UA Guilds

Awards 2019

for your consideration

Awards 2019

for your consideration

Awards 2019

for your consideration

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SYNOPSIS

Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein star as best friends and academic perfectionists Amy and Molly in the comedy about the bonds we create that last a lifetime in BOOKSMART. Having spent the last four years in high school singularly focused on besting their play-minded peers, these overachievers — on the eve of graduation — decide to cram years of not-to-be missed fun into one night. Going headlong into the evening, the duo face the possibility they have far more in common with those they’ve been judging than they realized. Directed by Olivia Wilde, from an original script by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. BOOKSMART also stars Billie Lourd, Diana Silvers, Skyler Gisondo, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Austin Crute, Victoria Ruesga, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Mason Gooding and Mike O’Brien, along with Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis.

Booksmart Twitter / @Booksmart Booksmart Instagram / @Booksmart

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

BEST PICTURE

Produced By

MEGAN ELLISON, p.g.a. CHELSEA BARNARD, p.g.a. DAVID DISTENFELD,

JESSICA ELBAUM, p.g.a. and KATIE SILBERMAN

BEST DIRECTOR

OLIVIA WILDE

BEST ACTRESS

BEANIE FELDSTEIN

KAITLYN DEVER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

JESSICA WILLIAMS

LISA KUDROW

BILLIE LOURD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

WILL FORTE

JASON SUDEIKIS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Screenplay by EMILY HALPERN & SARAH HASKINS and SUSANNA FOGEL and KATIE SILBERMAN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

JASON MCCORMICK

BEST FILM EDITING

BRENT WHITE a.c.e.

JAMIE GROSS

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

KATIE BYRON

ART DIRECTION

ERIKA TOTH HAM

SET DECORATION

RACHAEL FERRARA

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

APRIL NAPIER

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Makeup Department Head LIZ LASH

Hair Department Head AUBREY MARIE

BEST SOUND EDITING

Supervising Sound Editor ONNALEE BLANK

BEST SOUND MIXING

Re-Recording Mixer SKIP LIEVSAY

Re-Recording Mixer PAUL URMSON

Additional Re-Recording Mixers ONNALEE BLANK, c.a.s., MATHEW WATERS, c.a.s.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Visual Effects Supervisor RAOUL YORKE BOLOGNINI

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

DAN THE AUTOMATOR

ENSEMBLE CAST

BEANIE FELDSTEIN, KAITLYN DEVER, JESSICA WILLIAMS, LISA KUDROW, WILL FORTE AND JASON SUDEIKIS

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SCREENINGS

All Screenings Are For Guild Members Only

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LOS ANGELES MALIBU NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO LONDON PALM SPRINGS SANTA BARBARA

COMING SOON

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PHOTOS

ACCOLADES

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

Nominee :

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy
Beanie Feldstein

Atlanta Film Critics Circle

Winner:

AFCC Special Award for Best First Feature Film : Olivia Wilde

Critics’ Choice Association

Nomination:

Best Comedy - Booksmart

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Nomination:

Best First Feature : Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Megan Ellison

Gotham Awards

Nominee:

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award : Olivia Wilde

Hollywood Film Awards

Winner:

Breakthrough Director Award : Olivia Wilde

Hollywood Critic Association (Formerly Los Angeles Online Film Critics)

Winner:

Trailerblazer Award : Olivia Wilde

Nominations:

Best Picture : Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Megan Ellison

Best Original Screenplay: Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, & Katie Silberman

Best Female Director : Olivia Wilde

Best Performance by an Actor or Actress 23 and Under : Kaitlyn Dever

Best First Feature : Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Megan Ellison

Best Independent Film : Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Megan Ellison

Best Comedy/Musical : Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Megan Ellison

Detroit Film Critics Society (Nominations)

Best Breakthrough:

Olivia Wilde – Director

Kaitlyn Dever – Actress

Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Award

Winner :

Best Directorial Debut : Olivia Wilde

BAFTA

Nominee:

Best Original Screenplay

BAFTA

Nominee:

