Student Filmmakers Get Hollywood Treatment from Film Academy
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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015 Animation Category winners, from left, Seth Boyden, winner of the Silver medal for “An Object at Rest”, Alyce Tzue, winner of Narrative category finalists, from left Meg Smaker, left, the Gold medal for “Soar, Nicholas Manfredi and Elizabeth Ku-Herrero, winners of the Bronze medal for “Taking the Plunge” Bronze medal winner for “Boxeadora”, Alexandre Peralta, attend the 42nd Student Academy Awards Ceremony. — AP photos center, winner of the Gold medal for “Looking at the Stars”, and Emily Kassie, right, Silver medal winner for “I Married My Familyís Killer”. Student filmmakers get Hollywood treatment from film academy fter a week of studio visits, fancy dinners and Student Academy Award winner has been “surreal,” said docu- where his 26-year-old son, Bennett, was among the winners. Hollywood meetings, the winners of the 42nd Student mentarian Emily Kassie, 22. “One of the most exciting parts is “I’m still the only two-time winner of the Student Academy AAcademy Awards finally got their chance to thank the getting to meet our peers and being among this very high cal- Award,” Lasseter said, “but it pales in comparison to seeing my academy. Fifteen young filmmakers spent a week in Los iber talented group of filmmakers,” the Brown University stu- son win a Student Academy Award, especially in the narrative Angeles as the film academy’s guests before receiving their dent said. “I think we were all blown away when we saw each category where they had 920 entries.” awards at a ceremony Thursday night. other’s films.” Bennett Lasseter, a student at American Film Institute, took “Of course, I would like to thank the academy. I’ve always Besides providing professional community, winning a home the bronze medal for his film about a transgender girl wanted to say that,” Chapman University student Daniel Student Academy Award bodes well for a filmmaker’s future. coming to terms with her identity. Even more important than Drummond said as he accepted his prize. “I could be up here Past winners - a list that includes Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Robert winning awards, though, is continuing to create, said Dustin all night and still wouldn’t be able to convey how much this Zemeckis and John Lasseter - have gone on to receive 47 Loose of Berlin, who took silver in the foreign film category. means to me.” Oscar nominations and eight statuettes. Lasseter said winning “It’s an exceptional thing being here and getting to know all Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and the student awards in 1979 and ‘80 while studying at these people,” he said, “but in the end it counts that we have Sciences chose the 14 winning student films from 1,686 sub- California Institute of the Arts was validating and inspiring. the chance and the shot to make our next film.” — AP missions - triple last year’s entries, said academy president “(It) really meant so much to me because it was the first Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Winners were recognized with gold, sil- time that I had the experience of seeing my film with a real ver or bronze medals in five categories: animation, documen- audience, to see that laughter, that entertainment,” he said. “It tary, narrative, foreign and alternative. really started in me what drives me even to this day: wanting “The whole week’s been amazing,” said Jeremy Cloe, 28, to entertain people. But it really was the Student Academy competing in the narrative category. “But being here tonight Award for the very first time I got to experience that.” is the big event and the most exciting.” Spending a week as Lasseter served as a presenter at Thursday’s ceremony, TIFF pulls ‘London Fields’ amid legal dispute, offensive Islam imagery ondon Fields” was pulled Thursday and missed both deadlines. His guild has rules from the Toronto International Film for withdrawing his name from the picture, and “LFestival after the director sued the he missed those deadlines.” Cullen’s attorney, producers, saying they altered the movie and Alex Weingarten, responded to Muse added offensive imagery about Islam and the Production’s statements in an email. “It is unfor- Sept 11 terrorist attacks. tunate that the producers continue to attempt Festival organizers said the decision was to distort the facts, but it is no longer unexpect- based on “uncertainty surrounding the creative ed,” Weingarten wrote. He said that Hanley and vision” of the version they had. The debut had Gertner promised to provide the means to finish been set for Friday. Director Mathew Cullen filed both a director’s cut and a producer’s cut for the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles against Muse consideration, but failed then to produce those Productions Inc. and producers Christopher resources. “They prevented him from finishing a Hanley and Jordan Gertner. A statement Director’s Cut and are now attempting use the released on behalf of the company expressed situation that they created as a defense,” disappointment that the film had been pulled Weingarten said. “This is no publicity stunt.” and faulted Cullen for missing deadlines to Cullen is a commercial and music video deliver the film to producers. director who has worked with Katy Perry, The Along with the allegations about content, Black Eyed Peas and Weezer, according to the the lawsuit says producers failed to properly lawsuit. “London Fields,” based on a Martin Amis finance the film and haven’t properly paid novel and starring Amber Heard, was intended Cullen for his work and expenses, which total to be his directorial debut for a feature film. “In more than $1 million. Cullen is asking a judge to creating their own version of the film, defen- rule the producers do not have the right to dants have interjected scenes and footage that attach his name to the film without his consent. are highly offensive and neither appear in the “Sadly, Mathew can’t deal with the fact that script nor are a part of the film that Cullen was he does not control the final cut of the movie,” asked to direct,” the lawsuit states. — AP said the statement released by publicist Maxine Actor Johnny Depp and wife Amber Heard pose for photographs on the red carpet for the Leonard on behalf of the producers. “He was new movie ‘Black Mass’ during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Amber given two deadlines to deliver a ‘director’s cut’ Heard is one of the stars of the controversial ‘London Fields’. — AP.