Oscar Ballots Due

Tuesday, February 28, 2006:

Oscar Ballot Alert

It's time for the 5,798 voting members of the Academy to make up their mind! Final ballots for the 78th Annual Academy Awards® are due to the accounting firm by 5:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, February 28, 2006. The 2006 Oscars - recognizing outstanding achievement in motion pictures released in 2005 - will be presented next Sunday, March 5, 2006. Watch for more details here as the biggest day in Hollywood draws near!

Photo: © A.M.P.A.S.®

*************************************************

CAS Awards

Saturday, February 25, 2006:

Cinema Audio Awards

Sound professionals will take over the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles Saturday night for the 42nd Annual Cinema Audio Society Awards. The CAS nominations were announced January 26, 2006. CAS nominees for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures are "Crash" - sound re-recording mixers Marc Fishman, Adam Jenkins, Rick Ash; production mixer Richard Van Dyke; "KING KONG" - sound re-recording mixers Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges; production mixer Hammond Peek; "Memoirs of a Geisha" - sound re-recording mixers Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline; production mixer John Pritchett; "Walk the Line" - sound re-recording mixers Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill; production mixer Peter F. Kurland; and "War of the Worlds" - sound re-recording mixers Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer; production mixer Ron Judkins. The artistic teams behind "KING KONG," "Geisha," "Walk the Line" and "War of the Worlds" are also nominated for Best Achievement in Sound at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. "Narnia" took the fifth Oscar slot over "Crash."

Winners will also be announced in categories for Television Movies, Series and Mini-Series, and Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials. A new category this year, DVD Original Programming, is for programs released straight to DVD. For the second year in a row, C.A.S. will present the Technical Achievement Award honoring technical innovation in the area of sound recording. Director, writer and producer Quentin Tarantino will be the first recipient of the C.A.S. Filmmaker Award. Sound re-recording Mixer Michael Minkler will receive the Cinema Audio Society's Career Achievement Award. Visit the Cinema Audio Society website for more information.

*************************************************

ASC Awards

Saturday, February 25, 2006 & Sunday, February 26, 2006:

Cinematographers Celebrations

The American Society of Cinematographers will hold an Open House and Internet Chat this Saturday at the ASC Clubhouse, 1782 N. Orange Drive, Hollywood. Colleagues, fans, students and the media can interact with the 2006 ASC Awards honorees and nominees from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Participants will include producer-director-actor Sydney Pollack, cinematographers Richard Kline and Woody Omens and documentary director Frederick Wiseman. The chat will take place on the ASC website, www.theasc.com, at 12:00 p.m. PT. For more information about the open house or chat, call 323-969-4333.

On Sunday, ASC will host the 20th Annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. ASC theatrical nominations for films released in 2005 were announced on January 11, 2006; nominees in the narrative television competition were published the following week. The cast of presenters includes Emily Deschanel, Curtis Hanson, Leonard Maltin, Edward James Olmos and Bill Paxton. Actress Nicole Kidman will present Sydney Pollack with the 2006 American Society of Cinematographers Board of Governors Award. Gilbert Taylor, BSC will receive the 2006 ASC International Achievement Award. Taylor's work extends to such classics as "Dr. Strangelove," "A Hard Day's Night," "The Omen" and "Star Wars." Sherwood "Woody" Omens, ASC will receive the Presidents Award, reserved for individuals who have made exceptional contributions to advancing the art and craft of filmmaking. Richard H. Kline, ASC will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented annually to an individual who has made exceptional and enduring contributions to advancing the art of filmmaking. Frederick Wiseman will receive an Award of Distinction. Wiseman is only the second documentary filmmaker honored by the ASC (Albert Maysles was feted in 1998).

Nominees in the American Society of Cinematographers' feature film competition are: Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS for "Memoirs Of A Geisha"; Robert Elswit, ASC for "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Andrew Lesnie, ASC, ACS for "King Kong"; Wally Pfister, ASC for "Batman Begins"; and Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC for "Brokeback Mountain." Beebe, Elswit, Pfister, and Prieto are also nominated for Best Achievement in Cinematography at the 78th Annual Academy Awards®. Strangely, Emmanuel Lubezki took the fifth Oscar slot for "The New World" over the talented Lesnie's work on "King Kong."

ASC was chartered in 1919. The first ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards were held in 1987 for the purpose of recognizing and inspiring artistic achievement in cinematography. There are currently some 290 members from many countries around the world, and another 145 associates in allied fields. Visit the ASC Awards website for more information.

*************************************************