The famous Nominee Cake - 5 films, 5 images, all edible.

Written by Dan Sarto

No Oscar Tour would be complete without the famous Nominee Cake!  As the 2011 Tour winds down, so do the nominees and assorted guests, at least for one evening.  Held again this year at Ron's house, the party was fun, intimate and warm, despite the rainy weather outside.  And of course, we all got sugared-up feasting on the nominated films - literally!

For young animators, no story from last year’s Oscars was more inspiring than Shane Acker’s tale. His student film, 9, not only earned him an Academy Award nomination, but a feature production deal at Focus Features with Tim Burton and Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov producing. The feature is now in production at Luxembourg-based Attitude Studios and the voice cast includes Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau. I really enjoyed 9 and I look forward to seeing the feature, which looks to be something potential unique in the world of 3D animation.

Okay, okay, I’ll get off my obsession with Skywalker Ranch. However, I did want to share some pics from the San Fran leg of last year’s Oscar Tour. Ron Diamond provided the images and they represent a great visual chronicle of the fun events the nominees get to experience. See whom they chatted with at lunch or who just happened to be at the Ranch when they arrived.