BURLINGTON, Mass.—Avid has released data showing that the filmmakers, editors and sound teams worked with Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools to create the vast majority of this year’s Academy Award®-winning pictures.

In total, 87% of winning productions were crafted using Avid solutions, reinforcing Avid’s long history as the creative platform trusted for the world’s greatest storytelling, the company reported.

“Well-deserved congratulations to all the filmmakers, editors and sound teams recognized at this year’s Academy Awards,” said Wellford Dillard, CEO of Avid. “These films didn’t just entertain audiences – they moved, thrilled and inspired millions of people. We’re proud to see the world’s most important stories shaped by artists using Avid tools as part of their creative process. That’s what drives us every day – building technology that helps the world’s greatest creators deliver their best work.”

Filmmakers working with Avid creative solutions were recognized across major categories including Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Animated Feature Film. Winning productions include:

• Best Picture: `One Battle After Another'. Producers: Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson.
• Best Film Editing:`One Battle After Another'. Editor: Andy Jurgensen.
• Best Sound: `F1: The Movie'. Sound team: Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta.
• Best Animated Feature Film: `KPop Demon Hunters'. Producers: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong.
• Best International Feature Film: `Sentimental Value' (Norway).
• Best Visual Effects: `Avatar: Fire and Ash'. Visual effects team: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett.
• Best Documentary Feature Film: `Mr. Nobody Against Putin' Producers: David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber and Alžběta Karásková.

Alongside a wide array of this year’s winning productions, Avid also reported that its editing and audio solutions were used across the majority of nominated works in several major categories, with 8 of the 10 Best Picture nominees were crafted using Avid, 4 out of 5 editors in Best Film Editing cut their films with Media Composer, and and all Best Sound nominees used Pro Tools.

For example, Andy Jurgensen, winner of the Best Film Editing Oscar for `One Battle After Another', cut the film using Avid Media Composer®.

“This film had so many tones – comedy, drama, action – it’s so hard to compartmentalize,” said Jurgensen. “One thing I really got into on this movie was Avid’s automatic transcribing tool… When you need to find just a word or a phrase you can search and find it in all the different takes. It saved me so much time.”

The sound team behind `F1: The Movie', which won the Oscar® for Best Sound, used Avid Pro Tools workflows to craft an immersive racing experience that captured both the authenticity and excitement of Formula 1.

“What makes F1 exciting is that it is the peak of motorsport racing. It is the top of the top,” said Juan Peralta, re-recording mixer at Skywalker Sound. “One of the edicts we got from the producers of this movie was to try to make it as authentic as possible… We also were making a fun movie – we want people to enjoy it and just be on for the ride.”

Learn more about the creative process behind `F1: The Movie' here: https://connect.avid.com/f1-the-movie-lp.html

Find out more about Andy Jurgensen’s editing experience on `One Battle After Another' here: https://theroughcutpod.com/one-battle-after-another/

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Roku has announced plans to launch “Roklue,” a new on-platform game designed to immerse users in major culture events of the moment, such as the awards season, and help them discover new entertainment.

Accessible via the Roku Home Screen, each “Roklue” experience tests players on the movies and TV shows that everyone is talking about, as well as the beloved favorites they want to watch again and again. Through this creative interactive experience, Roku users will be able to discover titles in an engaging, unique, and seamless way, with all of Roku’s content at their fingertips.

The inaugural experience, “Roklue: Awards Season,” will be available on March 7 and features clues inspired by Hollywood’s biggest award show moments and celebrated films. Anyone can join the fun by clicking in from the Home Screen, with no downloads or complex setup required. “Roklue” will evolve throughout the year with editions tied to other major cultural moments.

“At Roku, we’re creating experiences you can’t get anywhere else — streaming that is interactive, fun, and powered by the full breadth of content on the platform,” said Lisa Holme, head of content, Roku Media.“Roklue will connect streamers to shows and movies in a way that makes discovery feel less like work and more like play.”

The launch of Roklue underscores Roku’s continued investment in engagement-driven experiences, building on the momentum of the recently introduced “Live from Roku City,” an initiative that transforms the iconic screensaver into a dynamic stage for original programming. Past iterations include Demi Lovato’s headline performance and a celebration of “Wicked: For Good” launched earlier this year.

