Beverly Hills, CA � Oscar�-nominated animator Henry Selick and director Penelope Spheeris will present at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences� 37th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 12, at the Academy�s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The awards ceremony is the culmination of a week of industry-related activities and social events that the Academy will host for the 13 student filmmakers from across the United States and one from the United Kingdom who have been selected as winners this year.
Selick received his first Oscar nomination this past year for the animated feature �Coraline.� He is known as a stop-motion animation producer-director; his credits include �Monkeybone,� �James and the Giant Peach� and �The Nightmare Before Christmas.�
Spheeris just completed production on �Balls to the Wall,� due out in 2011. She got her start as a music video producer in the 1970s, before moving into documentaries and feature films. Her feature credits include �Black Sheep� and �Wayne�s World.� Spheeris�s documentaries include �We Sold Our Souls for Rock �n Roll� and �The Decline of Western Civilization� parts I, II and III.
Selick and Spheeris join Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner as presenters.
While U.S. winners know they will each receive an award, their placement � Gold, Silver or Bronze � will not be revealed until the June 12 ceremony. Gold Medal award winners receive cash grants of $5,000, Silver Medal award winners receive $3,000 and Bronze Medal award winners receive $2,000. The Honorary Foreign Film winner receives a $1,000 cash grant.
The U.S. students first competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region was permitted to send as many as three finalist films in each of four award categories. Academy members then screened the films and voted to select the winners.
The U.S. winners represent 10 U.S. colleges and universities, including for the first time the Kansas City Art Institute (Missouri) and Parsons The New School for Design (New York). The Honorary Foreign Film winner was selected from a record pool of 61 entries representing 36 countries. A complete list of this year�s winners can be found at http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa/winners/2010.html.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 40 Oscar nominations and have won or shared seven awards. At the 82nd Academy Awards earlier this year, Pete Docter, who earned a Student Academy Award in 1992, took home the Oscar for Animated Feature Film for �Up.� He also earned a nomination for the original screenplay for the film. Additionally, Gregg Helvey, a 2009 Student Academy Award winner, received his first Oscar nomination in the Live Action Short Film category for �Kavi.�
The 37th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 12 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.