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Tag: Academy Awards

  • Media Distillery pours AI power into search with game-changing discovery suite

    Media Distillery pours AI power into search with game-changing discovery suite

    MUMBAI: Ever felt like finding the right show to watch is harder than choosing what to eat for dinner? Media Distillery has heard the struggle and is uncorking a revolutionary solution, its new Search and Discovery Suite. Designed to make finding content as effortless as a Tik tok scroll, this AI-powered suite ensures viewers spend less time searching and more time watching.

    The video streaming industry has long battled with decision fatigue, with research showing that consumers spend over 10 minutes deciding what to watch often giving up entirely. Media Distillery’s latest suite tackles this head-on, using cutting-edge AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), Visual Language Models (VLMs), and semantic search to help viewers discover exactly what they’re looking for sometimes before they even know it.

    “2025 is the year of search and discovery,” said Media Distillery CEO and co-founder Roland Sars. “With so much content available, viewers can’t always see the forest for the trees. Our AI-powered suite ensures they never miss out on great content again.”

    Instead of the usual ‘because you watched xyz’ recommendations, the Search and Discovery Suite uses AI to dynamically generate suggestions across multiple sources. Say a viewer searches for the Academy Awards the tool doesn’t just show Oscar-winning films, but also TV shows featuring the winners, red carpet highlights, interviews, and more.

    A pilot test with a major cable operator delivered impressive results, with 75 per cent of viewers discovering sports content they wouldn’t have found otherwise, while 65 per cent received more relevant sports recommendations directly on the platform, reducing their need to search elsewhere. This AI-powered intelligence goes beyond on-demand content, enabling broadcasters, live TV providers, and OTT platforms to unlock the full potential of their catalogues and enhance viewer engagement.  

    Media Distillery’s Search and Discovery Suite complements its Preview Distillery solution, offering a seamless content discovery experience. By integrating real-time broadcast content analysis, the suite enables broadcasters, operators, and OTT services to boost engagement and monetisation while keeping viewers glued to their screens.

    So, if you’re tired of endless scrolling, Media Distillery’s latest innovation ensures your next binge-worthy show is just a smart search away.

  • Succession leads the 74th Emmy Awards with 25 nominations

    Succession leads the 74th Emmy Awards with 25 nominations

    Mumbai: Nominations for the 74th Emmy Awards that celebrate the best of American television were announced. Succession holds this year’s top spot with 25 Emmy nominations followed by Ted Lasso and The White Lotus (20), Hacks and Only Murders in the Building (17) and Euphoria (16).

    Warner Bros. Discovery got 155 total nominations and Disney got 141 nominations. Television Academy chairman & CEO Frank Scherma said, “Television continues to keep the world entertained, informed, and connected. With production at a historic high, the Academy has received a record number of Emmy submissions this season. As we prepare for the entertainment industry’s biggest night, we are thrilled to honour the innovators, creators, performers and storytellers who are propelling this platinum age of television.”

    It was a year of notable achievement for women. Almost half of the directors nominated in the scripted directing categories were women. This season also saw women receive almost 40 percent of the nominations in the scripted writing categories. 34 percent of this year’s nominees for outstanding writing in all related-categories were women. In total, there were 50 first-time performer nominees across all performer categories this season including Chadwick Boseman (What If…?), Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), Elle Fanning (The Great), Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven), Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game)  and Sydney Sweeney (two first-time nominations, Euphoria and The White Lotus).

    In addition to Sweeney, individuals with multiple nominations this year include Jason Bateman (performance and directing for Ozark), Quinta Brunson (performance and writing for Abbott Elementary), Nicole Byer (host for Nailed It today).

  • DNEG hires Academy Award winners Eric Brevig, Greg Butler as visual effects supervisors

    DNEG hires Academy Award winners Eric Brevig, Greg Butler as visual effects supervisors

    MUMBAI: Visual effects (VFX) and animation studio DNEG has announced on Friday the hiring of Eric Brevig and Greg Butler as visual effects supervisors. Brevig and Butler each join DNEG with decades of experience in the film industry.

    Brevig’s notable award-winning credits as VFX supervisor include ‘Total Recall’ (1990), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, “Hook” (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, “Men In Black” (1997), which earned him a Bafta nomination for Best Visual Effects, and “Pearl Harbor” (2001), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

    Butler’s portfolio of credits as VFX supervisor includes Sam Mendes’ ‘single shot’ war drama ‘1917’ (2019), which earned him an Academy Award and a Bafta for Best Visual Effects, and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ (2011), which earned him his first Bafta. Earlier in his career, Butler received a Visual Effects Society Award for ‘Outstanding Character Animation’ for his work on Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’ (2003).