“Roklue: Awards Season” is produced by B17 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Brien Meagher, Rhett Bachner, and Chris Lesinski serve as executive producers. Chris Lesinski serves as showrunner.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—In a notable example of how major programming rights have been shifting towards streaming, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube have signed a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 with the 101st Oscars ceremony and running through 2033.

The Academy reported that the Oscars, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, Governors Ball access, and more, will be available live and for free to over 2 billion viewers around the world on YouTube, and to YouTube TV subscribers in the United States.

“We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor. “The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible — which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community. This collaboration will leverage YouTube’s vast reach and infuse the Oscars and other Academy programming with innovative opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy. We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale.”

“The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” said Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube. “Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”

The partnership also will include worldwide access for film fans to other Academy events and programs exclusively on the Oscars YouTube channel. This will include the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominations Announcement, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Awards, Academy member and filmmaker interviews, film education programs, podcasts, and more.

In addition, through this partnership, the Google Arts & Culture initiative will help provide digital access to select Academy Museum exhibitions and programs and help to digitize components of the Academy Collection—the largest film-related collection in the world, with more than 52 million items.

The Academy said that its U.S. partnership for the Oscars will continue with Disney ABC through the 100th Oscars in 2028, as will the international partnership for the Oscars with Disney’s Buena Vista International.

LOS ANGELES—Working on the 97th Academy Awards this past March as the broadcast mixer inside NEP Denali’s Summit unit was a massive but deeply rewarding undertaking. This is one of the most complex shows on television, a global broadcast with countless moving parts, and the Calrec Apollo is at the center of our workflow.

The routing alone is staggering—it includes international feeds, audience microphones, podiums, RF mics and playback elements from multiple audio and video sources. While the orchestra and live performances are handled in the music truck, those feeds are integrated into our final broadcast mix.

Total Recall
What made it manageable was the Apollo’s ability to recall last year’s setup with a single press of a button. When I walked in, Hugh Healy, our longtime chief technical engineer, loaded last year’s configuration, giving me a fully mapped session to build on. From there, I could focus on refining, adjusting levels, EQ, panning, reverbs and microphone gains, rather than reinventing the wheel.

The familiarity of the setup was a huge advantage. We’d been in the same venue for years, working with the same Calrec console, the same outboard gear and, most importantly, the same amazing team. Pablo Munguia handles Pro Tools, Biff Dawes and Tommy Vicari mix the music and orchestra, Patrick Baltzel runs front of house, and Mike Parker and Tom Pesa manage artist monitor mixes. Many of us have been doing this show for decades and that consistency allows us to hit the ground running.

Getting ready for a show of this scale was a finely tuned process, kicking off with two intense days of technical setup, which included wiring the stage, deploying RF systems, assembling the orchestra’s space and ensuring that every microphone and audio feed synced perfectly between us, front of house, monitors and the music truck.

By midweek, rehearsals took center stage, first with stand-ins to nail down timing and movement, then with the actual performers to perfect everything from traffic flow to camera angles. Friday transformed into “music day,” where the orchestra and performers came together for full run-throughs of every performance. On Saturday, the focus shifted to the presenters, wardrobe checks for RF mic placements and a complete production rehearsal. After a final dress rehearsal on Sunday, the stage was set and we were ready to go live.

It was a far cry from when I first mixed the Oscars in the early ’90s, after working my way up from a maintenance engineer at Wally Heider Recording in the late ’70s. Back then, it was all analog, no Pro Tools, very few RF mics and far less I/O to manage.

The jump to digital has been transformative. The Calrec Apollo desk handles the insane number of inputs and outputs with ease, and its layers allow me to access everything without taking myself out of the mix sweet spot. I can preview RFs and line up the next act while mixing the current one, which is critical for live television.

Water-Cooler Moments
Of course, the job isn’t without challenges. Today’s stages generate significant noise from screens, lighting elements and fans, making it harder to maintain a clean, consistent room tone. The proliferation of RF devices requires constant spectrum management. And with streaming shows reducing or eliminating commercial breaks, there’s less time to breathe between acts, which means more operators handling things silently in the background.

