range of stabilized, remotely operated pan, tilt and roll capabilities, achieving shots impossible for full-size helicopters.

To John Frazier, Chuck Gaspar and Clay Pinney for the design and development of the Pneumatic Car Flipper. This self-contained high-pressure pneumatic device safely launches a stationary full-sized car on a predetermined trajectory. The precision of operation enhances the safety of performers, and the physical design allows a rapid setup and strike.

To Joshua Pines, David Reisner, Lou Levinson, Curtis Clark, ASC, and David Register for the development of the American Society of Cinematographers Color Decision List technology. The ASC CDL unifies color correction principles for use on- and off-set, providing for the faithful reproduction of color values across a variety of color correction devices. This technology provides basic image-processing mathematics that translate the lift, gamma and gain settings to a set of common color values to help preserve the cinematographer’s intent throughout production.

To Jeremy Selan for the development of the OpenColorIO color management framework. OpenColorIO is an open source framework that enables consistent color visualization of motion picture imagery across multiple facilities and numerous software applications.

SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARDS (ACADEMY PLAQUES)

To Ofer Alon for the design and implementation of the ZBrush software tool for multi-resolution sculpting of digital models. ZBrush pioneered multi-resolution digital sculpting, transforming how artists conceive and realize their final designs. ZBrush has enabled artists to create models far more quickly and with much greater detail than previous approaches.

To Eric Veach for his foundational research on efficient Monte Carlo path tracing for image synthesis. Physically based rendering has transformed computer graphics lighting by more accurately simulating materials and lights, allowing digital artists to focus on cinematography rather than the intricacies of rendering. In his 1997 Ph.D. thesis and related publications, Veach formalized the principles of Monte Carlo path tracing and introduced essential optimization techniques, such as multiple importance sampling, which make physically based rendering computationally feasible.

To Andre Gauthier, Benoit Sevigny, Yves Boudreault and Robert Lanciault for the design and implementation of the FiLMBOX software application. FiLMBOX, the foundation of MotionBuilder, enables the real-time processing and control of devices and animation. For over two decades, its innovative architecture has been a basis for the development and evolution of new techniques in filmmaking, such as virtual production.

To Emmanuel Prevenaire, Jan Sperling, Etienne Brandt and Tony Postiau for their development of the Flying-Cam SARAH 3.0 system. This battery-powered, radio-controlled, miniature helicopter camera system employs computer-assisted piloting and tele-operation in an airframe that utilizes GPS-assisted flight controls for aerial filming of unparalleled sophistication. Flying-Cam SARAH achieves shots impossible for full-size helicopters, cable systems or other traditional camera support devices.

ACADEMY AWARD® OF MERIT (OSCAR® STATUETTE)

To all those who built and operated film laboratories, for over a century of service to the motion picture industry.

Lab employees have contributed extraordinary efforts to achieve filmmakers’ artistic expectations for special film processing and the production of billions of feet of release prints per year. This work has allowed an expanded motion picture audience and unequaled worldwide cinema experience.

GORDON E. SAWYER AWARD (OSCAR STATUETTE)

Peter W. Anderson

Presented to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.

JOHN A. BONNER MEDAL OF COMMENDATION (MEDALLION)

Charles “Tad” Marburg

Presented in appreciation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Portions of the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation will be included in the Oscar telecast.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

John Legend to Perform at Governors Ball on Oscar® Sunday

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —John Legend, nine-time Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter, will take the stage on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Academy’s official post-Oscars celebration, the Governors Ball.

“John Legend is one of the industry’s most innovative and talented artists,” said Jeffrey Kurland, Costume Design Branch governor and chair of the Governors Ball.  “We’re thrilled he will be joining us to celebrate this year’s achievements in film, and for what promises to be a most memorable evening.”

Legend’s critically acclaimed 2004 debut album, “Get Lifted,” garnered eight Grammy nominations and earned him a win for best R&B album.  That year he also won best new artist of the year and best male R&B vocal performance for the hit single “Ordinary People.”  His fourth solo album, “Love in the Future,” is nominated for best R&B album at the upcoming Grammy Awards.  Legend’s songs have been included in the soundtracks of such films as “Waiting for Superman,” “Think Like a Man” and “Django Unchained.”

In 2007 Legend launched an education-focused organization, the Show Me Campaign, which works to break the cycle of poverty in both the U.S. and Africa.  He also serves on the boards of several other organizations, including Stand for Children, Teach For America, the Harlem Village Academies and PopTech.

Legend will perform for the Ball’s 1,500 guests, which will include Oscar winners and nominees, show presenters and performers, and other luminaries.  The Ball will be held in the Ray Dolby Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center®.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

15 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES ADVANCE IN 2013 OSCAR® RACE

UPDATE: The "IN" Show had the immense pleasure of being in attendance at a special screening of "The Square" held by TCDM & Associates. Jehane Noujaim's documentary follows a group of Egyptian revolutaries as they battle regimes, risk their lives, and strive to build an Egyptian society that represents all they hold dear. "The Square" is poignant, daunting, intense filmmaking and must be seen by all! After the screening, a Q&A was held, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 86th Oscars® . One hundred forty-seven films had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

   "The Act of Killing," Final Cut for Real
    "The Armstrong Lie," The Kennedy/Marshall Company
    "Blackfish," Our Turn Productions
    "The Crash Reel," KP Rides Again
    "Cutie and the Boxer," Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic
   "Dirty Wars," Civic Bakery
    "First Cousin Once Removed," Experiments in Time, Light & Motion
    "God Loves Uganda," Full Credit Productions
    "Life According to Sam," Fine Films
    "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer," Roast Beef Productions
    "The Square," Noujaim Films and Maktube Productions
    "Stories We Tell," National Film Board of Canada
    "Tim’s Vermeer," High Delft Pictures
    "20 Feet from Stardom," Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Productions
   "Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington," Tripoli Street

The Academy’s Documentary Branch determined the shortlist in a preliminary round of voting.  Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles.

The Oscars nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

SOURCE The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences