2008 Spirit Award Nominations
By Craig Kennedy - November 26th, 2007; 3:58 pm
Film Independent, the fine folks who bring you the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Spirit Awards would like you to know that the nominees for the 2008 Spirit Awards will be announced Tuesday, November 28 at 8:00am Pacific Standard Time. The press conference will be broadcast online at the Spirit Awards website.
A word of warning: the press conference will feature 74% more Zach Braff than has been tested on humans for that hour of the morning. Watch at your own risk. Perhaps a pair of safety goggles would be wise.
Previous best picture winners include:
- Little Miss Sunshine 2007
- Brokeback Mountain 2006
- Sideways 2005
- Lost in Translation 2004
- Far From Heaven 2003
- Memento 2002
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2001
- Election 2000
- Fargo 1997
The ceremony will be telecast on IFC on February 23, 2008.
No way! No risk, no award. The bastards have stolen the style of your catchphrase -> no gossip, no box office, no B.S.
Any thoughts about what films will be nominated?
One of these days I’ll learn to copyright!
As for the nominees? I don’t have a clue. Not even sure what the criteria are.
Put a gun to my head and I’d have to go out on a limb for Juno, Waitress and Lars and the Real Girl for various amounts of awards loving. Margot at the Wedding maybe?
What are your thoughts?
I don’t even understand the qualifications for an “independent” since most of the nominated films the last few years are actually produced by the major studios through their secondary arms. Anyone grok it?
In a brief spasm of journalistic fervor I tried finding info at the Film Independent website about the submission process, but the link has been disabled and I couldn’t find anything cached with Google.
Soon I grew weary.
Clearly it’s a convoluted process but then again, so is the process of funding a film in this day and age so I’m not really surprised. Probably take a couple thousand words to try and explain it anyway.
According to DBibby and Ladylurks at Awards Daily, here’s the selection scoop:
“Eligible films must be at least 70 minutes long, and the cost of the completed film, including post-production, must be under $20 million. Films must have been shown in a commercial theater for at least one week between January 1 and December 31, 2006 or shown at one of the following festivals in 2006: Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York, Sundance, Telluride, or Toronto.”
From the FAQ:
“How does the Spirit Awards define an “American” narrative feature?
We define a U.S. film by its key creative components. If two of the three key creative positions (director, writer, producer) are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S., then the film qualifies as a U.S. feature—no matter what language or country the film is made in. For example, if Joan Chen writes and directs a feature shot in China and her actors all speak Mandarin (Xiu Xiu, the Sent-Down Girl), her film counts as a U.S. feature because Joan Chen (writer and director) is a U.S. citizen.
How does the Spirit Awards define a “foreign” film?
Every film that isn’t a U.S. narrative feature (as defined above) or a documentary feature is foreign and eligible only for the Best Foreign Film category.
My film is a foreign production but has lead actors who are American and is in English. Does this qualify as an American entry?
Well, not necessarily. A U.S. film is defined as (a) having at least one U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident credited in two or more of the following categories of responsibility: writer, director, producer; or (b) the film is set in the United States and fully financed by a company whose principal office is in the United States.
Are foreign documentaries eligible for awards consideration?
Yes. Foreign documentaries will now be considered along with U.S. documentaries for the Best Documentary category.
Does a foreign film entry qualify for any categories other than Best Foreign Film or Best Documentary?
No. Foreign films are not eligible for acting, screenwriting, cinematography, or other categories.”
OK, it’s all about cost then. Huh…so if Michael Bay makes a 71 minute long feature for 20th Century Fox and Bruckheimer and clocks the whole shebang in under $20 million, it would qualify?
Yeah, I guess they had to start somewhere. Thanks for looking it up. I wonder how much No Country for Old Men cost then?
Heh heh….If Michael Bay managed to make anything under $20 million, he deserves SOME kind of award, no?
craig, bay can make one transformer for under $20 million. you owe him. :)
Ahhh but Glimmer, one Transformer does not a movie make! Let alone the inevitable sequels.
… but we’ll always have megan fox. ;)
marcus carl franklin up for best supporting. *awesome* :)
You can have Megan Fox, I’ll take Bianca!
the guys that have hair get all the hot girls.congrats craig… :)
also could bianca get a best supporting actress nod ??? :)
If Judi Dench could get one for 15 seconds in Shakespeare in Love, why the hell not?
Ok, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch.