Commentary 09 Feb 2010 09:20 am
Annie Competition
Happy Heidi Birthday
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- The NYTimes now covers the Annies, at least in its blog roll if not in print. Brooks Barnes, in writing Intrigue at the Annies talks about the deadly serious competition between the animators at Pixar and those working for Jeff Katzenberg at Dreamworks. Animators get “really cranky when it comes to the public lauding – or not – of their work. ”
The tally of wins gives the overall plus to Dreamworks (5 to Dreamworks, 2 to Pixar.)
It’s good to hear that animators (described as “generally dorky and polite, guys [and overwhelmingly so] who offer an aw-shucks counterbalance to the preening of the rest of Hollywood”) can be as bitchy as actors when collecting the gold – despite our being “dorky.”
Apparently, William Shatner hosted the awards presentation and kept things moving at a good clip. It sounds like the program, itself, was worth attending.
Maybe if the ASIFAEast awards went bigger, we’d become more high strung on the East Coast. At least we don’t have to wear tuxedoes to collect our slip of paper, but then the NYTimes doesn’t cover us.
By the way, I appreciate that Jerry Beck had the list of winners posted by midnight (NY time) on Saturday night. There’s someone who’s dedicated to his blog and his readers at Cartoon Brew. Thanks Jerry.
It’s doubtful that any of this will have an effect on Oscar picks. To start with, the nominees are different. (For one, there are no TV shows running in the Best Animated Short category – unless you count the most recent Wallace & Gromit film.)
Here are a few photos from the Annie’s “red carpet” found on the web:
1 
21. Tom Sito – Thomas Wilson – Seth Green
2. Antran & Katy Manoogian – Bruno Coulais & Raya Veleva
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4
3. Ron Clements – Neil Gaiman – Lacey Chabert
4. Jen Cody – Jeff Katzenberg – Deep Roy
on 09 Feb 2010 at 10:49 am 1.richard o'connor said …
There are plenty of problems with the ASIFA East awards, but self-importance is not one of them.
They also cater to a tradition (essentially Hubley-inspired) which is clearly outside of what the Annies celebrate.
I do wish people would dress a little better for the ASIFA East event. Schlubbing on stage in tattered short pants and a greasy T-shirt is disrespecting the audience and -by extension- the award.
on 09 Feb 2010 at 11:15 am 2.Grant said …
The biggest problem with the Annies has been the “we’ll make it up as we go along” attitude. VERY well known, accomplished, and respected film makers I know have offered their services to help weed through candidates for various awards, and their offers have not been responded to. So really, no one knows who selects and/or gets to vote on the individual awards. It’s unecessarily secretive, and basically a joke.
The only thing “dorky” at the Annie Awards is the show itself.
I’d imagine a business of such creative people could find a way to put on a show that is different than every other lame awards show out there. Sadly, no.
on 09 Feb 2010 at 2:04 pm 3.Stephen Worth said …
We have an interview with your old friend, Tom Sito, this year’s June Foray Award winner at the A-HAA Podcast today.
http://www.animationarchive.org/podcast/
on 09 Feb 2010 at 4:48 pm 4.Jenny Lerew said …
Well, I have to weigh in here.
“Self important”? Not in the least. Certainly the awards presentations are pretty dressy affairs(as was the first one I attended as a kid in I think 1981 where Art Babbitt accepted a posthumous Annie for his friend Bill Tytla-that, incidentally, was held at the Beverly Wilshire-pretty “pretentious” venue, tuxes and long dresses and long, long before anyone outside the world of cartoons gave a damn about this stuff), but there was nothing stuffy or elitist about it in any way.
I had toyed with writing my own post about the awards ceremony-the first I’d attended in about a decade-and perhaps I will yet. But my impressions as one who’s worked with people from every studio represented (with the possible exception of the winners for the commercial ad and the Robot Chicken guys) were of a community that is intensely cross-pollinated and very mutually appreciative. I know I was wildly applauding ALL the nominee’s names as they were announced–and I also know I wasn’t the only one doing that. Far from it.
I was really struck by how eloquent and heartfelt–hell, moving–the speeches were. The clips of nominated work and the presentation of them was done so well as to make me choke up at seeing these people celebrated–as NOMINEES, forget “winners”–in the same way that I’d choke up seeing the credits for Disney films on the big screen back in the days of the rereleases: usually totally anonymous people getting their due in at least one way. Let’s face it: during the Academy Awards, if Pete or Brad or John Canemaker are up there with an Oscar it’s “important” and “prestigious”-but it means more to US sitting at home watching than to the rest of the world because we really know who they are, what they do, and what it means.
The Annies, flawed as any “awards” must surely always be in some way or other, is by artists and afficonados for artists without any talking head afterwards weighing in suggesting that non “famous” acceptances be cut from TV broadcast, etc. That always bothers me-and not just where animators are concerned, but for all the non-acting awards.
We’re such a separated community of professionals. I see the people 2 miles away from Dreamworks at Disney about as often as I see friends who work at Pixar or Laika. Work is intensive and usually all-consuming. But for all that a lot of people now where I am have been at Disney, Pixar, Laika, Nick, Cartoon Network, WB, Sony, Film Roman, Imagi(the late lamented)–and vice-versa.
And the vast majority of the people I know actually do root for each other’s best work at different “competing” places more sincerely than they’re ever given credit for.
Maybe I’ve got rose-colored glasses but it’s not as cutthroat as it’s supposed to be. Or perhaps I’m just older and wiser and/or more sentimental?
on 10 Feb 2010 at 8:46 am 5.Stephen Macquignon said …
Happy Heidi Birthday!