Many of you are already familiar with using Youtube to release trailers and clips for your film, but in the last few months Youtube relaunched their site and they made some adjustments to their analytics functionality. If you haven’t been back in a while to check your data, you should because you’ll find some really interesting tools to help in your efforts at reaching an audience.

As I said in a past post, I have started using a tool called Tube Toolbox to find ballet fans on Youtube for the Joffrey Ballet documentary I am working on. We now have over 300 subscribers on the channel in about 3 months of use. It isn’t earth shaking numbers, but remember these are all people interested specifically in the topic of the film who have chosen to subscribe to the channel. Some of them also have their own followings in the dance world so the ripple effect worldwide is greater, more sticky and far cheaper than if I had used advertising to reach thousands of mostly uninterested people.  And it continues to grow every day. But what do I know about these people?

I know the top 5 countries they come from, I know the gender and age range they fall into and how they came to the page. I know what videos they are watching AND for how long AND where in each video viewing I lose them. Wow! If you have ever wondered why a video isn’t working, you can now access the tab called Audience Retention.

You can choose which of your uploaded videos to analyze and then shows you a graph like this

It  is very useful to know how long the average viewer stays with your video. Do they cut out after 5 seconds? Does it start strong and then decline by the middle? At what point do you lose them? Maybe the video is too long or doesn’t stay compelling. You can use these stats to test how your edit performs and make changes. As you can see, there are 2 parts to this. Absolute audience retention shows the views of every moment of the video as a percentage of the number of views of the beginning of the video. Relative audience retention shows your video’s ability to retain viewers relative to all YouTube videos of similar length. Relative is less important to me than absolute.

Other interesting data can be found in the Playback and Traffic Sources tabs. Playback tells you where people are watching your videos. On the Youtube page, the channel page, through an embedded video player on another site? If it is on another site, you can click that link and it will tell you which ones. Also, it will tell you how many views are from a mobile device. Traffic sources tell you how they found your video, through a search engine, direct links such as Facebook or Twitter, or through suggested videos that line Youtube’s right hand sidebar on videos similar to yours. When you seed your video on other sites (or when others do it for you), it is important to know what works and what doesn’t so you can make adjustments.

Youtube has also put all of this information together in a handy download called The Creator Playbook that you can download for free HERE which was updated in November when they implemented these changes. I hope this information helps when you are thinking about your strategy for using Youtube.

• “The Artist”
•  Thomas Langmann, Producer
• “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
• “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
• “War Horse“ Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

When I sat down to cover this event of events I suddenly found myself transported back in time to 1970.  I am me as I am now, today, not the me I was then because I wasn’t born until March 9^th and since the awards took place on February 27^th, well you get the picture.  Frank Sinatra is on stage being Frank, old Blue Eyes as he is known, and he’s just announced Carry Grant.  The audience has been waiting in that anticipatory low tone humming a bunch of strangers make sitting elbow to elbow in the dark, and they immediately come to life in unanimous applause as Carry appears stage right (house left from our vantage point).  The camera cuts back to the theater as one by one people pop to their feet, the collective sound so much like the ocean or maybe a thousand thousand shards of confetti raining down on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.  Then I’m here, now, but it’s the future, February 26^th, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Ryan Gosling is where Carry had been only a moment ago, crossing the stage in a smart tuxedo; traditional cut, bow tie, impeccable.  He stops with that boyish grin, charmer, then composure where you stand at these shows, and serious now, eyes tracking to the teleprompter for the speech I have written.

I observe.