    “I am proud to have both Eric and Greg, two highly accomplished industry veterans each with their own incredible legacy of breathtaking work, join DNEG’s creative ranks. Eric and Greg will certainly help us continue to push the creative boundaries of what is possible during this period of technological advancement in our industry and unprecedented demand for our services. Adding professionals with track records, talent, and expertise such as theirs further solidifies DNEG as the VFX and animation studio leader in the category” said DNEG chairman & CEO Namit Malhotra.

    Talking about his new role, Brevig said, “I have had the pleasure of working with DNEG and Namit on several projects in the past and I am delighted to become part of this world-class creative team. DNEG’s commitment to excellence and future growth plans make this a very exciting time for me to join the company.

    “My approach to the craft of VFX has always been to find the right techniques to create the most believable, engaging, and immersive experience for the audience. Using both virtual and physical tools, we can now realize anything the filmmaker can envision.”

    Butler joins DNEG from Method Studios, where he worked as a VFX Supervisor on various feature, episodic, and advertising projects, including most recently on a large scale, yet to be announced project for Amazon.

    “I have been following DNEG for many years – even before my London Soho days – as a competitor, a collaborator and as the home to many of my favorite people in visual effects. I am very excited to join DNEG’s Montréal office and I know we are going to make some great work together.

    “Visual effects is a magic trick. Its purpose, to keep the audience engaged in the story and the world of the film. Whether it is used to create fantastic wand duels in Harry Potter or invisible cuts in 1917, visual effects is a series of illusions created in service of the story. While it’s the end result that matters, I have always been enthralled by the filmmaking process; the dynamic behind-the-scenes collaboration of VFX artists and the live action crews whose work is their foundation” said Butler.

  • Reinvented Oscars ceremony witnesses record new low in TV viewership

    Reinvented Oscars ceremony witnesses record new low in TV viewership

    NEW DELHI: Amid the pandemic, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced winners of the 93rd Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, on 25 April. However, this year, the awards gala failed to attract eyeballs and preliminary Nielsen data suggests that the US television ratings for Sunday’s event witnessed an all-time low in TV viewership. 

    According to a Reuters report, TV viewership on Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) ABC broadcast network averaged 9.85 million, 58 per cent lower than last year’s final tally of 23.6 million viewers. The complete data regarding the final number of people who tuned into the award ceremony is expected to be released soon. 

    To draw viewers during the pandemic time, producers tried several innovative ideas in this year’s Oscars. The awards were broadcast for the first time at a historic train station in downtown Los Angeles, where only guests and award winners were present. There was a format revamp and the runtime was also shortened. These switch-ups, however, evidently failed to thrill the audiences.

    “The Oscars were a train wreck at the train station, an excruciatingly long, boring telecast that lacked the verve of so many movies we love,” wrote USA Today reviewer Kelly Lawler. 

    However, Time Magazine wrote that this year’s event, which went host-less for the third year running, was pretty much entertaining when compared to pre-Covid Oscars. 

    The dip in ratings shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to industry watchers – after all, television viewership hit an all-time low during the live telecast of this year’s Emmy Awards and Grammy Awards. TV ratings for the Golden Globes also plummeted by 60 per cent. 

    Due to the Covid outbreak, several giant production houses had to hold back their films, and as a result, small-budget movies that were streamed on OTT platforms were part of this year’s Academy Awards. 

  • Chloe Zhao and ‘Minari’ star Yuh-Jung Youn make history at Oscars 2021

    Chloe Zhao and ‘Minari’ star Yuh-Jung Youn make history at Oscars 2021

    New Delhi: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao made history at the 93rd Academy Awards as the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win the Oscar for best director for the film Nomadland.

    The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman ever to win the coveted prize eleven years ago.

    Korean actor Yuh-Jung Youn, 73, won the best supporting actress winner for immigrant tale Minari, and became the first South Korean actor to win an Oscar. British actor Daniel Kaluuya completed his awards grand slam this year with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in Judas And The Black Messiah.

    In an upset, 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins (The Father) walked away with the best actor trophy, which many believed to be a cinch for the late Chadwick Boseman for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The win makes Hopkins the oldest performer to bag an acting Oscar ever.

    The best actress award went to Nomadland star Frances McDormand, who last won an Oscar in 2018 for her stellar turn as a ferocious, heartbroken mother in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

    Netflix had a big night at the Oscars, bringing home a total of seven trophies, though it failed to pick up an award in the big three categories – best picture and best actor/actress. The streamer had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any studio or OTT platform.

    Producers of the annual awards gala, including director Steven Soderbergh, had said that the award ceremony this year would be more like a movie than a TV show. And, indeed it was, with limited audience capacity and celebrities not wearing masks. The ceremony was moved to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles amid the Covid2019 restrictions.

    Dark comedy Another Round, from Denmark, was awarded best international feature film. India’s official entry this year – Jallikattu – failed to make the final nominations.