But it’s still a thrill. Mixing this show gave me those “water-cooler moments,” the great speeches, stunning performances and elegant old-school presentation that make the Oscars special. The technology has evolved, but the goal remains the same: deliver a beautiful, seamless mix for a worldwide audience. After all these years, there’s still nothing like it.

More information is available at calrec.com.

ABC is reporting that the early start for the 96th Oscars on ABC helped push the average audience to 19.5 million total viewers, a four-year high. It also scored a 3.81 rating among adults 18-49 based on Fast National Live+Same Day program data from Nielsen. 

The four-year high in total viewers (19.5 million), the biggest since the 2020 broadcast, also meant that “The Oscars” grew for the 3rd straight year in Total Viewers, improving over last year’s broadcast by nearly 1 million viewers (19.5 million vs. 18.8 million), ABC said. 

ABC’s broadcast of the 96th Oscars peaked in the final half-hour (10:00-10:29 p.m.) with 21.9 million Total Viewers.

ABC also reported that the 96th Oscars stood as the strongest awards show telecast on any network in 4 years in Total Viewers (19.5 million) – since ABC’s broadcast of the 2020 Oscars on 2/9/20. 

The 2024 Oscars also ranked as the top entertainment special in primetime on any network in 4 years in Total Viewers (19.5 million). With 5 million total viewers, “The Oscars” on ABC outdrew “The Grammys” on CBS by 14% (17.1 million on 2/4/24) and “The Golden Globes®” by 105% (9.5 million on 1/7/24) and “The 75th Emmy Awards” on Fox by 333% (4.5 million on 1/15/24).

The 96th Oscars also ranked as the No. 1 most social program on Sunday, generating 28.5 million total social interactions and growing 4% from last year’s ceremony (27.4 million).

“The Oscars” stood as the 1 entertainment program of the year to date in terms of social video consumption with 71.8 million video views.

Producers of last night's telecast of the 96th annual Academy Awards pulled off the almost impossible task of ending the usual marathon-length show on time at 10:30 p.m. The tightly choreographed gala started earlier than usual—7:00 p.m. ET—on ABC, because of (according to the Academy, at least) Daylight Savings Time. 

While most of the winners were predictable, the show did its best to keep audiences in the Dolby Theater and at home entertained with producers determined to defy the critics who complain every year about the show’s length, (the longest Oscars telecast was in 2002, clocking in at four hours and 23 minutes). 

Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling performed showstoppers from “Barbie,” with Eilish taking home the trophy for “What Was I Made For.” However when it came to the rivalry that was marketed and hyped as “barbenheimer” last summer, Oppenheimer (predictably) had already won when nominations were announced, and it confirmed its artistic dominance by capturing seven of its 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor to Robert Downey Jr.—surprisingly his first—after two previous nominations. 

Early data from AdImpact indicates that viewership for last night’s Oscars peaked at 20 million around 9:30 p.m. ET when Ryan Gosling performed `I’m Just Ken’ according to AdImpact. 

The majority of viewership took place on linear television (67%), followed by streaming (19%), YouTube TV (12%) and YouTube (2%), AdImpact said. 

Host Jimmy Kimmel returned for what is perhaps the most unforgiving job in Hollywood as the show’s host, keeping politics and controversy at a minimum, particularly as the show continues to lengthen its distance from the disastrous 2022 Oscars which saw Will Smith assaulting host Chris Rock. 

But given the world (and domestic) events of the past 12 months, that was going to be impossible. Both the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza were mentioned in numerous speeches (and in at least one powerful commercial from the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism). 

And of course, this being an election year, Kimmel couldn’t resist after presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump ranted about Kimmel’s performance on his Truth Social network. Kimmel read the tweet (or whatever they’re called), responding with “Isn’t it past your jail time?” 

The show also gave long overdue recognition to stunt actors with Gosling and Emiiy Blunt paying homage to the “unsung heroes who risk life and limb for the cinema.” 