The Help

Some films are required viewing for their technical brilliance and cinematic accomplishments, others capture the light just right and the beautiful imagery creates a world for our imagination where captivating characters embark on journeys of adventure, love, and triumph.  Some films take us to far away places; serve primary and secondary escape shuttles coming away from the failing mother ships of our lives.  Every now and again films give us pause, reward our daring, and enliven otherwise ordinary to bolster the human spirit against shared tragedy and personal understanding.  Sometimes those films are the same thing, or in place of grand landscapes they turn inward where they speak to the heart and all films truly live.  The Help is a challenging film that relies on the strength of commanding performances to elevate dramatic explorations of our dark, not-to-distant past.  Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia Spencer are magnetic and clearly show great fortitude and poise.  Director Tate Taylor knows some of the cast from his earlier film (Pretty Ugly People) and was wise to enlist their talents here.  This is a return to fundamental filmmaking, to the power and grandeur of true character work that can be traced to the best films of any era, and with such striking honesty and heroic portrayals of everyday people we can’t help but embrace them, grow a little in our hearts and minds when the fine line between art and life is blurred for a little while.  You might not escape the troubles of your here and now in this film, your everyday, but through this film you have an opportunity for inward journeys where greater things happen all the time and we hope one day to have taken similar steps on our own.

War Horse

An incredible accomplishment that is everything it appears to be and quite honestly has as much to do with what we see on the screen as it does with what made it all possible.  The advertising campaign for War Horse was staggering and for all intent and purposes dwarfed the entire production budget for other films that were nominated.  But after all the commercials and ads have faded from view, all the critics have been silenced and you sit down where ever that might be to experience this film, you feel as though you’re invited into a world where all things are possible and a film about the life a horse named Joey is not only possible but necessary.  Once you embrace the fact that the protagonist is a four-legged war-horse the adventure of a lifetime ensues and before long you can’t help but root for him to make it home again.  The fact that Spielberg is able to accomplish so much through a myriad of technical, computer, puppetry and live action scene work with horses, people and more horses is reason enough to praise this movie even against your concerns it might not work.  Some have pointed out familiar problems found in the grand sense of the Spielberg universe – the heavy melodrama even though melodrama is not the heinous thing many critics slap it about with, the grand OK’ness that Spielberg requires perhaps to offset the abject atrocity he is so versed and well commands – yet all in all War Horse is the perfect metaphor of where we are in the world today.  A collective pessimism weighs heavy on films that set out to lift our spirits and we are so ready to resist the very idea of triumph that we get in the way of our own happiness of it.  War Horse is every bit the Spielberg film you would expect and perhaps much much more – the sort of big screen larger than life experience you’ve grown up with and truly need more than you know.  Read my full review of War Horse here.

The Descendants

There is little doubt this film will resonant with a broad spectrum of movie goers – from star George Clooney to the lush and fertile landscape beauty of Hawaii.  Filmmaker du jour Alexander Payne hopes to capitalize on his universally appealing brand of verisimilitude as much as Judd Apatow sells toilet bowl humor or Adam Sandler gives falling down stupid a sort of brand name marketability.  Payne is already a master storyteller with bankable Americana contributions and a sort of name-clout-recognition that has taken his peers much longer to achieve.  Payne returns to the family centered plot as in his Oscar-winning film Sideways, with the machinations of the dysfunctional ensemble and their struggles to, but never quite achieving, normal.  The Descendants contains the same dark undercurrent here, a husband facing his crumbling family after his wife suffers an accident.  We all want Clooney in this role as much as he makes the broken father endearing, attractive in that flawed boy-man personae he has built a Hollywood career on.  Sometimes we feel compelled to dislike films like this for their honesty, the mirror held too long so that we’ve seen too much of ourselves and our problems.  In this case Clooney invites us beyond what repels us and this gives his bumbling father figure Ralph more depth and complexity, more genuineness than Jack the spy (my review of The American  2010) or Ryan Bingham the perpetual traveler (my review of Up In The Air 2009) – here it feels as though Clooney and Payne had a conversation beforehand to talk about all the things he’s done before this, the successes and the failures, and they agreed to leave all that out.

