Men in black suits open the car doors. There sit 10 cardboard boxes carrying the show’s critical stars: Oscar No. 3453 and 51 of his fellow Oscar statuettes. Steve Miessner, the Keeper of the Oscars, rides along with them.

He and the security guards load the boxes onto two dollies, and each is sent up a backstage freight elevator accompanied by an armed guard.

Miessner leads them down a winding hallway and into an office in the bowels of the Kodak. Two guards stand at the door as he dons his trademark white gloves and begins unpacking the precious cargo: 50 foam containers, each with one Oscar inside.

No. 3453 is among the first he unpacks. Miessner examines it and notices a bit of packaging glue stuck to the statue. He pulls a blue velvet cloth from his toolbox, which also includes tiny wrenches and a pen light, and gently polishes.

One by one, Miessner opens the foam containers and places the golden men on a desk.

“I usually set them all out and put little medallions on them, because backstage you can’t see the serial numbers,” he says.

Miessner, 47, officially works as an assistant to the film academy president and executive director. But he’s also the only academy person who handles the Oscar trophies.

He’s responsible for tracking all 52 statuettes reserved for Sunday’s ceremony. He’ll stand backstage as the awards are presented, noting the serial number of each Oscar and its recipient. After the show, he’ll log the information into the academy’s Statuettes Database.

But today he’s making sure each trophy is accounted for and camera ready. He writes “3453″ on a white paper tag and ties it with string around the Oscar’s neck, like a little pendant. Miessner, who has served as Keeper of the Oscars for five years, says some nights he wakes in a panic, dreaming that an Oscar sent onstage during the show was still wearing it’s numbered necklace.

“In the back of my mind I start to have all these fantasies about what could be going wrong,” he says, noting that an entire shipment of Oscars was stolen — and eventually recovered — in 2002. (Hence all the armed guards.)

Just knowing the Oscars are safely at the Kodak brings Miessner some relief.

“They’re here. I know they’re protected,” he says. “They’re stationary. They’re not going anywhere.”

Until Sunday, when No. 3453 and his brothers will be sent off to their new homes.
Originally posted by Sandy Cohen.

The 2009 Grand Trophy winners include Munich, Germany’s klink, liedig werbeagentur gmbh, winning the Grand Award for “We Love Cinema” in the Business Theater category for Germany’s Tele 5. The winning piece was created to engage viewers and brand the new station as the preferred movie channel. Mexico City, Mexico’s Televisa SA de CV won the Grand for “Imaginantes Serrat, Cortazar” in the Craft: Animation category. The award-winning entry used bold animation to introduce the audience to a different way of looking at television. Wilder of London, England was awarded the Grand Trophy in the Short Film category for their entry “Ripple,” a black comedy about the randomness of fate and the results of one malicious act. Gothenburg, Sweden’s Stark Film & Event took home the Grand in the Industrial Productions: Internal Use category for their film titled “Night at the Elyseum,” a historic piece celebrating 100 years of the electrical network Goteborg Energi AB Nat.

For the second year in a row, England’s The Edge Picture Company swept the awards, taking home the title of Production Company of the Year. The London-based company was awarded 6 Gold Medals, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze and 7 Finalist Certificates. Entries receiving Gold Medals in the category of Industrial Productions: Internal Use, include: “Our Story,” for agri-business client Syngenta, “The Impossible Story,” for professional services firm Deloitte, depicting a 3D pop-up book brought to life, and “Make It Happen,” for the financial organization RBS Group. “Make It Happen” also won a second Gold Medal in the Craft: Cinematography category. The following entries received Gold Medals in the Industrial Productions: Public Relations category: “Dreams,” a piece created for Thompson, the travel company, to help employees change the way they see the world, and “Opening Doors,” a film about domestic abuse for Surrey Domestic Abuse Outreach Service.

The 2009 NYF International Film and Video Awards received entries from 30 countries spanning 5 continents. The competition honors “The World’s Best Work™” in feature-length, short and documentary films, informational, educational, corporate and industrial film productions, home video, and student productions.

All entries were judged by a panel of industry experts, including producers, directors, writers and other media professionals. All winning entries are promoted by our network of representatives in 62 countries around the world.
Originally posted by Gayle Mandel at MarketWire.com.

