Posted by Larry Gleeson
Variety’s seventh annual Artisans Awards celebrating those essential to the filmmaking process and who have exhibited the most exciting and innovative work of the year in their respective fields will take place virtually at 6 P.M., April 5th, during the 36th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The event will be moderated by Variety’s Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay and the Variety Artisans Award will be presented to Alan Baumgarten, Nicolas Becker, Alexandra Byrne, Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale, Sean Faden, Mia Neal, Leslie Odom Jr., Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Joshua James Richards.
Alan Baumgarten for Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” sees the editor reunite with screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin. Baumgarten won an Emmy for his work on 2008’s “Recount.” He received an Academy Award nomination for 2013’s “American Hustle.”
Nicolas Becker earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Sound for his work on Amazon’s “Sound of Metal.” Becker has over 263 credits which include “Arrival,” “Ex Machina” and “Gravity.
Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne has four Oscar nominations and won the Best Achievement in Costume Design for her work on 2008’s “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” Byrne will be honored for her most recent work on the Focus Features release, “Emma” starring Anya Taylor Joy.
Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale are the teams behind “Mank’s” production design and set design. Together they transformed locations and sets for David Fincher’s Netflix drama which tells the story of how Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for “Citizen Kane.” Set during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Burt and Pascale recreated Hearst Castle and transformed modern-day studio backlots into days of Hollywood past.
Visual Effects Supervisor Sean Faden contributed to Disney’s “Mulan.” Faden along with the team at Weta Digital helped transform Gong Li into a witch and built some of the location shots for the film’s Imperial City.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” hair department head Mia Neal is on a solid path to making Oscar history if the Netflix contender lands a nomination for Hair and Makeup. Neal will be the first Black Oscar nominee in the category. Her previous credits include “Uncut Gems” and “The Longest Week.”
Grammy Award and Tony Award-winner Leslie Odom Jr. is a triple threat this season. He’s starring in “Hamilton” on Disney Plus and in Regina King’s “One Night in Miami” (Amazon) where he plays Sam Cooke. He’s also a contender in the original song category along with fellow songwriter Sam Ashworth. The two wrote “Speak Now” which plays over the film’s end credits. They previously collaborated on Odom Jr.’s 2019 album “Mr.”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will be honored for their work in two films, Netflix’s “Mank” and Pixar Animation’s “Soul”. The two won an Academy Award for their work on “The Social Network”.
Joshua James Richards for Fox Searchlight’s “Nomadland.” Richards has worked on short films such as “Boneshaker” and “Glory Days.” “Nomadland” marks his third collaboration with filmmaker Chloe Zhao. The two previously collaborated on “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” and “The Rider.”
The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG, will take place March 31st through April 10th, 2021, online and at two free ocean-front drive-in theatres. More information, festival passes, and tickets are available at www.sbiff.org.
