By Dan Sarto

Our day concluded with a tour of the Fox lot and a screening for Fox Feature Animation and the crew of The Simpsons.  Like the Sony and Paramount lots, the Fox lot is steeped in movie legendry.  Used almost exclusively these days for TV production on shows broadcast seemingly on every network, the lot includes stages used for shows like Bones. Glee and How I Met Your Mother.  Home to the worldwide headquarters of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the lot also houses facilities used for Fox’s NFL broadcasts.

We did a fast walk past a number of enormous sound stages, as well as snaking in and out of a number of buildings within the famous New York City building facades used in practically every show and commercial known to man.  We also managed to get a fast glimpse at The Simpsons production offices, complete with a cool Bart Simpson topiary and statue of a hand holding a donut that decorate the front yard.

Soon it was time to join the screening for Q&A.  The theatre was packed and included many of David Silverman’s co-workers on The Simpsons as well as his nominated short. After Ron introduced the filmmakers once again, Al Jean, one of the producers of Maggie Simpson and “The Longest Daycare” was dragged down to the front of the stage to answer questions as well.

 

By Zoe Chevat

Wednesday afternoon found the Oscar shorts nominees at 20th Century Fox's sprawling backlot, located in the heart of Century City. After checking in at the Little Theater, used by the studio for on-site screenings, it was off for some behind-the-scenes looks at one of television's biggest studios.

The campus itself is sun-lit and greenery-filled, dotted with elaborate topiary that resembles horses, elephants, and, in the case of the bushes in front of The Simpsons offices, Bart Simpson. But, though things were relatively quiet when we were there, we know that behind soundproof doors the truth is quite the opposite. With dozens of on-site and off-site productions going at once, Fox's soundstages currently house the permanent sets for many of their TV network's long-running hits, including Bones and House. We were lucky enough to be taken through the Bones set, where shooting is down for the season, but there are plenty of autopsy tables, fabricated cadavers, and chemical bottles still around. Large sets for multi-season hits like Bones, which cost millions of dollars to construct, will stay intact for the duration of the show's time on air, until final cancellation.

The third day of the LA Oscar tour actually began with a morning stop at CAA in Century City before a small gathering of agents and producers in their lavish screening room. However, the most memorable part was discussing animation over coffee with the directors. Bastien Dubois (Madagascar, carnet de voyage) divulged that he rotoscoped himself for the various characters, and how he came upon the idea of shooting stop-motion for the cars section after discovering a group of small kids playing with toy cars. He then hit the toy store and set up a course for them to play in while he shot two cars per kid. Meanwhile, when I asked Jakob Schuh (The Gruffalo) what he's learned from his studio visits, he divulged that the 3-D demo at DreamWorks made him rethink the whole concept of stereoscopic moviemaking. If they could make a photograph dramatically pop out, then there are some definite possibilities worth exploring, he suggested.

Oscar winner Suzie Templeton (l to r) grabbed a cup of coffee with boyfriend Rosto and Madame Tutli-Putli director Chris Lavis. © 2008 AWN Inc.

The second stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour was on Tuesday, Feb. 19th at 20th Century Fox. So here are some more pics.

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At 20th Century Fox, I Met the Walrus producer Jerry Levitan talks about interviewing John Lennon when he was 14 years old.

The nominees answer questions from the execs at Fox. © 2008 AWN Inc.

After screening at Sony, the next stop of the tour was 20th Century Fox. After Ron Diamond, publisher of AWN, introduced the filmmakers to the studios execs in the audience, the group took the chance to walk around the back lot and grab a couple of coffee.

The group gathers for a photo op at DreamWorks. Don Hahn (l to r), Roger Allers, Katherine Sarafian, Chris Renaud, Gary Rydstrom, Marcy Page, Badgered director Sharon Colman, John Tarnoff, Torill Kove, Rick DeMott, Geza Toth and Lise Fearnley. © AWN Inc.

Here it is the long awaited gallery of select pics from Ron’s camera from the Oscar Showcase tour’s swing by DreamWorks, Fox, the Academy, Disney and ICM. There’s also a couple special pics at the end courtesy of No Time for Nuts director Mike Thurmeier.

Jeffrey Katzenberg introduces the screening at DreamWorks. © AWN Inc.

Well, I just got back from the Academy screening, which closed another whirlwind day on the Oscar Showcase tour. In addition, to Roger, Don, Marcy, Geza and Tamas, Gary Rydstrom, Lifted producer Katherine Sarafian (who we’d all meet at the Pixar screening), Torill Kove, The Danish Poet’s Norwegian producer Lise Fearnley, co-director of No Time for Nuts Chris Renaud and No Time for Nuts producer Lori Forte all joined the fun. Mike Thurmeier is back in New York with his wife and we’re happy to announce their new daughter has arrived. Her named is Katelyn Ivy. She was born on Feb. 18th at 2:23 in the afternoon. She was 21 inches long and a healthy 8lbs 10ozs!!!