Perhaps the most meme-worthy moment came early in the broadcast when the Oscars attempted to commemorate a little bit of history by recognizing the 50th anniversary of another famous controversial moment in 1974. That broadcast was briefly interrupted by a man in the buff running across the stage, in what was the popular fad of “streaking” at the time (and eliciting what is arguably the wittiest ad lib in the history of the show’s broadcasts from English actor David Niven… look it up).

John Cena, professional wrestler, author and star of the new Amazon Prime series “Ricky Stanicky,” reluctantly appeared on stage in his birthday suit wearing nothing but the winner’s envelope for Best Costume Design and perhaps doing his best to help the Oscars “break the internet” for one brief moment. 

Last year's actors and writers strike was acknowledged early in the telecast. Although the work stoppage ended last November, contract negotiations between studios and technical workers are about to get underway, to which Kimmel declared his support: “Know that in your upcoming negotiations we will stand with you.” Since most movies were already in the can or post prior to last year’s strikes, the walkouts had little to no visible effect on last night’s nominations but the impact could be felt for a number of coming years.

Remote production, accelerated by the pandemic, can now do some incredible things.In fact, the animated holiday short film “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse” became the first remotely produced film to win an Academy Award. When it had its debut in December on BBC in the U.K., it drew more than 7 million viewers. The film is now available on Apple TV+.

To make the film, 120 people in 15 countries were tied together over LucidLink.

The Main Stage session “How to Win an Oscar With a Fully Remote Creative Team,” sponsored by LucidLink at last week's NAB Show in Las Vegas, featured two of the creative managers on the film, Mike McCain, an art director and visual development artist, and Ben Wood, animation senior support specialist.

Moderator Dave Leopold, LucidLink’s strategic development director, noted that this show was creating a playbook for remote productions going forward.

Being in charge of technology for the film’s art department, Wood said one of the first things he needed to do was to access the people working on the project and the electronic equipment they had to work with.

One important factor was bandwidth, he said, “because we were still deep in the COVID pandemic and it was important to know if I’d be able to remotely get into their system while they were on the machine.”

While the people hired had amazing creative abilities, he added, they did not have the best machines at home. “In about two or three cases people had to buy new iMacs because it can support the latest OS.”

“The remote aspect to leading this team was incredibly daunting,” McCain added. The team had some early Zoom calls to demonstrate techniques. “The early phases were laying the track for the train,” he said. “By the end of the project, we had a lot of momentum.”

The author of “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse,” Charlie Mackesy, used his own unique watercolor style to illustrate the book. That style would prove tricky to translate to film until they found the right kind of brushes to use in Photoshop.

“I think with any adaptation of a book, especially something that’s so beloved as Charlie’s book had become, I felt there’s always that sort of initial trepidation,” McCain said. But to the credit of the film’s producers, “pretty much as soon as I saw some of the early story animatics and storyboards, I was just excited and hopeful that we could make it through this whole thing and stick the landing.”  

© NAB 2023

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Adobe has announced that 10 Oscar-nominated films used Adobe creative applications to bring their stories to life –  including three Oscar-nominated documentaries, and box-office hits ranging from `Everything Everywhere All at Once’ to `Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and `Top Gun: Maverick’. 

Adobe Creative Cloud applications used by the filmmakers included Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and Frame.io to edit, create, and collaborate from anywhere – along with Adobe Substance 3D to produce photo- and hyper-realistic 3D objects and effects, the company reported. 

“We’re proud to empower Oscar-nominated filmmakers to bring the world’s greatest stories to life with the leading platform of creative applications and services in Adobe Creative Cloud and the Substance 3D collection,” said Ashley Still, senior vice president, Adobe Creative Cloud. “Adobe continues pushing the boundaries of innovation to unlock the future of filmmaking, empowering our customers to create in new mediums and collaborate in new ways, from anywhere.”  

