AICE has announced the roster of editors, colorists, effects artists and audio mixers who will be serving on the Curatorial Committee for the 2015 AICE Awards. The list was announced by editors Chris Franklin of Big Sky Edit in New York, Bob Spector of Beast in San Francisco and Craig Lewandowski of Utopic in Chicago, who co-chair the AICE Awards committee.
Franklin, Spector and Lewandowski served on last year’s inaugural Curatorial Committee and are participating again this year, as are editor Steve Manz of Relish in Toronto and audio mixer Tom Jucarone of Sound Lounge in New York.
They’re joined by editors Jen Dean of Arcade Edit in New York, Kathryn Hempel of Cutters in Chicago and Igor Kovalik of Beast in Los Angeles; colorists Fergus McCall of The Mill in New York and Oscar Oboza of Nice Shoes in Minneapolis; design and VFX artists Adam Berk of CT-SF in San Francisco and Sean Starkweather of Arsenal FX in Los Angeles; and mixer Katy Mindeman of Particle Audio in Chicago.
The role of the committee, according to Franklin, is to ensure finalists determined by the judges are appropriate for, and meet the criteria of, each category. It will also select the Best in Show winner from among the category winners. The finalists and winner in each category will be determined from the results of online and live-panel judging sessions currently being conducted. Once the results are tabulated, the committee reviews the results to confirm that the winners are both eligible and worthy of an AICE Award.
Cutters Studios’ Hempel said, “I’m honored to be on the Curatorial Committee with a group of colleagues that I respect and whose work I admire so much.”
Nice Shoes’ Oboza added, “I’m told there were good discussions about the finalists amongst last year’s group of experienced postproduction artists, and I’m expecting the same this year. I’m honored to represent my peers in Minneapolis, and look forward to talking in depth with fellow artists from around the country about the great work being awarded.”
Franklin characterized last year’s Curatorial Committee process as a “monstrous success,” adding that “we discussed the finalists chosen by the judges at length. We had great participation from everyone on the committee, with long conversations designed to uphold the integrity of the awards. We all benefitted from the process, which is why I’m excited about working with the people on this year’s committee.”
The 2015 AICE Awards, the association’s 14th annual competition, comprises 22 categories–16 for editorial and six for postproduction crafts including audio mixing, color grading, design, original music, sound design and visual effects. Winners will be announced at the AICE Awards Show on Thursday, May 14, 2015, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