    The first Oscar of the evening went to Emerald Fennell who won best original screenplay for Promising Young Woman; best adapted screenplay was won by The Father. The White Tiger, starring actress Priyanka Chopra, was nominated in this category.

    The movie Soul, the first from Pixar to feature a black lead character, won best animated feature and also the award for best original score. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet won the award for best visual effects.

    The winners are chosen in a secret ballot by the 9,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

  • Star Movies and Star World all set to broadcast 93rd Oscars on 26 April

    Star Movies and Star World all set to broadcast 93rd Oscars on 26 April

    MUMBAI: Home to the prestigious Oscars for over two decades, Star Movies is all set to bring alive the magic of the 93rd Oscars ceremony live and exclusively for its viewers on 26 April, starting 5:30 am.

    Colloquially known as Oscars, the Academy Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in the world of cinema. The awards ceremony was initially scheduled to take place on 28 February, but was later postponed to 26 April amid the Covid2019 pandemic.

    Marking the end of the awards season, Oscars 2021 will be telecasted live 5:30 am onwards on Star Movies and Star World. The awards ceremony will simultaneously air on Star Movies Select and Star World Premiere. Keeping up with the festive fervour, the awards will be aired once again on the same day at 8:30 pm.

    With the current situation in mind, the Academy has gone to utmost lengths to assure maximum safety of those attending. For the third year in a row, the 93rd Oscars will be conducted without any host. However stars like, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry, Zendaya will be seen presenting. The audience capacity has been limited to 170 this year.

    Despite fewer film releases, the competition is tough across categories. With nominations announced almost a month ago, viewers are now on the edge to know the winners.

    This year, female directors broke the record for maximum number of nominations, with Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) competing for the best director award.

    Legendary veteran actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is the oldest best actor nominee ever and could become the oldest winner as well at 83.

    India has a special moment this year with Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra’s The White Tiger being nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. The nomination comes in after almost 20 years since Lagaan. The other film being closely watched is Man’ which has received a total of 10 nominations leaving behind The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7 that have received six nominations each.

  • Sayani Gupta-starrer Shameless is India’s Oscar entry in short film category

    Sayani Gupta-starrer Shameless is India’s Oscar entry in short film category

    MUMBAI: After Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Jallikattu was selected as India's official entry to the 93rd Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category, another worthy contender has been picked for the Oscars’ short film category – Shameless. Writer-director Keith Gomes’s 15-minute film is a black comedy thriller starring Sayani Gupta, which beat short films including Vidya Balan's Natkhat in the Oscars entry race. 

    Co-starring Hussain Dalal and Rishabh Kapoor, Shameless revolves around the theme of loss of human spirit due to technology, while it also attempts to raise relevant questions on issues of entitlement, humanity and empathy toward the migrant class.

    Gupta who in a statement said, “My experience on Shameless was fantastic and now we are submitting to the Oscars, it's a wow! Keith is wonderful as a director and very gentle with his actors and crew. Hussain, of course is a great friend, and it was a ball working with him. We have a silent communication and understanding when it comes to improvisations etc.”

    Dalal recalled, "How clear Keith was with the way he wanted to tell this extremely unique story that communicates the hidden truth in society. We stayed honest to the process, had a blast making it. And then we're here, eligible for the Oscars.”

    "I observe human behaviour and love telling stories about the human spirit. This world needs kindness and my films are a reminder to not get lost into technology. I make films with little funding from family and friends, everyone comes together with loads of love and passion. Couldn't be more blessed," said director Gomes.

    Released last year, Shameless has been selected from a shortlist of five films. Apart from Natkhat, there were Sound Proof, Safar and Trapped in the running. The film also stars Rishabh Kapoor and is produced by Ashley Gomes and Sandeep Kamal. Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, is the sound designer of Shameless.

  • Malayalam film Jallikattu is India’s official entry for Oscars 2021

    Malayalam film Jallikattu is India’s official entry for Oscars 2021

    NEW DELHI: Malayalam movie Jallikattu directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery has been selected as India’s official entry for the international feature film category at the 93rd Academy Awards, better known as Oscars.

    Jallikattu was chosen out of 27 films across Hindi, Odiya, Marathi and other languages. The story is about a bull that escapes from a slaughterhouse in a hilly remote village and all the men of the village gathering to hunt down the animal. Some of the other movies in the race to be India’s entry for Oscars 2021 were The Disciple, Shakuntala Devi, Shikara, Gunjan Saxena, Chhapaak, AK vs AK, Gulabo Sitabo, Bhonsle, Chhalaang, Eeb Allay Ooo!, Check Post, Atkan Chatkan, Serious Men, Bulbbul, Kaamyaab, The Sky is Pink, Chintu ka Birthday and Bittersweet.