The creators using Adobe solutions include: 

• Editor Paul Rogers and his team at Parallax Post relied on Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Frame.io to bring `Everything Everywhere All at Once' to life, earning 11 nominations including Best Film Editing and Best Picture. “Premiere Pro is wonderful and I couldn’t imagine cutting in any other program,” said Rogers. “Combined with Frame.io, the whole workflow was very intuitive. I was able to focus on the film, not the tools.” 
• `Top Gun: Maverick' Film UI designer Jayse Hansen turned to After Effects and Illustrator to supplement the practical interior shots of the various aircrafts by designing and animating the realistic cockpit, speed and command center displays that captivated audiences and earned six nominations, including Best Visual Effects and Best Picture. “All of Adobe’s tools play so well together,” said Hansen. “This allows our team the quickest workflow from design, to animation, back to changes, and then to final composites.”
• Adobe Creative Cloud and Frame.io were important tools for the post-production team of `Fire of Love', the National Geographic Documentary Films feature which earned a Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award at Sundance as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature Film. VFX artist Kara Blake shared that “In bringing this moving story to life, Photoshop and After Effects helped us craft the visual design of the film and integrate archival footage from multiple eras while Frame.io made remote collaboration easy and efficient.” 
• Digital Domain Texture Lead Artist Sarah Cosmi and her team used Substance 3D tools to polish the visuals in `Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', which earned five nominations including Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design. “To create the climactic battle of `Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', Digital Domain built two complete digidouble armies, multiple super-powered combatants, and digital environments from scratch, and it all begins with the textures,” said Cosmi. “My team and I relied on Adobe Substance 3D as part of our integrated workflow to create every detail from the battleship to the oceans and more, which helped us deliver an amazing experience for audiences around the world.” 

Adobe also reported that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® honored Adobe with a Scientific Technical Award for Substance 3D Designer’s contributions in visual effects and animation. 

This is Adobe’s third Scientific and Engineering Award, including After Effects and Photoshop’s 2018 recognition for their impacts on motion design and digital painting. 

In addition, Adobe noted that at the 2023 Eddie Awards, film editors who trusted Premiere Pro bring their stories to life were honored for editing, including Best Edited Feature Film `Everything Everywhere All at Once’, Best Edited Single Camera Series `The Bear’, Best Edited Non-Script Series `VICE’, and Best Edited Animated Series `Love Death and Robots’. 

Adobe also received the Lumiere Century Award from the Advanced Imaging Society for creating innovative post-production tools and pioneering access to creative technology solutions in the filmmaking industry.

The company also announced that the Adobe Foundation recently made a  $250,000 grant to the USC School of Dramatic Arts’ (SDA) MFA Acting Program, directly supporting the production of short films by underrepresented students. This investment builds on Adobe’s commitment to enable inclusivity, access, opportunity, and creativity for all and the Adobe Foundation’s support of ‘The Inclusion List’ — a new research-led effort with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which measures inclusion in the industry from 1929 to present day, charting nominations for women and people of color across 19 categories.

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney Advertising Sales has announced that it has sold out of ad inventory for the 94th Oscars telecast. 

The Academy and Disney Advertising Sales also reported that they brought together a broad range of sponsors, representing 14 categories for the show, which will be televised live on ABC on March 27. 

“With Hollywood’s most iconic night just around the corner, we’re honored to support the best and brightest in film in collaboration with our unrivaled roster of brand partners,” said Rita Ferro, president, Disney Advertising. “The Oscars pushes the boundaries of creativity and storytelling, and advertisers that tap into that cultural zeitgeist on the right screen at the right time are able to create the most impact across all categories and audiences.”

The sponsors for this year's show include companies in such categories as apparel, auto, beverage, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, insurance, luxury spirits, media & entertainment, pharmaceutical, retail, streaming, technology and telecom.

The top tier of advertisers, which they call "proud sponsors" include: Crypto.com; Pfizer; Rolex and Verizon. 

Participating sponsors are: Amazon XCM; Anheuser-Busch (Michelob); Bacardi (Bombay Sapphire); Bank of America; Best Buy; Capital One; CBS Interactive (Paramount +); CNN+; Corona; Discovery+; Disney+; Eli Lilly; Geico; Google; Incyte; Kellogg; Kraft; Lionsgate; Lucid Motors; Macys; Mastercard; Meta; Peacock; Reckitt (Mucinex); Snapchat; State Farm; Stellantis; Subway and Walt Disney Studios, among others.

