Jasmine Madatian named as the New Communications Director of AMPAS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS) has named Jasmine Madatian, a veteran Hollywood publicist, as their latest communications director. Madatian will be in charge of helping all things promotional, from their annual Oscar Awards to overseeing their ongoing promotion campaigns. 

The Academy's chief marketing officer Christina Kounelias divulged the news in an official statement adding that Jasmine is a smart, pioneering and highly regarded communications strategist with strong relationships throughout the film and media industry. Her understanding of the mission and enthusiasm for the Academy is what in actuality sets her apart and makes her such a great fit for this position. 

Madatian comes from Disney, where she lately developed the marketing campaigns for films including "Enchanted," "The Proposal," and "Alice in Wonderland."


 

As the 83rd Academy Awards Approaches…

The Academy Awards anxiety is building as 5755 nomination ballots for the 83rd Oscar ceremony were mailed. The ballots were sent to voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS).

Ensuring that the ballots are prepared is quite a process. Prior to mailing, the PricewaterhouseCoopers's staff administers a methodical confirmation process to be sure that there are no duplicates and that nothing is missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to assure that each one is addressed to the suitable voter.The completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. PT on Friday, January 14, 2011.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is considered the world's paramount

movie-related organization. Its members are more than 6,000 of the most proficient men and women working in cinema.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.The awards for marvelous film achievements of 2010 will be presented on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.The presentation will be telecast live in more than 200 countries.

An Opportunity for Oscar Fans To Win Red Carpet Seats At The 83rd Academy Awards

Oscar Fans across the globe can apply online to take part in a random drawing for seats on the 83rd Academy Awards red carpet.There are just  700 seats offered along the 500-foot-long walkway that leads into the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. Those who are selected will look at and cheer Oscar nominees, presenters and other ceremony guests as they arrive at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 27, 2011. Subsequent to the red carpet arrivals, every person seated in the bleachers will be invited to watch the Academy Awards telecast at a nearby location.

The application form will be obtainable at oscars.org/bleachers. The online-only application process will close up on Sunday, September 19, at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT.

To be qualified for the random drawing, an individual must complete the application form completely. Applications need to be only submitted online. Forms cannot be returned via any other method.Applicants can register for themselves and additionally one guest. Duplicate registrations will not be acknowledged.

Those individuals who are selected in the random drawing will be intimated  in late September. After that it is essential to submit additional information for security purposes prior to final approval. Eligible attendees will obtain a confirmation letter in early January with information relevant to the event.Only those people who have been pre-approved by the Academy will have access to the bleachers. Those who remain overnight to attempt admittance will not be approved entry.

In the past years, as many as around 20,000 fans have applied online for the limited number of red carpet seats.

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side"

Sandra Bullock has eventually earned the top appreciation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS),after being a part of  Hollywood for more than 20 years.Sandra Bullock has won her first Oscar as the Best Actress for her performance  in 'The Blind Side'. The role  she played in 'The Blind Side' was  an extremely challenging one.In the movie , she plays a prosperous home maker who adopts a black teenager and helps him tremendously to develop into a football star.

The first time Oscar nominee has beaten previous Oscar winners like Merryl Streep and Helen Mirren who were competing for the same honor. The other contenders  include Gabourey Sidibe of   'Precious' as well as Carey Mulligan of  'An Education'.

Before winning the Oscars ,Sandra  Bullock had won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards, and the Broadcast Film Critics award which was mutual with Merly Streep.Bullock rose to prominence with her incredible performance in the 1994 box office hit, ‘Speed’. Her other box office hits includes ' While You Were Sleeping', 'Miss Congeniality', 'The Proposal' .She also earned admiration from movie critics for her supporting role in the 2004 Oscar nominated movie 'Crash'.

In her acceptance speech she said 'Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?' She thanked all the  fantastic actors and actresses she's worked with, and looked forward to working with many more of them in future.  In a touching moment of her speech, Bullock thanked her mother for instilling the workaholic character in her to practice,practice,practice.

In reference to her mother, Bullock closed with 'She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that. Thank you.'

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges won the Oscars this year for the Best Actor Award in a Leading Role for his role in ‘Crazy Heart’. In the movie , he portrays Bad Blake, a washed-up country-western singer whose encounter  with a young journalist helps him to turn his life around.He was nominated nearly 4 times previously for the Academy Awards and it’s the first  he has won the honors. His first nomination at the Oscars was for 'The Last Picture Show' ,way back in 1971.

The 60-year-old veteran is one of Hollywood's most identifiable and constantly bankable actors as well as an  element of an acting dynasty that includes his parents Dorothy and Lloyd as well as brother Beau.For Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges once again confirmed his skill as a musician to play the alcoholic Bad Blake, a man struggling against his interior demons as he battles to bring back his glory days.

It is said that Bridges, who remarkably played a pianist in 1989 in The Fabulous Baker Boys, initially passed on the script for Crazy Heart after realising that there was no music attached to it.But the participation of musician T-Bone Burnett developed  his interest in the project and he rapidly signed on for the role. Many of Burnett's songs performed by Bridges were written with the actor in mind.

Burnett also helped Bridges flesh out his character by teaching him in the sort of music Bad would have listened to at some stage in his formative years. In a latest interview Bridges said that Burnett did a really fantastic thing by giving him  a breakdown of the music Bad might  have listened to growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, where T-Bone also grew up.

Lately, Bridges has appeared in several successful films, including the Oscar-nominated Seabiscuit and 2008's hit Iron Man. He will next be visible in Disney's Tron Legacy, a sequel to the 1982 film in which he also acted.Bridges is also preparing to reunite with the Coen brothers for a remake of the western True Grit, where he will enact the character  of  Rooster Cogburn, the role made popular by John Wayne in the 1969 original.

In his acceptance speech,Bridges said "I thank my wonderful director for his ability to instill self-confidence in his actors. Thank you my wonderful team that kept me together. I also want to thank my gorgeous wife (Susan Geston) with whom I have spent more than 33 years and also my three girls without whom I wouldn't be where I am."

The 81st Academy Awards

The most awaited event at the beginning of this year, the Oscars, the 81st Academy awards is to be held at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 22nd.The actor Hugh Jackman would be hosting this year’s Oscars for the first time.

Here are some of the movies nominated for the oscars:
Changeling, The Visitor, Doubt, Milk, Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight



Lets keep our fingers crossed until the 22nd.

A brief history

The Academy Awards are also known as the Oscars.The first oscar award was held in May 16,1929 in a private dinner at Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood .These awards are presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for outstanding performances in Cinema.However the origin of the academy awards being nicknamed to Oscars is still to be contested.

It was only after 1953 that the oscars were broadcast on TV,before which radio was used as the broadcasting medium.Each year the awards are distributed around Feb or March 2008,nearly 6 weeks after the announcement of the nominees.The oscars telecast is able to attract huge viewers than the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Grammys.Every year millions are glued to their television during the live telecast of this extravagant show.