LOS ANGELES — The backstage trophy table was the place to be for serious celebrity watching at Sunday’s 60th annual Primetime Emmy Awards - never mind that it was in the basement of a parking garage.
At one point Conan O’Brien was chatting on his cellphone as Amy Poehler and her husband, Will Arnett, walked by on their way to the elevator that would take them to the press tent. Kiefer Sutherland strolled by the trophy table just ahead of Tom Selleck. Christian Slater paused to wave to a group of firefighters working the awards show.
Also walking by the table that contained some five dozen Emmy statuettes was Lily Tomlin, who joked, “I like these three.”
Emmy winner Jeremy Piven, best supporting actor in a comedy series, surveyed the table and joked, “It looks like Hanukkah!”
The Emmy each winner carries off stage is just a prop. Winners give it back and head to the table in the parking garage adjacent to the Nokia Theatre to collect the real one.
As winners were collecting their Emmys, eight limo drivers were seated nearby, embroiled in an intense poker game. The drivers were paying the celebrities absolutely no heed.

Originated from The Canadian Press

Trophy News From Venice, Italy

A year late, but Brad Pitt finally received the best actor award he won from the Venice Film Festival in 2007 for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

Now back as star of the Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading,” which opened the festival, Brad Pitt was handed the prize at last.

“I guess you forgot something here years ago,” said the mistress of ceremonies, handing him the gold cup trophy.

“You can run but you can’t hide,” Pitt said accepting it. “It was an honor to receive this last year and it’s an honor to receive it this year. Thank you very much.”

It’s common for stars not to be present to accept the Venice Film Festival awards. The trophies are bestowed on the fest’s final night at which point most celebs have gone home. Sometimes winners turn around and hurry back to reap the trophy, but often they can’t. That’s what happened to Ben Affleck. Two years ago he found out that he won best actor for “Hollywoodland” soon after he landed in Los Angeles after returning from Venice. Affleck scrambled to try to arrange flights to get back before the fest officially closed, but without success.

It’s strange, however, that the Venice Film Festival didn’t ship the trophy to Pitt after he won. That’s how Affleck eventually caught up with his golden cup.

Pitt did not end up reaping an Oscar nomination for “Jesse James,” but that’s not unusual. Over the last 20 years, only two stars who won best actor at the Venice Film Festival were nommed by the academy: David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck”) and Javier Bardem (“Before Night Falls”). Neither won the trophy.

Originally Written by the Los Angeles Times Staff

With teen queen Miley Cyrus as host, Mariah Carey performing, superstars such as Will Smith and David Beckham in attendance and surfboards as trophies, Sunday’s Teen Choice Awards at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Studios Hollywood was not your typical red-carpet event. In fact, the carpet was blue, and America’s teens were in control rather than industry voters.

The Jonas Brothers, who arrived in coordinating Ray-Ban sunglasses, were one of the night’s biggest winners and a fan favorite. The brothers, who picked up awards for breakout group, music single, summer song, male hottie and fashion icon, used their performance to fly over the crowd in harnesses to screaming fans.

Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively grabbed awards for drama actress and breakout star. Said Lively, who arrived at the ceremony with on- and off-screen boyfriend Penn Badgley: “It’s so surreal to me because I remember sitting home watching the Teen Choice Awards.”

While American Idol winner David Cook, 25, and runner-up David Archuleta, 17, were happy to be at the show, the Idol tour remained on their minds.

Added Cook, who snagged the male reality/variety star award: “It’s great to feel the energy of the crowd, but the hard part is being in a different city every night.”

Even though it was a sweltering summer day in Hollywood, that didn’t stop some stars from going all out with their fashion choices. Sophia Bush, in a strapless floral frock from L.A. designer Jenni Kayne, and The Hills star Lauren Conrad, in a printed strapless number she designed herself, both chose floor-length dresses for the notoriously casual evening.

“I had fun designing it, and I wanted to do something more bohemian and summery,” said Conrad, 22, who picked up the female reality/variety star award.

Originally Written by Victoria Namkung for USA Today

The top film trophy went to No Country for Old Men. The critics also chose the Coen brothers for Best Director.

This continues a winning streak, after The Toronto Film Critics gave four awards to No Country for Old Men.

All critics and hollywood insiders are now looking for possible front runners for Oscar trophies.

Trophies for all events – Free Shipping and Engraving!