The company also announced that Disney Advertising’s Local offering, including Hulu, locked in a broad range of sponsors and categories by providing advertisers opportunities to reach audiences at the local and regional level. Many advertisers returned to leverage these local opportunities, including Mercedes Benz, Spectrum, Henkel, BMW and Lexus, to name a few, Disney reported. 

FREMONT, Calif.—In the runup to the the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, Blackmagic Design has issued congratulations to a number of production and post-production professionals who used its digital film cameras, DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software, and other technologies. 

Some of the Oscar nominated films that used Blackmagic Design gear during production included:

• “Attica” DP Kevin J. Burroughs used ATEM Mini live production switcher to show camera angles during remote interviews for the documentary;
• “CODA” DIT Leonard A. Mazzone used Smart Videohub 16x16 router and UltraStudio 4K capture and playback device for on set work;
• “Free Guy” DIT Daniel A. Hernandez used DaVinci Resolve Studio and UltraStudios for on set work; and
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home” VFX Supervisor Kelly Port used five Pocket Cinema Camera 4Ks as witness cameras during VFX shooting.

Some of the Oscar nominated films that used DaVinci Resolve Studio and accompanying gear during post production include:

• “Ascension” was graded by Cédric von Niederhäusern using DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel;
• “Belfast” was graded by Rob Pizzey and online edited and finished by Russell White, both of Goldcrest Post;
• “Don’t Look Up” was graded by Matt Wallach of Company 3;
• “Drive My Car” was graded by Yumeto Kitayama of Imagica Entertainment Media Services, Inc.;
• “Free Guy” was graded by Skip Kimball of Company 3;
• “The Hand of God” was graded, conformed and finished by Grande Mela Digital Film Srl, which also provided dailies color services;
• “Lead Me Home” was graded by Leo Hallal and online edited and finished by Ashley Pagán of ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions;
• “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” was graded by Natasha Leonnet of Company 3;
• “Nightmare Alley” was graded by Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, with DaVinci Resolve Studio also being used in the VFX pipeline by the team at MR. X (which has since merged with the MPC brand);
• “No Time to Die” was graded by Matt Wallach of Company 3, with DaVinci Resolve Studio also being used in the VFX pipeline by VFX Supervisor Matt Tinsley of TPO VFX;
• “On My Mind” was edited, composited, graded and finished by Thomas Engell of Sound Sunrise;
• “The Power of the Dog” was graded by Trish Cahill at Soundfirm;
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was graded by Jill Bogdanowicz and additional colorists Jared Pecht and Charles Bunnag, all of Company 3;
• “Spider-Man™: No Way Home” was graded by Jill Bogdanowicz of Company 3, with DaVinci Resolve Studio also being used in the VFX pipeline by the team at MR. X (which has since merged with the MPC brand) and by VFX Supervisor Ed Bruce's team in SSVFX who used it for VFX editorial, dailies and reviews, and live color sessions;
• “Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” was graded by Yohance Brown;
• “Three Songs for Benazir” was graded by Brian Hutchings, with IMF delivery completed by Joe Bogdanovic at Different By Design;
• “tick, tick…BOOM!” was graded by Stephen Nakamura of Company 3;
• “West Side Story” VFX Supervisor Aaron Weintraub of MR. X (which has since merged with the MPC brand) used DaVinci Resolve Studio in the VFX pipeline; and
• “When We Were Bullies” was graded by Robert Arnold of Lateral Films using DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel, DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G capture and playback card, DeckLink Mini Recorders and Mini Converters SDI to Audio.

NEW YORK—Frame.io got to pull double duty at the recent 93rd Oscars, serving as a part of the telecast and as a contributor to a few of the Oscar nominated films.

Frame.io says that it was used by Sim International to help produce the broadcast. It also was used to assist with collaboration during post-production of the nominated films “Wolfwalkers” and “One Night in Miami,” as well as the Oscar-winning film “Sound of Metal.”

As part of its annual coverage of the Oscars, editor and author Steve Hullfish went behind the scenes with the “Sound of Metal” team to see how they used Frame.io to collaborate remotely both before and during the pandemic. There is also coverage on Frame.io’s work on “Wolkwalkers” and “One Night in Miami.”

Frame.io provides additional coverage of the Oscars with its “Oscars Workflow Roundup” of all the Best Picture and Best Editing nominees.

