Academy AwardÆ Nominee ""MORE"" Is New Film Selection At Giant Screen Theater Association Annual Meeting
""MORE,"" the experimental large format short film sponsored by the Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) and nominated for a 1998 Academy AwardÆ, will be a New Film presentation at the annual conference of the Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA) in New York, September 11-15. The six-minute film is the first stop-motion animated film to be released simultaneously in standard 35mm and giant-screen 15/70 (70mm, 15-perforation). Both versions were created from a single 65mm master. MacGillivray Freeman Films, producer of the 1998 large format blockbuster film ""Everest,"" is distributing the giant screen version of MORE. It will be shown to an industry audience at GSTA 99, which is co-hosted by the Sony IMAX Theatre in New York City and Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Directed by Mark Osborne, ""MORE"" is the tale of an aging inventor trying to finish the invention he hopes will give his life meaning and worth. Accompanied by the song ""Elegia"" from the electronic pop band New Order, the story is told through an unusual mix of clay animation and cel animation. MORE is presented by Flemington Pictures and was co-produced by Bad Clams Productions and Swell Productions, in association with the Large Format Cinema Association Animation & Experimental Film Task Force. ""MORE"" has already generated a considerable following. Prior to its nomination for the Academy Award for best animated short film, ""MORE"" received the prestigious Jury Award for Special Recognition for Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January. It continues to make the rounds of numerous film festivals and has been booked by 35mm and large format theaters in New York, London, Chicago and Berkeley, California. The New Film screenings at GSTA will give operators of institutional and commercial large format theaters the opportunity to consider the film for their venues. ""ëMOREí is a superb achievement and it was the first 15/70 animated short to be distinguished by an Academy nomination,"" said Bill Bennett, President MacGillivray Freeman Films Distribution Company. ""We are very pleased to be associated with the film and we encourage theater operators worldwide to combine their traditional 40-minute program offerings with short subject presentations like MORE. We believe audiences want them."" Debra Callabresi and Kelly Moren, the filmmakers and animators who co-founded Swell Productions in 1997, played a pivotal role in getting ""MORE"" produced for the giant screen. On behalf of the LFCA Animation & Experimental Film Task Force, Callabresi and Moren approached Osborne as he was preparing to begin making the film in 35mm, and persuaded him instead to undertake the project in 15/70. The expanded production format was made possible through sponsorship from LFCA and a number of LFCA member companies. Production services and equipment were donated by Cal Arts, CFI, Dream Quest Images, Eastman Kodak, Graphic Films, Image G, Imagica USA Inc., Iwerks Entertainment, RPG Productions and Swell Productions. ""LFCA is proud to have been a part of this important milestone in the development of a new cinematic genre,"" remarks LFCA President Christopher Reyna. ""Mark Osborne is a distinguished and versatile artist in his field, backed by a first-rate production team."" The GSTA presentation of ""MORE"" provides the large format film community a chance to see the dynamic possibilities of animation for the giant screen that can serve the expanding large format theater market. Reyna explains, ""The LFCA Animation and Experimental Task Force was created to stimulate this kind of innovation. Large format film has traditionally been used chiefly to make 40-minute educational documentaries for institutional theatres, and that will continue to be an important genre. But there will be nearly 400 large format theaters operating around the world by year's end, and they will be in a variety of settings and serving a variety of audiences. The industry now has the resources and the market for its filmmakers to experiment further."" About GSTA And LFCA The Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA), formerly known as the International Space Theater Consortium (ISTC), is a not-for-profit formed in 1977 to unite operators of institutional large format theaters around the world. The organization serves primarily 15/70 theatres with educational missions. The stated mission of GSTA is ""to be a global forum for presentation of entertaining giant screen films which promote lifelong learning."" Its annual September conference brings together theatre operators, developers, filmmakers and suppliers. Web site: http://www.giantscreentheater.com, phone 705/523-8146. The Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) is a not-for-profit worldwide trade association founded in 1996 to address professional issues and needs of all players and cinematic formats in special format and special venue moviemaking - including 5/70, 8/70, 10/70 and 15/70 film, as well as HDTV and other digital media - and to encourage growth and experimentation in the industry. The next annual LFCA Conference and Film Festival takes place May 17-20 in Los Angeles. Visit the LFCA Web site at http://lfca.org, or telephone the LFCA office in Stockton, California at 209 477 2726. About The Host Facilities Of The 1999 GSTA Conference At the SONY IMAX Theatre visitors put on a pair of high-tech electronic 3D headsets and step into a new dimension with state-of-the-art 3D sight and sound technology. The 600-seat theater also features a screen soaring eight stories high and 10 stories wide - and makes 2D movies larger than life. The IMAX Theatre was the first commercial IMAX theatre to open as part of a multiplex by a major exhibition circuit in the US. The IMAX Theatre is part of Sony Theatres Lincoln Square, a 12-theatre movie complex, which is the highest grossing movie theatre in the US. Web site: http://www.sonyimax.com. Liberty Science Center - just minutes from Manhattan in Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey - is a major public resource for interactive lifelong learning on science and technology. The Center is home to more than 250 hands-on exhibits on three theme-specific floors: Invention, Health and Environment. Liberty Science Center hosts numerous science-related activities and demonstrations, as well as the nation's largest IMAX dome. Since opening in 1993, more than 5 million guests have come to Liberty Science Center, making it one of the region's most visited school and family attractions. Web site: http://www.lsc.org.