The Artist  

It takes moments to understand why this film was chosen and perhaps less to appreciate it from the outset.  Though we think we have this one figured out, director Michel Hazanavicius embarks on a challenging undertaking in capturing the simple beauty of an era in transition – that is the chasm that threatened an entire industry when silent pictures gave way to what came to be known as “the talkies”.  The Artist is a striking portrait lovingly photographed and well constructed with such austere beauty and conviction that it is impossible to know whether you will enjoy it without screening it.  Some will discount the film as obvious “Oscar Bait” though to be honest, who doesn’t want the film they’ve nurtured for years to win, to make it the best it can be with the hope it will reach us so very far removed from the golden dreams and platinum halos of Hollywood?  Anyone who has ever held a camera or hit their mark, waited for the light to fall just right to capture a moment in all the moments of a movie – we can tell you that even as we dream of success we’re still fighting for every frame that it happens, that tiny spark, the magic that happens along the way.  If only people knew how hard a thing it is to reach this stage – even the hint of glory seems impossible.  The Artist will not be a film everyone will like but it will nevertheless be a film everyone should see.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

They tell you in film school to keep it simple and make it make sense – and at no better place is that rule most important than in the title.  If you think you know what this film is about you’re probably wrong, just like if you think you haven’t got a clue you might surprise yourself.  We will most likely return to the events of 9/11 much the way we do our wars, every so many years after the wounds have scabbed over, after our anger allows us to explore the hurtful things of our collective experiences through the cinema where all things can be made to bear some semblance of ourselves.  Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock are the stars fueling this tale of modern loss and the existential quandary of personal hurt contrasting our collective sorrows and how we get from the beginning and end of our lives.  Like The Help this too is a challenging film that touches a very open wound known around the world, a place that might not ever heal as we search for who we are and where we are like the answers found in movies.  This is a powerful story and one that feels awfully convenient come awards time but nonetheless a film that demands our attention even if for only two hours.

Hugo  

Scorsese and 3D.  It was inevitable, destined, and perhaps this film is not about an aging filmmaker desperately searching for relevancy in a medium that’s speeding a thousand miles faster than when he started.  Hugo has all the ingredients for blockbuster accomplishments, the story of children who take action because adults have lost their way, a magical place where our youth steal away to save their world and ours because they can’t wait any longer for us to do it.  It is difficult for a filmmaker like Scorsese to depart from the darker recesses of broken characters and damaged worlds, to put edges he’s honed for decades on children’s stories from the man who carved an imperfect De Niro from granite rock into a Raging Bull, made Harvey Keitel once and proud friend who would betray the King of the Jews for Last Temptation of Christ, then dug down deep in the mire of human obsession for Bickel the Taxi Driver, Goodfellas the princes of cool and calculated murders.  In an era of the half-blood prince, the lion, the witch and wardrobe, in grand the spectacle of children embarking on no children’s journey you or I have ever known, Scorsese knows that in order to raise the bar back to the place where he set it for all the right moves in character studies and story driven adventures, he’d have to bring technology front and center.  Grand for the sake of grand and now for the test of time.

Midnight in Paris  

A film that thinks too much to be entirely forthright, makes clever for the sake of gimmickry then talks too much to have something to say.  By the time you’ve committed yourself you realize you’ve gone beyond the point of no return – the point in a journey where it is further to turn around then continue on – and in the end you realize you’ve been told how to feel about most Woody Allen movies until now when you have every reason to disbelieve.  I still believe Allen’s best films are those he is not in – there, I said it – oh the cad!  As far as romantic comedies are concerned, the stuffy aristocrats of pompous wind and heady opinions, you’ll find plenty.  As far as humorous situational absurdity coupled with the improbable, there is all that.  I suppose the best advice is to dig right in but then again, you have to pay for what you eat and by the time you realize you don’t have enough money to pay for what’s missing, you begin manufacturing all sorts of things to cover it up so you might at least have a fond memory later.

Moneyball

If you live in the Bay Area it is like having the kid from down the street playing in the Super Bowl or driving the #1 car at the Indianapolis Speedway.  If you live anywhere else it might feel like a hometown movie or just another baseball movie, but Brad Pitt delivers a distinctly other performance here that will resonant for some and seem dialed well below necessary.  Jonah Hill was singled out for his performance in this film and it will really be up to you if it’s deserving.  Personally a film about baseball has only two possible outcomes – the team wins or the team loses.  In this case it’s obvious going in for anyone who watches the sport, being this is a historical snapshot of a moment in time, and for those who can read sports movies from the cheap seats.  The performances are effective, compelling at times, but selecting this film against all the other films that should have been picked is mostly just showing us the power and the effect of big names to make little movies matter.

