The Motion Picture Academy’s Governors Awards happened last night, honoring Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands with Honorary Oscars, and Debbie Reynolds (who was too ill to attend) with the Humanitarian Award. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the Academy, started off the night with a speech in tribute of France, and the lives lost in the terror attacks: <\/p>\n
\u201cI do feel it\u2019s important to mention yesterday\u2019s horrifying attacks in Paris and to say that all of us here stand in solidarity and support our friends and the French people\u2026Our connection with the film-loving French is especially deep with waves of influence going back and forth across the Atlantic ever since the Lumiere Brothers made the first motion picture. We also mourn those who died. We send our deepest affections.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So far, this is the only report I’ve seen from the Awards ceremony itself<\/a>, which gives a nice feel for the evening, the speeches, the tributes, and some good quotes. (I had asked the Oscar people if I could attend and they basically laughed in my face. If you can imagine them laughing nicely, then that was the feeling of the interaction. One of the associate producers said, “They won’t let me go either. I’m totally bummed.” I offered to wash dishes. More laughter.)<\/p>\n
The whole thing (including the tribute reel for Rowlands, with script by yours truly, read by Angelina Jolie) will end up on Youtube, so I’ll share those clips when they’re available. It is nice to hear the reel was called out specifically in the Deadline piece as “breathtaking.” I saw the rough cut and it was breathtaking then, even though incomplete at the time (and with someone else reading my narration, not Angelina). I feel so pleased and humble and grateful that I was a small part of that celebration. <\/p>\n
Congratulations to all of the worthy honorees. Giants of the industry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Motion Picture Academy’s Governors Awards happened last night, honoring Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands with Honorary Oscars, and Debbie Reynolds (who was too ill to attend) with the Humanitarian Award. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the Academy, started off … Continue reading