With just a week to go before the Oscar nominees are announced, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the Science and Technical Awards, which will honor 19 achievements by 52 individuals behind-the-scenes. Their work has helped filmmakers bring their visions to the big screen.
“This year’s honorees have in a myriad of ways enabled today’s moviegoing experience,” Richard Edlund, Academy Award-winning visual effects artist and Scientific and Technical Awards Committee Chair, said in a statement. “Their efforts have advanced not only the art and science of motion pictures, but the work of countless global industries.”
These awards are given to people in the industry who have developed technology that have made valuable contributions to film over several years, not just in 2013. Among the winners is cinematographer Peter W. Anderson, who will receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award. Charles “Tad” Marburg, a post-production/distribution executive, is set to be given the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation.
The Academy is also giving its Academy Award of Merit to a group for the first time, rather than an individual. It will honor those who have worked in film laboratories since the art of filmmaking was introduced. The special Oscar will read, “To all those who built and operated film laboratories, for over a century of service to the motion picture industry.”
The special Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation is set for Feb. 15 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Ellen DeGeneres has been picked to host the 2014 Oscars ceremony on March 2. The nominees are announced on Jan. 16.
image: ABC