Tree of Life

Terrence Malick is an enigma and much like the man his films rely entirely on the beauty of the universe and the sanguine moviegoer who wishes for more but is settled by less.  To suggest it would make sense to analyze a film that purports to defy structure, to scratch the screen for meaning in the meaningless would offer than the sum of the results.  If you like Malick or want to like him you’ll find enough in this film to carry you a decade until he makes another.  If you’re looking for a reason to like him or his films or want to like him, this film might not have the desired effect.  Maybe Sean Penn was right.

By the end of all the speechifying I realize I’m at the end of a very long Word document.  The cursor is popping on off and it dawns on me that I don’t ever really think about it blinking.  On|off, on|off.

Go ahead I think between blinks.  You have all the other nominations to write a speech for.  Who did you have in mind to deliver?

To be continued.

Sources:

http://oscar.go.com/

Check out Rodney’s coverage over at Fernby Films: http://www.fernbyfilms.com/2012/01/25/the-84th-academy-awards-nominations/

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/oscar-nominations-2012-hugo-artist-lead-oscars-list

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/25/oscars-2012-factoids/

http://mubi.com/oscars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Zijgn-c9w

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American, Latin American and Eastern European rights to Jacques Audiard’s (A PROPHET) RUST & BONE from Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams.  The film recently wrapped production.

The film was co-written by Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain and adapted from the acclaimed book of short stories by Craig Davidson.  Just as he did with the prison genre in A PROPHET, Jacques Audiard will renew the love story with RUST AND BONE, his stirring new film filled with romance and suspense.

RUST & BONE stars Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (LA VIE EN ROSE, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS) and Matthias Schoenarts (BULLHEAD), and is produced by Pascal Caucheteux, who SPC had previously worked with on the features, OF GODS & MEN and  A PROPHET.

“Jacques Audiard is one of Europe’s finest directors, and the same goes for producer Pascal Caucheteux.  We are thrilled to be working with them, and Hengameh Panahi of Celluloid Dreams, once again,” said Sony Pictures Classics.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 27 Academy Awards (23 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 124 Oscar nominations (101 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

Paladin announced today that it will release OTTER 501, a new film that chronicles the true story of an orphaned baby otter who is rescued on the Northern California coast, per company president Mark Urman. The latest project from the award-winning and acclaimed filmmaking team at Sea Studios Foundation, OTTER 501 will have its world premiere at this week’s Santa Barbara Film Festival (http://sbiff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/otter501_bobtalbot_sbiff2012).

Paladin plans a spring release for the film.

A unique hybrid of fact and fiction that takes the traditional wildlife documentary into new and exciting storytelling realms, OTTER 501 is about an otter pup who was separated from her mother when she was just a week old and found washed ashore in June, 2010 on a beach on the Big Sur coast.  Quickly rescued by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program, “501,” as she was called, became part of a groundbreaking surrogate program where she was cared for by humans, and then introduced to an adoptive sea otter mother who, in turn, raised her for months so she could develop the necessary skills to survive back in the wild.

Parallel to this remarkable tale of how 501 got a second chance at life is the story of young Katie, an aspiring biologist who volunteers at the aquarium and who participates in 501’s rescue and support.  Structured as a series of Facebook video posts by Katie, 501’s amazing – and true –story is told from Katie’s point of view, as she herself comes of age emotionally, intellectually, and professionally, courtesy of this baby otter.

Blending documentary and dramatic narrative techniques, OTTER 501 combines stunning original natural history footage with extensive authentic material of 501 (who was filmed over months by the Sea Studios team from the moment she was rescued), and the most modern forms of social media. Both inspiring and illuminating, the film sheds light on important issues facing us all about our ever-changing environment and the ways in which we affect – and are affected by – other species.

