2nd Annual Pixie Awards Recognizes Top Web Moviemakers

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 22 -- Surprises, sweeps, cheers, and tearsmarked this year's second annual Directors Board Awards for Excellencein Broadband Motion Pixure Production -- the top honors for Internetmotion pictures otherwise known as "The Pixie Awards."

"This evening has been absolutely electric," said Directors Boardmember Felicia Flick of Bedford Falls Entertainment. "I can't believehow charged up and inspired I am -- this has just been great."

"I'm stunned -- just stunned," said Best Actress awardee YolandaSnowball, who took home the top nod for her performance in the romanticmellow drama "Milk and Honey." "I'm delighted to see the inspirationsof so many hard working and talented filmmakers on display here tonight-- it's wonderful to get this kind of recognition and see how mucheveryone has enjoyed it," Snowball continued.

"Incredible -- you can feel it in the air," said Voice of Americaradio talk show host Amanda Finch. "Everybody here tonight is so --on."

"Very classy," said Pixie awardee Mitchell Rose. "I know this eventwas a real labor of love, and it's good to see love triumph."

In an acceptance speech reflecting the unusual nature of Internetmotion pictures, where decades-old films can find new and receptiveaudiences, Best i-Documentary awardee Jim Hubbard told the story of"The Turtle Hunter," his understated black-and-white short about OtisTerrell Overland, who made his living hunting giant snapping turtles inthe Mississippi bayous.

"You might say 'The Turtle Hunter' is the bookends to a 50-yearcareer in film," Hubbard said. "It was my first independent filmproject in 1961 and with great joy I saw the film finally completed in1998. I am especially glad that Otis Terrell Overland, though in poorhealth, is still alive to share this very exciting moment with me."

The evening's surprises included a tie for Best Actor nods -- DanSettani for his satirical performance as a psychotic stalker bent onmurdering Matthew Broderick in "The Night Ferris Bueller Died," andRussian child actor Alex Burchu for "Sweet Dreams," a tale of innocencelost in which Burchu utters not one line.

"Alex Burchu's performance was amazing -- he didn't have to sayanything," said acting committee member Ayana Cahrr.

If any film swept the awards it was "Milk and Honey," a gentle taleabout two couples who cross paths as one tries to kindle and the othertries to rekindle romance. Joan Malloch and Dan Ko took home topcinematography nods against the evening's most pronounced competition,which included "The Dancing Cow," stunningly filmed by the lateOscar-nominee and Emmy-winner John Alonzo, whose long list of creditsincludes "Chinatown," "Lady Sings the Blues," and "Norma Rae."

"Milk and Honey" scribe Amy Lowe also topped a strong field for BestScreenplay honors.

Best Editing nods went to James Monohan for his starkblack-and-white portrait of racial hatred, "Skinhead."

"Cuts, dissolves, fades, and camera angles told alot of the story in'Skinhead'," said Directors Board judge and BAFTA-winning film editorTrevor Keates. "If we can, we look for editing that adds to the storyby becoming a player in it," Keates explained.

Canadian designers Brooke Burgess and Switch Interactive, ofVancouver, British Columbia, took home top nods for Best Web Designthat Incorporates Motion with "Broken Saints," a stunning example ofmulti-layered Flash animation magic.

Oscar-nominees Steffan and Annette Shaffler of Munich, Germanytopped an international field of animators for Best Animated Pixurewith "The Periwig Maker," a Claymation journal of Europe's plague yearsstarring the voice of noted actor Kenneth Branagh.

Best Technical Effects honors went to Amy Talkington and BeHereCorporation for "The New Arrival," the first film shot entirely with acamera that provides a 360-degree perspective.

Best Director nods went to Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt for "405."Crafted entirely on a home computer, "405" is the harrowing tale of ajumbo jet forced to land on LA's notorious 405 freeway, evacuated savefor a lone SUV piloted by an unwitting young man who saves the day bybecoming part of the jet's front landing gear.

"I thought '405' was perfectly crafted for the Internet medium,"said Directors Board judge D.B. Jones, a professor in the film andmedia arts department at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Mitchell Rose took home top honors for his webisodic series "ModernDaydreams," a silent fable of dance and music that depicts the dreamywanderings of modern characters against the often mundane ontraptionsof contemporary life. The episode "Deere John," for instance, follows awell-dressed, starry-eyed man as he lovingly waltzes with a giant JohnDeere backhoe that sweeps him off his feet to the lilting notes ofclassical French composer Camille Saint-Saens.

Another French composer, Louis Febre, took home Best Musical Scorehonors for his work on "The Revenge of the Red Balloon," a quirkysend-up of the sentimental French film "The Red Balloon."

Opening with a stark black-and-white tribute to victims of lastweek's terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, thedirectors Board Awards established a subdued yet upbeat demeanor at thesite of the first Academy Awards -- the Hollywood Roosevelt BlossomBallroom.

Best Pixure awardee Pieter van Hees eloquently stated the case formoving forward in troubled times with his acceptance speech forBelgium's "Black XXX-Mas," a darkly symbolic take on "Little Red RidingHood."

"Making films appears very futile when placed against the thingsthat just happened, but there is only one answer to people whose onlyobject is destruction: creation," van Hees told the audience.

"We are Christian, we are Jew, and we are Muslim. We are black, weare white, and we are Asian," host and co-emcee Mike Martin said inclosing. "We are men and we are women, and we each have ourdifferences, but together we are one beautiful, unified whole. That'sthe true genius of the United States -- the idea that so many differentplaces, and so many different peoples can come together and truly callthemselves united."

For more information on the awardees and how you can becomeinvolved in the Directors Board Awards, visitwww.pixieawards.org.