To read some of this coverage, visit blog.frame.io.  

LOS ANGELES—What the 2021 Oscar broadcast is going to look like is slowly coming into focus, as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has announced that it plans to produce the annual awards ceremony from multiple locations.

The Oscars were previously pushed back from its usual February date to April 25 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because of the lingering nature of the pandemic, the Academy is still taking precautions.

According to the released statement, the Academy said that it will indeed produce an in-person show, but one that takes place in multiple locations. One of those locations will be the Dolby Theatre, which has been the home of the Oscars since 2001; the other locations have not yet been announced.

An Academy spokesperson gave the following statement:

“In this unique year that has asked so much of so many, the Academy is determined to present an Oscars like none other, while prioritizing the public health and safety of all those who will participate.

“To create the in-person show our global audience wants to see, while adapting to the requirements of the pandemic, the ceremony will broadcast live from multiple locations, including the landmark Dolby Theatre. We look forward to sharing more details soon.”

The 2021 Oscars will take place on April 25 and be broadcast on ABC.

The Oscars were over the weekend, and as we celebrate the latest top-of-the class movie productions, let’s not forget the innovative technologies that create today’s movie magic. The film industry is in the throes of an exciting digital transformation, revolutionizing the creation and consumption of our favorite films.

The 91st Academy Awards took place on Sunday in Los Angeles, but this year’s ceremony had already made history. The video streaming platform Netflix was up for its first ever Best Picture Oscar nomination, with Alfonso Cuarón’s film "Roma" pegged for the coveted award. Not to mention nine other nominations (it won three). Meanwhile, another Netflix original "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," directed by the Coen Brothers, scooped three nominations—and competitor platform Hulu garnered a nomination in the Best Documentary section for "Mind the Gap."

This is a milestone moment for film, underscoring the shift in consumer consumption and the impact of nimble digital platforms on the content consumed. Ofcom reported that U.K. subscriptions to the three most popular online streaming services—Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky’s Now TV—reached 15.4 million in the first quarter of 2018, overtaking the number of traditional pay TV subscriptions at 15.1 million. Viewers aged 16-34 watched more online streamed content (2 hours 37 minutes a day on average) than traditional broadcast content (2 hours 11 minutes). These stats might be impressive, but with 5G developments on the horizon, our streaming habits are about to be turbocharged.

Digital innovations are re-writing the rulebook for film on screen and behind the camera. In 2017, "Beauty and the Beast" was brought to life with a live-action re-make, and this year a string of Disney favorites will get the same treatment. Whether combining traditional and digital visual effects or going the full hog with feature length animations, a tremendous amount of data is processed in their making.

Every single element of a CG animation film is digitally crafted down to the finest detail. Whether it’s thousands of dragons flying over the ocean or exotic parrots falling in love in South America, production companies, at their core, are manufacturers of data. A single movie contains as many as half a billion files, which become digital assets that can be repurposed for future sequels.

• DreamWorks productions provide the perfect case in point. It takes hundreds of artists to work on any given DreamWorks feature, each of which takes three to four years to create. With a release target of two features per year, this means that there are, on average, 10 films in production simultaneously. This equates to an average of 400TB to 500TB of data spread across 500 million or more files. Creating characters such as Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid, and environments such as the Hidden World in the third "How to Train Your Dragon" film, requires some pretty heavy lifting, from a data and computation perspective.
• What do "Kung-Fu Panda" and "Shrek" have in common? They’re data-driven. But what does that really mean—and how has this evolved? When the first "Shrek" movie was produced in 2001, it required 6TB of data in total. In contrast, a single animated sequence from the current release of "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" draws on up to 50TB of data.
• DreamWorks relies on sophisticated data management solutions to ensure 100 percent up-time—and as it grows its multimedia content creation empire, enabling engineers to focus on creative and production teams continues to be critical.

This means that optimal data storage and management is the key to keeping the production line moving, artists in progress and ultimately bringing stories to life on the silver screen. With the exponential growth of data in the movie making process, optimizing data center space, guaranteeing no downtime and reducing latency is essential for an award-winning performance.