About the film Urman says, “501 is one of the more adorable creatures we will see on screen this year.   We are thrilled to be working with Sea Studios Foundation on this wonderful project, and their extensive relationships within the marine wildlife, conservation, and aquarium communities will allow us to build upon many of the innovative grass-roots marketing techniques we employed so successfully last year with Tom Shadyac’s ‘I Am,’ and the highly acclaimed – and similarly themed – documentary, ‘The Whale.’”

Mark Shelley, Executive Director of the Foundation, who conceived the story for OTTER 501, and served as Executive Producer and Director of Photography on the film says, “OTTER 501 is our first foray into the world of theatrical film, and I could not be more pleased than to be in the able hands of Mark Urman and Paladin.  Mark has been a leader in bringing high-quality films to theaters for a long time, and I look forward to working closely with him and his team.”

With Shelley at the helm, Sea Studios Foundation has produced a number of compelling visual narratives about pressing issues, including the award-winning National Geographic prime-time series, “Shape Of Life,” and “Strange Days on Planet Earth,” hosted by Edward Norton and recipient of fourteen international awards.  Joining Shelley behind the camera is director Bob Talbot, a world renowned marine photographer and long-standing Cousteau Society associate, who numbers among his credits The Academy Award-nominated IMAX film, “Dolphins-The Ride,” which he directed and photographed, “Oceanmen—Extreme Dive,” as well as the wildlife sequences for Universal’s “Flipper,” and the Warner Brothers’ “Free Willy” features.  Producer/Writer Josh Rosen, a specialist in long-form non-fiction science and nature programming, has created a number of hour-long documentaries for The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, National Geographic Channel, The Science Channel, and The History Channel, and most recently worked on the PBS series, “Fabric of the Cosmos.”  He also collaborated with legendary director Werner Herzog on “Little Dieter Learns to Fly” and “My Best Fiend.”

OTTER 501 will premiere on the west coast, with its initial engagements taking place in areas where sea otters reside, including the Bay Area, (where it was filmed, and where Sea Studios makes it headquarters), Seattle, Portland, and Santa Barbara.  National expansion will take place in June and will extend throughout the summer. For more information about the film, please visit http://www.Otter501.com or http://www.seastudios.org.

Price Waterhouse Coopers celebrates its 78thyear leading the Oscars® balloting process on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy).  PwC balloting leaders Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas will again oversee the tabulation and will be the only two people in the world who will know the identity of the Oscar® winners before the 84th Academy Awards live telecast on ABC at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET) on Sunday, February 26, 2012.

In the 78 years that PwC has managed the balloting process, there has never been a single security breach.  Oltmanns and Rosas lead a tight-lipped team to conduct the same ‘tried and true’ method that they have used for decades. PwC’s long-established balloting system involves the precise tallying of every single ballot at a concealed location to maintain the utmost level of accuracy, objectivity and confidentiality.

“Our long-standing, 78-year relationship with PwC is built on the utmost trust and integrity,” said Tom Sherak, Academy president. “We look forward to continuing the tradition with PwC as our balloting partner for many years to come.”

Once the votes have been submitted and tabulated, PwC prepares two briefcases with a complete set of envelopes bearing the Oscar winners’ names. As a precautionary measure, both briefcases are then transported to the ceremony via separate, secret routes with each of the PwC balloting leaders. As a second preventive measure, the PwC balloting leaders also memorize every winner. During the live telecast, Oltmanns and Rosas remain backstage and hand each envelope to award presenters before they walk onstage.

“PwC’s ongoing relationship with the Academy exemplifies the highest level of precision and trust,” said Brad Oltmanns, a PwC partner and Oscars balloting leader since 2004. “This is an event we look forward to every year and our precise work with the Academy through the years is a tribute to PwC’s renowned heritage and reputation.”

“Being involved each year in maintaining the highest level of secrecy is one of the most rewarding assignments of my career” said Rick Rosas, a PwC partner and Oscars balloting leader since 2001. “Our work with the Academy not only highlights our long-term and trusted relationship with Hollywood and the entertainment industry, but also serves as an incredible source of honor and pride for PwC.”

