Celebrating the best of the film and television industry in British Columbia, the Leo Awards wrapped this weekend after two ceremonies honouring many VFS alumni and faculty with nominations across the board. We’d like to congratulate the VFSers who took home top prizes.
Makeup Design grads Crissy Renaud, Soo Jung Kwak, and Jon Berezan won Best Make-up in a Short Drama for their work on the VFS-heavy film, Death Wish (pictured left).
And the Best Sound Editing in a Feature-Length Drama award went to Sound Design instuctors Maureen Murphy and Anke Bakker for their work on Altitude.
Congrats to all nominees and winners!
Here’s the list of nominees we’ll be rooting for: Ron E. Scott – Film Production grad – Best Dramatic Series for Blackstone (Ron is also the founder of Prairie Dog, the company that recently awarded a $1,000 Writing prize). Chad Costen – Film Production grad/Foundation instructor – Best Short Drama, Best Screenwriting in a Short Drama, Best Picture Editing in a Short Drama, and Best Costume Design in a Short Drama for Death Wish. Read about the many VFS grads who contributed to this production. Ita Margalit – Writing grad/instructor – Best Screenwriting in a Short Drama for The Homestead. Stephen Lebail – Writing staff – Best Production Design in a Short Drama for Senseless. Christina Renaud and Jon Berezan – Makeup Design grads – Best Make-up in a Short Drama for Death Wish. Mimespeak – produced by Entertainment Business Management grads Mercedes Colon and Samantha Degagne – is up for Best Performance by a Male in a Short Drama for actor Robin Nielsen. Find out more about the short film in this Blast Light. Anton Crnkovic – Sound Design grad – Best Sound Editing in a Documentary Program or Series for Streets of Plenty. Mauricio Dal Poggetto – 3D Animation &Visual Effects grad – Best Student Production for History of Greed. (Watch it now on our YouTube Channel!) Jon Busby and Jesse Davidge – Digital Character Animation grads – Best Music Video for Arrow by Kathryn Calder. (Watch the video here.) Matt Toner – Writing grad – Best Web Series for Animism: The God’s Lake. Animism, which featured the work of multiple VFS grads and instructors, was also nominated for a SXSW Interactive award. Bob Woolsey and Andrew Menzies - Writing grads – Best Web Series for Bob & Andrew. Bob is also the Program Manager for Entertainment Business Management. The second season of Bob & Andrew is set to premiere June 6th. See a complete list of the nominees for this year’s awards. Congratulations to everyone, and best of luck on June 8th and 11th! UPDATE: Looks like we missed a few. Maureen Murphy and Anke Bakker – Sound Design staff – Best Sound Editing in a Feature Length Drama for Altitude. Josh Stevenson – Sound Design grad – Best Sound Editing in a Documentary Program or Series for How to Boil a Frog. Brad Hillman – Sound Design instructor – Best Sound Editing in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series for Animate Everything!
To the layperson, his silicone mask looks elaborate, but to the expert? Not so much. Head of Makeup Design for Film & Television Stan Edmonds was fielding calls from reporters all day yesterday, and his opinion is that it’s a pretty crude mask, probably purchased online. The story also prompted a twentysomething writer from the Vancouver Sun to visit our Franklin makeup fabrication and application facility, where he was made up by grad Jon Berezan and Stan. He then walked the streets of Vancouver as a 60-year-old – you can read all about it here. Interestingly, the giveaway was his young-looking hands, which were deliberately left alone: the same thing that raised red flags about the young man on the flight.
Four recent grads of the Makeup Design for Film & Television program at VFS were selected to take part in the Student Competition’s character/prosthetics category at the Vancouver International Makeup Artist Trade Show. And when it came time to hand out the awards on Sunday, it was an unprecedented clean sweep – VFS alumni took first, second, and third place! First place – Zoe (Wei-Ying) Cheng Competitors had to use prosthetics supplied by IMATS on the day – they only knew the theme (Grimm’s Fairy Tales) in advance, and could provide their own wigs, hairpieces, and costumes. They only had three hours from start to finish. The judges (who only saw the results and didn’t know who they were voting for) included two Oscar winners in Howard Berger and Tami Lane, and two other incredibly accomplished makeup artists in Charles Porlier and Victoria Down. “Both our students and alumni spent all weekend dazzling the professional makeup community with their amazing work,” said Head of Makeup Design for Film & Television Stan Edmonds. “It’s always exciting for us to show off what we can really do!” But what tells the story better than pictures? Check out this slideshow for shots of the competition and to see the graduates’ amazing creations take shape!
2011 Leo Nominations for VFS Grads
Once again, VFS grads and instructors are in the running for the Leo Awards, honouring the best in entertainment media in British Columbia. We celebrated multiple winners in both 2009 and 2010, and expectations are high for a repeat performance in 2011.Questions Surrounding Disguised Traveller Bring Media to VFS Makeup Design
There’s a good chance you saw the news yesterday: a man boards an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong as an elderly Caucasian passenger and emerges from the bathroom mid-flight as a young Asian man. There’s a lot not yet known about the story or the man’s motivations. Reaction has ranged from amused to unsettled.Clean Sweep for VFS at IMATS Vancouver
It was an IMATS to remember.
Second place – Elisa Solomon
Third place – Jon Berezan