Oscars 2011 Shorts!
After a five hour road trip, we arrived in Los Angeles to start our “real” Oscars coverage. The first event on our schedule was the Shorts! reception at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Although we’ve attended several events at the Academy headquarters, it’s still quite a thrill to push past the hundreds of attendees lined up outside and take our place among the media inside the building.
Tonight’s reception was to honor the filmmakers behind the Oscar nominated Short films from 2010. Short films can earn an Oscar nomination in one of three categories: Live action, Animated and Documentary. To be eligible for an Oscar, the Short Films must be forty minutes or shorter and have been screened for paying audiences in Los Angeles County for three consecutive days with at least two screenings per day.
Kenneth Branagh, the well-known actor and filmmaker, played host for the evening. When asked how he was drafted to lead the evening, he explained how he had experimented with making short films and once, made the long list of features considered for nomination. His eyes danced as he relayed the challenge of making a Short feature, “The most pure form of cinema.”
Another interesting conversation involved Teddy Newton, the filmmaker behind Day and Night, familiar to audiences who caught Toy Story 3 in theaters last year. Teddy spoke about the excitement of finding out his short film had been chosen to open for Toy Story 3.
As we chatted with the different filmmakers, I began to appreciate the diversity in Short Films. From animated satire, to serious documentaries about the suffering of people around the world, from gritty, real-life stories, to the allegorical fable, the short film has emerged as an important vehicle for communicating simple, condensed lessons in a “short” 40 minutes.
Tomorrow we’ll shift gears and head back the Academy for the Nominated Documentary Films reception. We’ll also stop by and visit with Randy Haberkamp, Director of Education and Special Projects for the Academy. We’re excited to see what behind-the-scenes footage we’ll be able to post for you on Thursday! Well, time to start the uploads on video and catch some sleep. T he difference in my reporting with and without sleep, is well, like “Day and Night!”
CableSuite 541’s coverage of the 83rd Academy Awards is made possible by the generous sponsorships of The Star Beacon, Kent State University at Ashtabula, ACMC, Carmike Cinemas, E.B. & Co., True North Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, www.whysoblu.com, Star 97, Magic Oldies 102.5 and 98.3 The Bull.
Yeah! Kenneth Branagh!