Oscars nomination ballots were mailed to 5,783 voting members of the Academy on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, and nominees were announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.  Final ballots will be mailed today (February 1, 2012), and completed ballots are due back to PwC on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 (by 5 p.m.).

PwC Fun Facts from 78 Years of Oscars Balloting

As Hollywood prepares for the 84th Academy Awards,  PwC has tallied some other numbers to illustrate what has gone into keeping Hollywood’s biggest secret under wraps and getting the world’s most famous statuettes into the hands of the winners:

• 450,000+: The approximate number of ballots counted by PwC in 78 years on the job.

• 2,600+:  The number of winners’ envelopes stuffed since the envelope system was introduced in 1941.

• 1,700: The approximate number of “person-hours” it takes the PwC team every year to count and verify the ballots.

• 78:  The number of years PwC has conducted the Oscar® balloting.

• 24: The number of awards categories to be tabulated for the 84th Academy Awards at a secret location known only to the members of the small PwC ballot team.

• 7: The number of days it takes to count the ballots for nominations.

• 3: The number of days it takes to count the final ballots.

Beverly Hills, CA – Final ballots for the 84th Academy Awards® were mailed today (February 1) to the 5,783 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) by 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 21.  Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.

Listed on the ballots are nominees in 19 Awards categories.  Separate ballots for five categories (Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film) will be distributed after verification of mandatory member attendance at screenings.

Following the tabulation of the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed envelopes to be opened on Oscar Sunday, February 26.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Sundance Institute announced thirteen films supported by the Institute that are for the first time available to rent, download and stream. Look for the films on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SundanceNOW and YouTube. Films will be available on Netflix on March 1.

Films available today include Semper Fi: Always Faithful (currently on the Academy Award shortlist for Best Documentary), Obselidia (Independent Spirit Award Winner), Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007 Sundance Film Festival documentary on the arcade gamer competitions in the ‘80s), New York Times Critic’s Pick Lord Byron and 1994 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award Winner What Happened Was … by Tom Noonan – making its digital premiere 18 years after first screening in Park City, Utah. Special bonus video content from Sundance Institute’s archives will be available for select titles.

These projects are the first to take advantage of the Institute’s Artist Services access to distribution program, announced this summer. Artist Services provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work.

“We are truly excited for these films to reach the leading digital platforms and storefronts for movies. We created Artist Services so films that have shown at the Sundance Film Festival or been part of our Sundance Institute Labs will have a chance to find their audiences and fan bases. Audiences now have a chance to connect with exciting independent work using the devices and services they already love,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute.

New Video® is the exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. O’Melveny & Myers generously provided pro bono legal services for the program.

The films and their availability are:

Advise & Dissent (Director: David Van Taylor) — A riveting, in the trenches look into the politicized Supreme Court confirmation battles. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2003 Sundance Documentary Film Grant)

Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (Director: Lincoln Ruchti) — In 1982, Ottumwa, Iowa’s Twin Galaxies arcade served as the shining beacon of pixilated pop culture, attracting the best of the best in the highly competitive world of arcade video gaming. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2007 Sundance Film Festival)

Clear Cut: the Story of Philomath, Oregon (Director: Peter Richardson) —Conservative logging barons and liberal urban immigrants collide over how college scholarships are distributed in this skillful documentary. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2006 Sundance Film Festival)

Jess + Moss (Director: Clay Jeter) — Sarah Hagan (”Freaks and Geeks”) stars in this lush, playful, award-winning coming of age story. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2011 Sundance Film Festival, Best Feature 2011 Prague Fresh Film Festival)

Lord Byron (Director: Zack Godshall) — This New York Times Critics Pick about a Don Juan from the Bayou charmed audiences and critics at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2011 Sundance Film Festival, 2011 New York Times Critics Pick)

New Low (Director: Adam Bowers) — Adam Bowers wrote, directed and stars in this winning comedy about a neurotic twenty-something choosing love between the best and worst girls he’s ever known.. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2010 Sundance Film Festival, Winner 2011 Amsterdam Film Festival)