Rising Star Award: Kaitlyn Dever

Hollywood Critics Association Award

Winner:

Best Female Director – Olivia Wilde

Best Performance by an Actress 23 and Under – Kaitlyn Dever

Best Comedy/Musical (Tie) – "Booksmart"

2020 Hollywood Critics Association Honorary Awards

Winner:

Trailblazer – Olivia Wilde

Hollywood Critics Association End of a Decade Award

Winner:

Next Generation of Hollywood - Kaitlyn Dever

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SYNOPSIS

From LAIKA, the makers of Coraline and Kubo and The Two Strings, comes the heartfelt adventure Missing Link. Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis lead an all-star voice cast in a groundbreaking stop-motion feature that combines hand-made craftsmanship with the latest in visual effects technology. Hugh Jackman is Sir Lionel Frost, a brave and dashing adventurer who considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters. The trouble is no one else seems to agree. Zach Galifianakis is Mr. Link also known as Big Foot. As species go, he’s as endangered as they get; he’s possibly the last of his kind, he’s lonely, and he believes that Sir Lionel is the one man alive who can help him. Along with the independent and resourceful Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who possesses the only known map to the group’s secret destination, the unlikely trio embarks on an emotional journey through which each finds their true identity and place in the world as they seek Link’s distant relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. The film is written and directed by Chris Butler, produced by Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner, and also features the voices of Stephen Fry, Timothy Olyphant, and Emma Thompson.

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For Your Consideration

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

CARTER BURWELL

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"DO-DILLY-DO (A FRIEND LIKE YOU)"

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY WALTER MARTIN

SCREENINGS

All Screenings Are For Guild Members Only

SELECT A CITY TO RSVP

MALIBU LOS ANGELES NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO LONDON PALM SPRINGS SANTA BARBARA

COMING SOON

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PHOTOS

VIDEO

MISSING LINK: INSIDE THE MAGIC OF LAIKALAIKA: A FACTORY OF DREAMERSLAIKA: BRINGING PUPPETS TO LIFELAIKA: EXPANDING WORLDSLAIKA: WORLD OF COLORLAIKA: MASTERFUL COSTUMESTHE CREATION AND MOVEMENT OF THE ELEPHANT PUPPETLAIKA: ANIMATING ACTION IN MISSING LINKLAIKA: STOP MOTION, VFX AND THE REFLECTION OF LINKLAIKA: GROUNDBREAKING PUPPETS

ACCOLADES

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

MISSING LINK
Brad Schiff
Travis Knight
Steve Emerson
Benoit Dubuc

Visual Effects Society (Winner)

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

MISSING LINK; Susan
Rachelle Lambden
Brenda Baumgarten
Morgan Hay
Benoit Dubuc

Visual Effects Society (Winner)

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature: Passage to India Jungle

Oliver Jones
Phil Brotherton
Nick Mariana
Ralph Procida

Visual Effects Society (Nomination)

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project: The Manchuria

Todd Alan Harvey
Dan Casey
Katy Hughes

Visual Effects Society (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Critics’ Choice Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

San Diego Film Critics Society (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

St. Louis Film Critics Association Award (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Washington Area Film Critics Association Award (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Toronto Film Critics Association Award (Winner)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Seattle Film Critics Society (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Indiana Film Journalists Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

Las Vegas Critics Society (Winner)

Best Family Film

Missing Link

Las Vegas Critics Society (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

Phoenix Critics Circle (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

Chicago Film Critics’ Awards (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Houston Film Critics Society (Nomination)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation

Missing Link

Motion Picture Sound Editor’s Golden Reel Awards (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

Greater Western New York Film Critics Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

North Carolina Film Critics Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Film

Missing Link

Austin Film Critics Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Columbus Film Critics Association (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Chicago Indie Critics Awards (Nomination)

Best Animated Feature

Missing Link

Producers Guild of America Award (Nomination)

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS in an ANIMATED FEATURE

Missing Link

Visual Effects Society (Nomination)

“One of the most deceptively impressive movies of the year.

