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2nd Annual Pixie Awards Recognizes Top Web Moviemakers

Sep 25, 2001 12:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 22 -- Surprises, sweeps, cheers, and tears marked this year's second annual Directors Board Awards for Excellence in Broadband Motion Pixure Production -- the top honors for Internet motion pictures otherwise known as "The Pixie Awards."

"This evening has been absolutely electric," said Directors Board member Felicia Flick of Bedford Falls Entertainment. "I can't believe how charged up and inspired I am -- this has just been great."

"I'm stunned -- just stunned," said Best Actress awardee Yolanda Snowball, who took home the top nod for her performance in the romantic mellow drama "Milk and Honey." "I'm delighted to see the inspirations of so many hard working and talented filmmakers on display here tonight -- it's wonderful to get this kind of recognition and see how much everyone has enjoyed it," Snowball continued.

"Incredible -- you can feel it in the air," said Voice of America radio talk show host Amanda Finch. "Everybody here tonight is so -- on."

"Very classy," said Pixie awardee Mitchell Rose. "I know this event was a real labor of love, and it's good to see love triumph."

In an acceptance speech reflecting the unusual nature of Internet motion pictures, where decades-old films can find new and receptive audiences, Best i-Documentary awardee Jim Hubbard told the story of "The Turtle Hunter," his understated black-and-white short about Otis Terrell Overland, who made his living hunting giant snapping turtles in the Mississippi bayous.

"You might say 'The Turtle Hunter' is the bookends to a 50-year career in film," Hubbard said. "It was my first independent film project in 1961 and with great joy I saw the film finally completed in 1998. I am especially glad that Otis Terrell Overland, though in poor health, is still alive to share this very exciting moment with me."

The evening's surprises included a tie for Best Actor nods -- Dan Settani for his satirical performance as a psychotic stalker bent on murdering Matthew Broderick in "The Night Ferris Bueller Died," and Russian child actor Alex Burchu for "Sweet Dreams," a tale of innocence lost in which Burchu utters not one line.

"Alex Burchu's performance was amazing -- he didn't have to say anything," said acting committee member Ayana Cahrr.

If any film swept the awards it was "Milk and Honey," a gentle tale about two couples who cross paths as one tries to kindle and the other tries to rekindle romance. Joan Malloch and Dan Ko took home top cinematography nods against the evening's most pronounced competition, which included "The Dancing Cow," stunningly filmed by the late Oscar-nominee and Emmy-winner John Alonzo, whose long list of credits includes "Chinatown," "Lady Sings the Blues," and "Norma Rae."

"Milk and Honey" scribe Amy Lowe also topped a strong field for Best Screenplay honors.

Best Editing nods went to James Monohan for his stark black-and-white portrait of racial hatred, "Skinhead."

"Cuts, dissolves, fades, and camera angles told alot of the story in 'Skinhead'," said Directors Board judge and BAFTA-winning film editor Trevor Keates. "If we can, we look for editing that adds to the story by becoming a player in it," Keates explained.

Canadian designers Brooke Burgess and Switch Interactive, of Vancouver, British Columbia, took home top nods for Best Web Design that Incorporates Motion with "Broken Saints," a stunning example of multi-layered Flash animation magic.

Oscar-nominees Steffan and Annette Shaffler of Munich, Germany topped an international field of animators for Best Animated Pixure with "The Periwig Maker," a Claymation journal of Europe's plague years starring the voice of noted actor Kenneth Branagh.

Best Technical Effects honors went to Amy Talkington and BeHere Corporation for "The New Arrival," the first film shot entirely with a camera that provides a 360-degree perspective.

Best Director nods went to Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt for "405." Crafted entirely on a home computer, "405" is the harrowing tale of a jumbo jet forced to land on LA's notorious 405 freeway, evacuated save for a lone SUV piloted by an unwitting young man who saves the day by becoming part of the jet's front landing gear.

"I thought '405' was perfectly crafted for the Internet medium," said Directors Board judge D.B. Jones, a professor in the film and media arts department at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Mitchell Rose took home top honors for his webisodic series "Modern Daydreams," a silent fable of dance and music that depicts the dreamy wanderings of modern characters against the often mundane ontraptions of contemporary life. The episode "Deere John," for instance, follows a well-dressed, starry-eyed man as he lovingly waltzes with a giant John Deere backhoe that sweeps him off his feet to the lilting notes of classical French composer Camille Saint-Saens.

Another French composer, Louis Febre, took home Best Musical Score honors for his work on "The Revenge of the Red Balloon," a quirky send-up of the sentimental French film "The Red Balloon."

Opening with a stark black-and-white tribute to victims of last week's terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, the directors Board Awards established a subdued yet upbeat demeanor at the site of the first Academy Awards -- the Hollywood Roosevelt Blossom Ballroom.

Best Pixure awardee Pieter van Hees eloquently stated the case for moving forward in troubled times with his acceptance speech for Belgium's "Black XXX-Mas," a darkly symbolic take on "Little Red Riding Hood."

"Making films appears very futile when placed against the things that just happened, but there is only one answer to people whose only object is destruction: creation," van Hees told the audience.

"We are Christian, we are Jew, and we are Muslim. We are black, we are white, and we are Asian," host and co-emcee Mike Martin said in closing. "We are men and we are women, and we each have our differences, but together we are one beautiful, unified whole. That's the true genius of the United States -- the idea that so many different places, and so many different peoples can come together and truly call themselves united."

For more information on the awardees and how you can become involved in the Directors Board Awards, visit www.pixieawards.org.

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.