    Film Federation of India chairman jury board and filmmaker Rahul Rawail heaped praise on the film’s theme, production quality and Lijo Jose Pellissery’s direction. He said, “It is a film which really brings out the raw side of human beings, that we are worse than animals. The film has been shot very well. The emotions which come out moved all of us. It’s a production that all of us should be proud of. Pellissery is an extremely competent director. That’s why we zeroed in on Jallikattu.”

     

     

    Jallikattu had its premiere on 6 September 2019 at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and received widespread critical acclaim.

    Pellissery also won the best director trophy at the 50th International Film Festival of India last year.

  • Star Movies is home of The Oscars

    Star Movies is home of The Oscars

    Celebrating its 90th year in 2018, the Academy Awards is undoubtedly the industry’s most elite award ceremony. It recognizes the best talent in film-making and makes living legends of them! Thus, it’s only befitting that India’s leading movie destination, Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD celebrate the champions of tinsel town by showcasing the Oscars live at 5:30am in India on 5th March. This  year marks a very significant milestone for the channel as Star Movies enters its glorious 20th year of bringing The Academy Awards to India! 

    For all those who can’t wait until the award ceremony , Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD bring fans a month-long festival ‘Celebrating the Oscars’ which will culminate with the LIVE broadcast of the 90th Academy Awards on March 5! Starting today, fans can enjoy the best of cinema every Monday to Thursday at 7 pm, with movies that made their mark at Hollywood’s biggest stage!

    From excellence in script-writing, to visual effects, to original music scores, every movie is a spectacle to watch and a must-have on your bucket list. Right from timeless classics like – Kramer vs. Kramer, Braveheart and Titanic, to delightful animation movies like Zootopia, Ice Age and Toy Story 3, to spirit-lifting movies like Little Miss Sunshine and King’s Speech, the line-up is a compelling watch that has something for everyone. The more recent Oscar winners too feature in the festival, with the likes of Whiplash, Grand Budapest Hotel and 127 Hours set to enthrall true fans with their film-craft!

  • Indian films promotion: No claimant for up to Rs 1-crore aid

    Indian films promotion: No claimant for up to Rs 1-crore aid

    NEW DELHI: Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore has said his ministry has introduced an additional activity under existing Plan Scheme for providing financial assistance to filmmakers whose films are selected in competition section of an international film festival of repute or India’s official nomination for Academy Awards under Foreign Film Category.

    Rethore told the Parliament that the Directorate of Film Festivals has been designated as the nodal agency for implementing this activity. The details of the scheme are available at http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Film_Promotion_Fund_-_procedure.pdf.

    The scheme was introduced with effect from 3 October 2016 and, so far, no eligible proposal for seeking assistance under the film promotion scheme has been received, and therefore no assistance has been provided, Rathore said.

    Early this month, union minister M Venkaiah Naidu had announced at a press meet here that the Fund was aimed at promoting Indian cinema at International Film Festivals. This initiative would help independent filmmakers to promote their work across the globe.

    Naidu claimed that the Government’s efforts to project India as a soft power and filming destination has been a win-win situation so far, in terms of attracting global stakeholders from various quarters of film industry to India as well as Indian films, expertise and talent being accepted globally at international festivals.

    According to details on the website, the Festivals to be covered are:

    Eligible Film Festival/Award & Corresponding Fund Value

    No. Feature Film Festival Key Sections Fund value (INR)
    1. Sundance Film Festival – January World Cinema Dramatic competition 15,00,000

    2. Sundance Film Festival – January Premieres 10,00,000

    3. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -January Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 10,00,000

    4. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -– January Bright Future 7,50,000

    5. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam – January Spectrum 7,50,000

    6. Berlin International Film Festival – February Competition 15,00,000

    7. Berlin International Film Festival – February Panorama 10,00,000

    8. Berlin International Film Festival – February Forum 10,00,000

    9. Berlin International Film Festival – February Generation K-plus
    & Generation 14plus 10,00,000

    10. Festival de Cannes – May In Competition 20,00,000

    11. Festival de Cannes – May Un Certain Regard 15,00,000

    12. Directors’ Fortnight– May World Premiere 15,00,000

    13. International Critics’ Week – May World Premiere 10,00,000

    14. Venice International Film Festival – September In Competition 15,00,000

    15. Venice International Film Festival – September Orizzonti 10,00,000

    16. International Critics’ Week – September Official Selection 7,50,000

    17. Venice Days – September Official Selection 7,50,000

    18. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Special Presentation 15,00,000

    19. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Discovery 10,00,000

    20. Busan Int. Film Festival –October New Currents 10,00,000

    21. Busan Int. Film Festival – October Window on Asian Cinema 7,50,000

    22. Locarno Int. Film Festival Concorso Internazionale 7,50,000

    23. Oscars Foreign Language Film 50,00,000 to 1,00,00,000