Flabbergastingly complicated production with an eye for incredibly subtle humor and dazzling visual detail.”

- THE WRAP

“An instant masterpiece. A stop-motion marvel. LAIKA surprised everyone by winning the Golden Globe this year for the gorgeous Missing Link and they certainly deserve an Oscar for years of criminally overlooked work. It’s overdue.”

- SCREENRANT

“Look out for this deserving dark horse at the Oscars.”

- GOLD DERBY

“Missing Link deserves to be a frontrunner for Animated Feature. A masterpiece.

One of the most ambitious animated films ever created.”

- AWARDS DAILY

“Another beautifully animated triumph for LAIKA.

A visual treat with lots of humor and plenty of heart.”

- Rotten Tomatoes

“The most ambitious stop-motion film ever made.

A garganutuan achievement.”

- Yahoo! Movies

“Swells the heart and nourishes the soul.

A stunningly-staged globe-trotting journey.”

- Empire Magazine

“LAIKA’s most adventurous film yet.

An absolute technical marvel with ambitious storytelling, charismatic characters, impressive visuals, humor and heart.”

- Collider

“Another jewel in the crown for LAIKA.

The studio continues to be evolving masters of scope and scale without ever sacrificing the intimate, delicate details. The results are jaw-dropping. An absolute delight with a brain as big as its heart.”

- IGN Movies

“A stop-motion stunner.

A singular and exquisitely crafted piece of stop-motion animation.”

- IndieWire

“Every frame has been built, composed, and lit with such care that I might try to see it a second time in a theater just to appreciate the look and sound of it."

- RogerEbert.com

“Breathtaking in its painstaking virtuosity.

Adds a new sense of seamlessness to the company’s signature handmade, hand-moved elements.”

- Rolling Stone

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FILMMAKER OBSERVATIONS

“At LAIKA, it’s like Santa’s workshop if the elves had piercings and lots of tattoos. People are building sets and props, painting scenery, building puppets, designing and fabricating costumes, figuring out lighting and camera angles.”

- Travis Knight, Producer

“Mr. Link is given that name by Sir Lionel for his convenience but it’s a real turning point in the film when he renames himself ‘Susan.’ I also wanted to slyly wink at gender identity, of course. It’s a classic yearning of the human being to understand who they are. Identity is what you give yourself. It’s not what others put upon you.”

- Chris Butler, Director / Writer

"Nothing excites us more than an original story idea that pushes us into uncharted cinematic waters. When we can really dig in, when we can explore the lives and build the worlds of incredible new characters that audiences haven't met before, and bring them to life with our own unique brand of animation, that's where LAIKA soars. There's really nothing like it. This is what made Missing Link so thrilling to bring to life."

- Arianne Sutner, Producer

“All fabrics for LAIKA costumes are created in-house. Nothing is bought off the shelf. Not only do we need to create costumes on a miniature scale, they need to withstand the puppet performances. Many fabrics are constructed from a very lightweight, stretchy fabric base dyed to a particular base color, digitally embroidered to give it an even woven texture in miniature scale, then finished with a print overlay and hand-painted detail. A lot of experimentation in textile creation happens here, to produce these intricately detailed costumes.”

- Deborah Cook, Costume Designer

“When I toured the LAIKA studio I was just amazed. First of all, the size of it, the number of artists involved, the amount of time it takes to make one frame: 24 frames a second! The years it takes and the level of artistry to make these films. It’s a mixture of the size of the operation, the hours they put in, and the people! If you’re going to spend that much time over the course of years, you have to love it and they ALL LOVE IT!”

- Hugh Jackman (Voice of Sir Lionel)

“For the first time in any LAIKA film, we embraced a full shot-specific animation philosophy. In past films, because we were 3D printing every single face, we oftentimes would reuse facial expressions for different shots throughout the film. But for Missing Link, we produced unique faces for every single shot. Instead of a facial animator having to pick from a library of pre-existing expressions, they had the opportunity to start with a clean slate. They would create custom animation, timings, reactions and responses based on exactly what the shot needed. And I think that was extremely important to allow that comedic timing to come through in our film. We ended up producing over 106,000 faces. To put that in perspective, our first film, Coraline, had about 20,000 faces for the entire film and our most recent film, Kubo and the Two Strings, had about 64,000.”

