American Cinematographer - June 2021 - 74

Clubhouse News

Left: The Filmocracy overmap centered on the ASC Clubhouse,
surrounded by virtual buildings sponsored by companies that supported
the Awards. Right: For the " dinner presentation, " seats were set for
guests to enjoy the streaming show.

really important to me. "
Lighthill offers, " Being in the Clubhouse with people was nice. It was
a little nerve-wracking, because the live portion required a lot of people
running cameras, watching out for lights, and keeping the smoke machine
going. But we were very vigilant about testing everyone [for Covid-19],
and nobody got sick afterwards. The atmosphere was very fun. It was a
wonderful feeling to know that we were showing everyone what a great
show the ASC Awards is. "
Gonzales notes that many longtime ASC Awards collaborators came
back to help create this year's show, which took place Sunday, April 18 -
including host Ben Mankiewicz, of Turner Classic Movies; show writer Matt
Oswalt; and technical producer Dave Taylor of Senovva, who seamlessly
blended the live production in the Clubhouse with the live presenters and
nominees who made their appearances via Zoom. To elevate the look of
the show, Gonzales also brought in George Mooradian, ASC to light the
Clubhouse; composer, conductor and pianist Arturo Cardelús to arrange
original music performed live by an orchestra; Tim Kashani, who served
as Zoom live-show technical director; Don McCuaig, ASC, who crafted the
event's stunning opening reel; and project manager Lisa Gonzales Simon,
who brought her skillset of ground-up platform-building and scheduling to
the unique situation that the 2021 Awards presented.
A group of prominent ASC members rose to the occasion by graciously
volunteering to serve as Awards presenters, including Kira Kelly, Robert
Yeoman, Ellen Kuras, John Simmons, Patti Lee, Rodney Taylor, James
Whitaker, Edward Lachman, Philippe Le Sourd, Paul Cameron, Matthew
Libatique, Polly Morgan and Roger Deakins - who presented the Feature
Film Award alongside his wife and Team Deakins podcast partner, James.
Sony - which had also sponsored the ASC Student Heritage Awards
that took place as a virtual event on February 27 - donated cameras
for the ASC Awards' live-streaming portions, and shipped cameras to all
the presenters. Sony's Dan Perry, an ASC associate, coordinated camera
delivery. Gonzales also acknowledges the efforts of several ASC staffers,

including coordinating producers Alex Lopez, who oversaw Clubhouse
preparation and equipment, and Sal Maldonado, who - with a team of
volunteers - helped guests navigate Filmocracy; Alex Beatty, who served
as the show's editor and AD; Tara Jenkins, who conducted all pre-show social-media promotions; and longtime ASC Award trophy presenter Brittany
Belt, who pitched in as sponsorship coordinator. " This year's show relied
tremendously on video packages, such as the Social Conscience series
produced and edited by Alex Beatty, which became the glue that connected the Awards segments, " Gonzales notes. " Alex also made the virtual
Nominees Reception possible through his experience producing the online
ASC Master Class. And Tara was instrumental in creating a successful
social-media campaign that let the world know that this year's show would
be streaming for free. "
Says Lighthill, " We had a lot of help putting the show together. There
were many people with their hands on knobs and buttons getting the show
out 'over the air.' There's no way for us to broadcast the event, but putting
it online made it very accessible, and I think we managed to do that in a
stylish way that felt like a broadcast. "
Gonzales notes that the 35th ASC Awards would not have been
possible without the many sponsors who supported the show and the
Society. The first supporter that signed on was Keslow Camera, which
sponsored the Feature Film Award, pre-show cocktail party and ASC
Awards social media. Other major supporters of the event were Panavision, which sponsored two competitive awards categories, the Nominees
Reception, red-carpet interviews, and the always-anticipated after party;
Fujinon, which provided camera lenses; and Arri, Canon, FotoKem, Picture
Shop and Red Digital Cinema, all of which sponsored competitive Awards
categories.
Show producer Armacost admits, " When Dana first conceived of a
virtual Awards paired with an interactive viewing platform, I was worried
that we wouldn't be able to raise the necessary sponsorship. How do you
sell a virtual building to host a virtual cocktail party? Luckily, with Dana's

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American Cinematographer - June 2021

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