Obselidia (Director: Diane Bell) — Winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Alfred P. Sloan Prize and Excellence in Cinematography Award, “Obselidia” is part road movie, part love story, and endlessly fascinating. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2010 Sundance Film Festival, 2011 Independent Spirit Award Nominee)

The Oregonian (Director: Calvin Lee Reeder) — Lindsay Pulsipher (“True Blood”) stars as a girl on the run in this creepy selection from the Midnight section of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2011 Sundance Film Festival)

The Redemption of General Butt Naked (Directors: Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasio) — A brutal warlord who murdered thousands during Liberia’s horrific 14-year civil war renounces his violent past and reinvents himself as an Evangelist, facing those he once terrorized. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video. (2011 Sundance Film Festival Winner, Excellence in Cinematography Award)

Semper Fi: Always Faithful (Director: Rachel Libert) — A retired Marine fights for justice on behalf of U.S. soldiers and their families exposed to toxic drinking water while stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2010 Sundance Institute Documentary Film Fund Grantee)

Space Tourists (Director: Christian Frei) — Through the story the world’s first female space tourist, this documentary shows us the intersection of human enterprise and commerce in the final frontier. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (2010 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Directing Award Winner)

What Happened Was… (Director: Tom Noonan) — Tom Noonan’s directorial debut about a skewed vision of a first date. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (1994 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Winner)

The Wife (Director: Tom Noonan) — Therapists and patients confront each other in this delirious, realistic relationship drama. iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, SundanceNOW, YouTube. (1995 Sundance Film Festival)

The Adventures of Tintin
Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures Production (Paramount)
Original Score

Albert Nobbs
Trillium Productions, Mockingbird Pictures and Parallel Films Production (Roadside Attractions)
Glenn Close – Actress in a Leading Role
Janet McTeer – Actress in a Supporting Role
Makeup

Anonymous
Columbia Pictures Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Costume Design

The Artist
La Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Américaine/JD Prod/France3 Cinéma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production (The Weinstein Company)
Jean Dujardin – Actor in a Leading Role
Bérénice Bejo – Actress in a Supporting Role
Art Direction
Cinematography
Costume Design
Directing
Film Editing
Original Score
Best Picture
Original Screenplay

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
Purposeful Production
Documentary Short Subject

Beginners
Olympus Pictures in association with Parts & Labor Production (Focus Features)
Christopher Plummer – Actor in a Supporting Role

A Better Life
Summit Entertainment Production (Summit Entertainment)
Demián Bichir – Actor in a Leading Role

Bridesmaids
Universal Pictures Production (Universal)
Melissa McCarthy – Actress in a Supporting Role
Original Screenplay

Bullhead
Savage Film Production
Foreign Language Film (Belgium)

A Cat in Paris
Folimage Production (GKIDS)
Animated Feature Film

Chico & Rita
Chico & Rita Distribution Limited Production (GKIDS)
Animated Feature Film

The Descendants
Ad Hominem Enterprises Production (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney – Actor in a Leading Role
Directing
Film Editing
Best Picture
Adapted Screenplay

Dimanche/Sunday
National Film Board of Canada Production (National Film Board of Canada)
Animated Short Film

Drive
Bold Films, OddLot Entertainment and Marc Platt Production (FilmDistrict)
Sound Editing

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Warner Bros. Pictures Production (Warner Bros.)
Max von Sydow – Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Picture

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Moonbot Studios LA Production
Animated Short Film

Footnote
Footnote Limited Partnership Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Foreign Language Film (Israel)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Rooney Mara – Actress in a Leading Role
Cinematography
Film Editing
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing

God Is the Bigger Elvis
Documentress Films Production
Documentary Short Subject

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Warner Bros. Services UK Ltd. Production (Warner Bros.)
Art Direction
Makeup
Visual Effects

Hell and Back Again
Roast Beef Limited Production (Docurama Films)
Documentary Feature