- Brian McClean, Director of Rapid Prototyping

“We did things with Link that have never been done before. Not only was there squash and stretch, but Link also has a breather and a belly mover. When Link sighs, he is actually inhaling and exhaling breath. He also has a belly mover so his large belly could bounce as he walks. He is a funny character and the way the puppet was created helps us communicate that humor. I don’t think Link is the first puppet that has ever had a belly mover, but it’s definitely the first time we had all these elements in one puppet.”

- Brad Schiff, Animation Supervisor

““In terms of visual effects work, the work we do here at LAIKA is very similar to what the VFX department would be doing on a big live action superhero film. Perhaps people tend to think of us in terms of traditional 2D animation or they think of us in terms of computer-generated animation. But the reality of the work that we're doing here is that it is live action because of the puppets and real objects/sets, etc. to which we apply photo-realistic visual effects. So, you know, we have actors just as a live-action film would have actors. We shoot those actors on green screen sometimes. The difference is that our actors happen to be 10 or 12 inches tall as opposed to six feet. And they're photographed over the course of weeks, one frame at a time, as opposed to capturing an acting performance on a live-action set. But the process itself of creating visual effects for this film is very much live action-based. So, everything is much smaller. Everything takes a lot more time, but it's a live-action visual effects workflow.”

- Steve Emerson, Visual Effects Supervisor

“I remembered the soundtrack to the original 1956 Around the World in 80 Days, which was one of Chris Butler’s inspirations. It had made an impression on me as a kid. I felt that the music for Missing Link should have that same kind of epic sweep right from the beginning when we meet Sir Lionel trying to photograph Nessie the monster in Scotland.”

- Carter Burwell, Score Composer

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FACTS & FIGURES

LAIKA animators photograph the maximum number of increments for cinema projection, 24 frames per second. In industry vernacular, this is known as “shooting on ones”. That means for every second there are 24 unique poses an animator creates. LAIKA is likely the only stop motion feature studio in the world that shoots on ones, as a rule. LAIKA films hew closely to the “naturalistic” style, which requires the painstaking technique of shooting on ones.

Sir Lionel’s bagpipe, which he uses to attract Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, was made with a specially-built latex balloon which was inflated and deflated through syringes.

The reins, bridle and saddle on the horse are made from real leather that had been thinned down dramatically to achieve the required scale. Many of the books in Lionel’s study were also leather bound using authentic bookbinding techniques.

Adelina’s hair uses nearly 2,000 feet of multi-colored silk thread in various colors (over 1/3 of a mile) which are then blended and styled by hand to mimic the shapes and linear qualities of the pen and ink illustrations of the "Gibson Girl" look.

The exterior train is an actual working train on rails that was pulled by a motorized winch. It ran too smoothly along the rails, so bits of tape painted to look like rust were added to the track so that the wheels would bump along for more authentic carriage motion.

The smallest camera head used at LAIKA was built for the interior of the Manchuria ship set. It allowed the camera to be mounted to a long pole and then sent down inside the long corridor of the ship to capture animation.

The Animation Tracker software and controller, newly developed for Missing Link, use a series of knobs which are linked to encoders on motors. An animator can use the controller to remotely move elements on sets. (This was used extensively in animating the Elephant, for instance.) The software provided a visual graph, mapping of the position of the Elephant, and allowed the animator to compare that position to prior frames.

There were 64 individually rigged ice blocks which could be independently controlled for the shot in which the ice bridge begins to break.

To achieve the shot in the ice pit, in which Mr. Link’s face is reflected in multiple facets of an ice wall, an array of 10 cameras was set up to simultaneously capture each individual reflection at a different angle.

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