(From left to right) Tim Reckart, Fondhla Cronin O'Reilly and Minkyu Lee in the lobby of Sony Pictures Animation / Sony Pictures Imageworks. All images courtesy of Dan Sarto.

By Dan Sarto.

Our tour continued with a screening and lunch at Sony Pictures Animation.  It’s always a treat to go to SPA – we’re always greeted warmly and the audience is always enthusiastic.  Today was no exception. 

All assembled for the SPA/SPI leg of the tour: (From left to right) Sue Goffe (producer, A Morning Stroll), Grant Orchard (director, A Morning Stroll) Michael Fukushima (producer, Dimanche/Sunday), Marcy Page (producer, Wild Life), Bonnie Thompson (producer, Wild Life), Marc Bertrand (producer, Dimanche/Sunday), Patrick Doyon (director, Dimanche/Sunday), Wendy Tilby (director, Wild Life), Amanda Forbis (director, Wild Life) and Ron Diamond (president, AWN.com and executive producer, Acme Filmworks).

By Zoe Chevat

Next stop on our whirlwind Oscar-nominee tour was Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks, which share a campus not five minutes from the main Sony lot. There, we were greeted by Don Levy, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Sony Pictures Digital, and our enthusiastic host for this inside look at the company's animation and VFX divisions. Though originally an VFX company, still known for their work on tentpole hits like Hancock and the Raimi Spider-Man franchise, it eventually occurred to the team at Sony that their pipeline was already in place for in-house animation. Taking a page from legendary special effects and animation giant, Ray Harryhausen, for whom their on-site screening theater is named, the company has stepped up its game in recent years with films like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Arthur Christmas, with many more projects in the pipeline.

After a quick word to the lunchtime crowd in the screening theater, many of whom are up to their necks putting finishing touches on MIB3, the latest action blockbuster to come through Imageworks’ doors, our group was off to take a look at “how it’s done at Sony.”

The nominees start their day with a tour of the Sony lot.

written by Rick DeMott

The Los Angeles leg of the tour picked up on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at Sony. Jakob Schuh and Max Lang were back for the second round; while Bastien Dubois, the director of Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage, his producer Ron Dyens, and Michael Rose and Martin Pope, the producers of The Gruffalo, joined them for the first time.

The day began with a guided tour of the studio lot. The nominees had a chance to see the 12 Oscars the studio has won over the years, as well as the backlot and stage for Wheel of Fortune (which was less impressive to the European crowd.) On one of the soundstages, we saw a crew diligently constructing a sewer pipe set for a secret project filming pyrotechnics later in the week.

The nominees get a bit of the MGM backlot history.

On the first day of the Los Angeles leg of the Oscar Showcase tour, the nominees had a chance to see the famed MGM backlot and the new Sony studios. Here are a collection of pics from the day.

The tour swings into the famed MGM studio lot.

written by Rick DeMott

The L.A. leg of the Oscar Tour kicked off at the Sony lot. For the first time in the tour's history the participants, who include The Lady and the Reaper's director Javier Recio Gracia, producer Raul Garcia, and exec producer Enrique Posner, and Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty's director Nicky Phelan and producer Darragh O'Connell, received a tour of the legendary MGM Studios.

Stops included the Thalberg Building where the studio showcases its Best Picture Oscars, as well as the offices of Sony's top execs including Amy Pascal. For the game show fans out there, the nominees got a chance to see the sets of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. The legendary Stage 30 was being used as a commissary for Adam Sandler's new film, The Pretend Wife. But most of the time, the stage is known for housing the largest water tank where films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button were filmed. The nominees were treated to the stages were Wizard of Oz and Married with Children were filmed, and there was some debate with our tour guide Tony on whether Oz is the most beloved movie in America or not. Along our walk through the backlot, we had the chance to see the art department building a New York city street set for the upcoming film Burlesque.

A group shot in front of the doors of Sony.

Sony was the second stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour this year. See the day in pics.

Introducing myself to Oktapodi director Julien Bocabeille.

Wednesday I had the pleasure of joining Ron Diamond and the players in the traveling Oscar Tour on their visit to Sony Pictures Animation. The Oscar-nominated directors of the animated short films "Oktapodi," "La Maison en Petits Cubes," and "Lavatory Lovestory" had a chance to tour the studio and answer questions from the animation crew.

The nominees meet their latest Academy guest Bill Kroyer (r).

Well, the second to last tour stop brings the filmmakers to Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks. For Emud, it was a return to his workplace where he is on the Disney live-action/CG flick, "G-Force." He was thankful that Sony gave him ten days off to tour both in San Francisco and L.A.

We arrived and were greeted by a dapper looking Don Levy, marketing master for Sony, who had to leave us early to hand out an award at the publicist's awards that afternoon. For each stop of the L.A. leg, Ron invited a different member of the Academy board. At Sony, the filmmakers had the pleasure of meeting Bill Kroyer. FX was particularly impressed with meeting someone who worked on "Tron." Bill shared a story of "Ice Age" director Chris Wedge entering x-sheet data into the computer on the film. Bill said he was glad that Chris stuck with computers after the job.

At the Sony Pictures Animation lunch, Madame Tutli-Putli director Chris Lavis talks about how they worked with actress Laurie Maher to inform their stop-motion animation and provide the eyes for their puppets.

Here are some more pics from the first stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour - Sony Pictures Animation.