As we celebrate another great year of innovations in film, we are certainly provided with the perfect point at which to pause and reflect on just how far we have come. While data nerds look ahead to the next-steps for data-driven film—from AI powered animations to 3D film capture and 5G charged viewing—the majority of film lovers are blissfully unaware of the magic taking place behind the screen, within the data fabric. Without it, our animations would be delayed or sub-par and our nightly Netflix binges would be peppered with frustrating downtime. This year, perhaps an Oscar should have gone to the data-driven technologies that make our favorite films possible?

DENVER—The big winner from this year’s Academy Awards may not be anyone taking home a trophy, but the growing idea that streaming is carving out its place in TV viewing; that’s the big takeaway from a new report from Adtaxi, “Streaming the Oscars.”

The results from the national survey indicate that streaming of the Oscars is expected to increase by 28 percent from last year. Even with those that are planning on watching through traditional TV or cable, 59 percent are planning to use a secondary channel to consume related content, whether it be from social media platforms, entertainment websites or apps.

['The Oscars: All Access' to be Live Streamed By Facebook]

“More consumers than ever before are streaming popular television events digitally and an even larger population is engaging with additional media sources while they watch,” said Chris Loretto, Adtaxi executive vice president. “This means with a strategic, targeted, multi-platform approach, digital advertisers have greater opportunities to capitalize on these programs to reach key audiences with relevant content. Not to mention, viewers are afforded more control and flexibility to watch when they want, how they want.”

Additional findings among the survey showed that social media (77 percent) is the most popular additional media content that people will use while watching the award show. The largest age group that is likely to view additional content is 18- to 29-year olds at 68 percent. Also, women are 34 percent more likely to use additional media during award shows then men.

The 2018 Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 4.

BURBANK, CALIF.—Before the first envelope is handed out at the Oscars this year—hopefully the correct one this time—fans can watch the stars arrive on the red carpet on Facebook. For the second year in a row, “The Oscars: All Access” will be live streamed by Facebook, with the content available on The Academy’s show page on Facebook Watch, The ABC Television Network Facebook page, Oscar.com and ABCNews.com.

The show is produced by the Academy and ABC, and with the live stream from Facebook it will offer viewers red carpet, backstage and audience footage, as well as live “look-ins” on the Oscar telecast. Additional features for those watching the live stream may include a digital autograph from stars on the red carpet; viewers can engage in conversation on the Oscars Movie Club page on Facebook; and the Academy show page on Facebook Watch will share special “The Oscars Insider” content leading up to the ceremony.

[Facebook to Live Stream Golden Globes Red Carpet]

“The Oscars: All Access” will be hosted by Sofia Carson, Chris Connelly, Ben Lyons, Andan Kirk and Wesam Keesh. The live stream will begin at 6:30 p.m ET on Sunday, March 4.

The 2017 live stream of “The Oscars: All Access” won an Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within an Unscripted Program.

The 90th Academy Awards will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET on March 4.

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SAN CARLOS, CALIF.—The chaotic finish to the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday kept viewers interested even as the broadcast rolled past midnight per TiVo’s Post-Show Report. The Best Picture mix-up between “La La Land” and winner “Moonlight” was shown to be the top moment of this year’s Oscars based on TiVo’s audience analytics.

Handing out the biggest prize of the night, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway first proclaimed that “La La Land” had won Best Picture. As the film’s producers and cast took the stage to accept the award and began making speeches, accountants from PwC came out and said that there had been a mistake, and moments later “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz announced that “Moonlight” had actually won.

The snafu occurred as there are always two versions of envelopes for each category, with PwC reps on each side of the stage to hand to presenters before they walk out to present the award. Beatty was handed the extra envelope for Best Actress, which had been given to Emma Stone of “La La Land” shortly before, rather than the one for Best Picture.

Beyond the confusing end of the ceremony, the other moments that rounded out TiVo’s top five included a couple of bits from host Jimmy Kimmel, including his jab at nominated director Mel Gibson and Matt Damon tripping him as he walked down the aisle (continuing their long-standing “rivalry”), Viola Davis win for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Fences,” and when Red Vines and Junior Mints were dropped on to audience with mini parachutes.