The Walt Disney Studios, including Pixar, dominated the second annual 3D Creative Arts Awards of the International 3D Society Wednesday night (Feb. 9) at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, with five different 3D movies from the studios winning a combined six of 16 voted awards.
But it was DreamWorks Animation‘s “How to Train Your Dragon” that was a bit of a surprise winner for Animated 3D Feature of the Year. It was one of three awards for the movie, the most for any one title. Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” won the People’s Choice Award in that category: Favorite 3D Animated Movie.” Disney’s “Tron” Legacy” won Live Action Feature of the Year, one of five Lumiere Awards for the studio.
One of the most notable elements of the evening was what is believed to be the first-ever 3D TV production of the awards program and preceding red carpet arrivals. 3DHollywood.net was one of a handful of media provided a backstage tour of the 3D production in addition to the coverage of the red carpet, for which you will see 3 1/2-minutes of video highlights below.
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More than 120 professionals were required to pull off the awards show, including those staffing the massive 3D HD Touring truck on Hollywood Blvd. under the guidance of executive producers Steve Schklair, CEO/Founder, 3ality Digital, and Gina Tanner, CEO/co-Founder Digital Revolution Studios (DRS). Ted Kenney, 3ality Digital, and Mike Piltzecker, Influence Pictures, were producers. Veteran director Paul Miller, Rick Mill Productions, directed the show, with Richard Ayoub as Supervising Producer and Craig Tanner, Post Producer, DRS.
“We have the world’s best 3D production team,” said Jim Chabin, president of the Society and an executive producer of the show.
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The evening also featured the world premiere of Panasonic’s original 3D short film of the Blue Man Group. Panasonic Corp., Signature Sponsor of the Society and Platinum Sponsor of the Awards, was also involved with DirecTV‘s award for Best 3D TV Music Series: “Guitar Center,” which was presented on the satellite service’s n3D channel, which is powered by Panasonic. DirecTV is a Member Sponsor of the Society and Panasonic Hollywood Labs is a Founding Sponsor.
While it was a disappointment to everyone that James Cameron informed the Society the day before the event that he would be unable to receive his special Harold Lloyd Award, his producer Jon Landau of Lightstorm Entertainment filled in quite well as always with a gracious acceptance.
Lloyd’s great granddaughter looked elegant in serving as the evening’s on-stage trophy presenter, and Lloyd’s granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd, described Lloyd’s love of 3D photography and his unrealized dream to bring it to cinema before she presented the iconic scene from Lloyd’s most famous silent black-and-white comedy film “Safety Last,” converted into 3D and colorized by Legend3D.
Landau also presented 3D Society’s Executive Board Member Lenny Lipton the Century Award for Lifetime Achievement. Noting Lipton’s 50 patents and 50 pending, including the ZScreen, which is at the heart of today’s 3D theatrical projection, Landau said, “Without Lenny Lipton, there would be no 3D today.”
Although Lipton did not answer Landau’s question about the true meaning of the lyrics to “Puff the Magic Dragon,” Lipton said that the 1963 hit by Peter, Paul & Mary, for which he wrote the lyrics at age 19 in 1959, has become the “best venture capitalist ever.”
In Cameron’s absence, perhaps the biggest celebrity was a pleasant surprise to most, Brian May of rock super group Queen, who accepted the 3D Television Award: Entertainment/Music, for BSkyB’s “Dance, Dance, Dance.”
May said he is working on a passion project about the history of 3D for Sky 3D in the U.K.
Tom Cavanagh, who starred in the 3D movie version of “Yogi Bear,” was host for the program that will be broadcast soon — date to be announced — on the new 3net channel of Sony/Discovery/IMAX launching Sunday (Feb. 13). 3net is a Member Sponsor of the Society.
More than 800 people were in attendance, mostly from the 3D industry, to see the winners selected by voting among more than 400 Society members. XPAND, another Society Founding Sponsor, provided the 3D projection system and glasses, and hosted the after-party across the street at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The IMAX film “Hubble 3D won Best 3D Documentary, just as it was so honored by 3DHollywood.net last month. IMAX is also a Society Founding Sponsor.
The People’s Choice Award: Favorite 3D Live Action Movie was another surprise: “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” (Walden Media/20th Century Fox – neither a sponsor of the Society).
Universal and Paramount, neither of which is a Society sponsor, were shut out completely. Universal’s “Despicable Me” was one of the top 10 movies last year with more than $200 million. Paramount had a few 3D entries, including “Jackass 3D.”
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Sony shared two awards, one in which the company’s Sony Imageworks was honored with Disney on “Alice in Wonderland” for Outstanding Achievement of 2D to 3D Converted Feature. The other was a joint award for Sony Electronics and ESPN for the 3D commercial “Impressive” that debuted for the World Cup last summer and featured dazzling slow-motion soccer kicks. Sony is a Founding Sponsor of the Society and Sony exec Buzz Hays is the Society’s chairman.
The other three awards for Disney/Pixar, both of which are Founding Sponsors, were:
- “Tangled” (Disney): Best 3D Scene of the Year – the lantern scene
- “Tron: Legacy” (Disney): Best 3D Stereography – Live Action
- “Day & Night” (Pixar): Short 3D Motion Picture/Narrative
Not all the awards were presented during the program, with some category winners unable to attend or provide 3D clips with proper clearance for TV broadcast, as did the others.
Among those not included in Wednesday’s program:
- 3D Talent Award: Jay Baruchel, as Hiccup in “How to Train Your Dragon” (DreamWorks)
- 3D Video Game: “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (Activision/Blizzard)
Two TV category awards listed in the program — sports and documentary — were not presented this year, the first of which is especially surprising given the numerous “firsts” in live 3D sports broadcasts in 2010r, from The Masters and the 2010 World Cup to the MLB All-Star Game, NASCAR and the U.S. Open.
The third award for “How to Train Your Dragon” was for Best 3D Stereography — Animated.
The only other award was for AEG Live’s “Black Eyed Peas 3D: Live,” which won for 3D Live Event.
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The other Founding Sponsor of the Society is MasterImage 3D. Other Member sponsors: Autodesk and Quantel. The other 3D Creative Awards Platinum Sponsor: Planar/Runco; Gold Sponsors: Deluxe and MadM3dia Entertainment.
— By Scott Hettrick