The Nominees are Announced

Covering the Oscar nominations announcement is unlike any experience...

This year Andrew Huse and I covered the noms for USC's Trojan Vision Network and San Diego's online newspaper, The Union-Tribune: SignOnSanDiego.com.

View the vid here!

There aren't too many days in the year when you wake up bright and early (like 1am status), get camera ready, head to Beverly Hills with absolutely NO traffic on the 10 freeway and arrive at the Academy headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard. Not to mention that there's always a room full of catered breakfast with everything imaginable, from fluffy eggs, a table full of assorted bagels, a variety of juice and coffee and lots of bacon.

Besides the food, it's the energy in the building that takes my breath away. News network crews huddle at the staircase which leads up to the Samuel Goldwyn Theater (this is where the stage is set and nominees are announced). When the rope is lifted and we're given the green light, that's when all the fun begins.

Once Andrew and I hustled up the stairs, pushed our way through the crowd and set-up our equipment in the best position, I took a second to watch as the clock struck 5:38:30AM. At that very second, the 2011 Oscar Nominations Announcement was telecasted to the world. I felt the anxiety in the room from everyone wondering who's work in film would be recognized this year. I witnessed Nancy O'Dell memorize several lines of content in a matter of minutes and deliver on the spot with no practice. I looked around to see smaller news networks waiting in long lines to have a one-on-one interview with the President of the Academy. I listened to foreign news networks deliver the list of nominees to their audience in several different languages and I watched as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences pieced together a morning of organized chaos. Whether your into award season or not, what goes down during television's "road to the Oscars" is fascinating.

I remember years ago thinking that everything entertainment was all glitz and glam, easy and fluffy news. But I was wrong. The entertainment world has a culture and a depth that is often times misunderstood. Oscar season is always a nice reminder of how much work really goes into making Hollywood look so...Hollywood.

Don't forget to tune into the ABC network on February 27th for the 83rd Academy Awards!

In the meantime, I have about seven Oscar nominated films to catch up on! Here's the list of the 2011 nominees in 6 of the 24 categories:

Best Picture

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem, Biutiful
• Jeff Bridges, True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King's Speech
• James Franco, 127 Hours

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
• Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale, The Fighter
• John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
• Jeremy Renner, The Town
• Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
• Geoffrey Rush, The Kings Speech

Directing

• Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
• The Fighter, David O. Russel
• The King's Speech, Tom Hooper
• The Social Network, David Fincher
• True Grit, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Feel a hug & FIGHT ON, baby!

MT