The Help
DreamWorks Pictures Production (Touchstone)
Viola Davis – Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain – Actress in a Supporting Role
Octavia Specter – Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Picture

Hugo
Paramount Pictures and GK Films Production (Paramount)
Art Direction
Cinematography
Costume Design
Directing
Film Editing
Original Score
Best Picture
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing
Visual Effects
Adapted Screenplay

The Ides of March
Columbia Pictures and Cross Creek Pictures in association with Exclusive Media Group and Crystal City Entertainment Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Adapted Screenplay

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Marshall Curry Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Documentary Feature

In Darkness
Studio Filmowe Zebra Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Foreign Language Film (Poland)

Incident in New Baghdad
Morninglight Films Production
Documentary Short Subject

The Iron Lady
Weinstein Company/Yuk Films/Pathé/UK Film Council/Canal+/Cine+/ Goldcrest Production (The Weinstein Company)
Meryl Streep – Actress in a Leading Role
Makeup

Jane Eyre
Ruby Films Production (Focus Features)
Costume Design

Kung Fu Panda 2
DreamWorks Animation LLC Production (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount)
Animated Feature Film

La Luna
Pixar Animation Studios Production (Walt Disney)
Animated Short Film

Margin Call
Benaroya Pictures and Before The Door Pictures Production (Roadside Attractions)
Original Screenplay

Midnight in Paris
Pontchartrain Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Art Direction
Directing
Best Picture
Original Screenplay

Moneyball
Columbia Pictures Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Brad Pitt – Actor in a Leading Role
Jonah Hill – Actor in a Supporting Role
Film Editing
Best Picture
Sound Mixing
Adapted Screenplay

Monsieur Lazhar
micro_scope Production (Music Box Films)
Foreign Language Film (Canada)

A Morning Stroll
Studio AKA Production
Animated Short Film

The Muppets
Walt Disney Pictures Production (Walt Disney)
Original Song – “Man or Muppet”

My Week with Marilyn
Weinstein Company Production (The Weinstein Company)
Kenneth Branagh – Actor in a Supporting Role
Michelle Williams – Actress in a Leading Role

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
@radical.media Production
Documentary Feature

Pentecost
EMU Production (Network Ireland Television)
Live Action Short Film

Pina
Neue Road Movies Production (Sundance Selects)
Documentary Feature

Puss in Boots
DreamWorks Animation LLC Production (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount)
Animated Feature Film

Raju
Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt Production
Live Action Short Film

Rango
Paramount Pictures Production (Paramount)
Animated Feature Film

Real Steel
DreamWorks Pictures Production (Touchstone)
Visual Effects

Rio
Blue Sky Studios Production (20th Century Fox)
Original Song – “Real in Rio”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
20th Century Fox Production (20th Century Fox)
Visual Effects

Saving Face
Milkhaus/Jungefilm Production
Documentary Short Subject

A Separation
Dreamlab Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Foreign Language Film (Iran)
Original Screenplay

The Shore
All Ashore Production
Live Action Short Film

Time Freak
Team Road Production
Live Action Short Film

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Thin Man Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gary Oldman – Actor in a Leading Role
Original Score
Adapted Screenplay

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Paramount Pictures Production (Paramount)
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing
Visual Effects

The Tree of Life
River Road Entertainment Production (Fox Searchlight)
Cinematography
Directing
Best Picture

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Supply & Demand Integrated Production
Documentary Short Subject

Tuba Atlantic
Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen Production (Norsk Filminstitutt)
Live Action Short Film

Undefeated
Spitfire Pictures Production (The Weinstein Company)
Documentary Feature

W.E.
Semtex Films/The Weinstein Company/IM Global Production (The Weinstein Company)
Costume Design

War Horse
DreamWorks Pictures Production (Touchstone)
Art Direction
Cinematography
Original Score
Best Picture
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing

Warrior
Solaris Entertainment and Filmtribe/Lionsgate/Mimran Schur Pictures Production (Lionsgate)
Nick Nolte – Actor in a Supporting Role

Wild Life
National Film Board of Canada Production
Animated Short Film