Academy Producer and a Former Governor Gil Cates Dies

Gilbert "Gil"Cates

Word came today from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Gilbert "Gil" Cates, Emmy winning producer of the Academy Awards (Oscars), and two-term president of the Director's Guild, died yesterday at age 77. I did not know Mr. Cates personally, but my late friend Robert Wise introduced us, and for a few years we exchanged some friendly e-mail about things at the Academy.

As a matter of fact, it was Cates who reconciled Wise and Orson Welles after years of animosity over the editing of Citizen Kane (1941). It was at the Director's Guild in 1984. Wells was known for having a hard time with finishing a movie, and for an explosive temper.

Robert Wise told me personally that after months of inaction on Citizen Kane, he confronted Welles about the delay. Welles, following a few words with Wise, threw up his hands and said to Wise, "I hired you as my editor. You edit the (expletive) thing. I do not care to ever look at this (expletive) movie again!" Welles walked out.

Wise did edit the rolls and rolls of film Welles had shot, and from chaos pieced together a masterpiece. That story has been corroborated by others. The movie faded from view soon after it's release, but its reputation was restored, initially by French critics, one of them being my late friend Francois Truffaut. It had an American revival in 1956.

Many film critics consider Citizen Kane to be the greatest film ever made. Roger Ebert quipped in 2008: "So it's settled: Citizen Kane is the official greatest film of all time."* It has topped many critical "best" lists.

Cates, whose real name was Gilbert Lewis Katz recently underwent heart surgery. He was born in New york and was found collapsed in a parking lot on the campus of UCLA. According to a UCLA spokesperson, "Emergency medical personnel responded to a call on campus at about 5:50 p.m. Monday but were unable to revive him. 

Cates produced the Academy Awards 14 times in 18 years, more than any other individual. He was responsible for first bringing hosts Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart to Oscar's stage.

Cates served three consecutive terms as a governor of the Academy's Directors Branch, from 1984 to 1993. He returned to the board for another term beginning in 2002, and held the post of vice president from 2003 to 2005.

He directed feature films and a number of TV movies. Two feature films were nominated for Oscars: I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and  Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).

He was innovative, cheerful, helpful, friendly, and I think he was one of the best, if not the best producer that the Academy Awards has ever had. R.I.P., Gil **.
________
* Ebert, Roger (4 September 2008). "What's your favorite movie?".   Roger Ebert's Journal (Chicago Sun-Times). Quoted from Wiki, and retrieved by them January 6, 2010. See:
Wikipedia, Citizen Kane

** Gil Cates' Obituary in The Wrap. 

Readers say Academy Awards need some changes.

Best of 2008

Actor - Daniel day-Lewis, Supporting Actress - Tila Swinton, Actress - Marilon Cottilard, and Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem.

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I received some comments by e-mail concerning the previous two posts about the recent Academy Awards television broadcast. Perhaps, I didn't make myself as clear as I had wished, or the readers didn't find the points clear enough for them. So I shall try to explain a little better for those of you who wrote.

First of all, my point was really that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences seeks to honor its own, and that is exactly what it did for almost three decades. Then, television came along and things began to change. Now, television, a.k.a., the ABC Network at the moment, has a huge say about the Academy Awards. They want ratings because they do it for money. Rightfully so, as they are a business, and they just extended their contract with the Academy for seven years. So, they are happy.

Around the world movie fans, and those who work in the industry in foreign countries want to see the Oscars. Once the Academy starts live streaming on the Internet, the entire world will be happy, except maybe ABC.

The Academy wants everyone to be happy. The Academy today is a super big business. It is no longer that dinner at a Hollywood hotel, and awards being given out among a few invited guests. They started to allow the radio broadcast fairly early on, and the importance of the Oscars started to grow.

Next, along came television, and the Academy awards began changing radically. Now, there is the Internet and the Academy foot soldiers are fiercely trying to catch up, yet they want to hang on to televisions' coattails at the same time.

Today, the money the broadcast, and the satellite businesses that generate money for that broadcast, propel the Academy Awards. The Guilds mostly influence the actual nominations and cast the most votes within the Academy. The Guilds honor their own. The Academy is only the conduit, which has turned the Academy Award broadcast into a big, brash, glittery financially rewarding circus.

As a former part-time member of the USC faculty of Cinema, and a sometime writer and producer, I know very well what craft people do and their importance to the industry. I was not slighting them, only suggesting some logistical changes.

And, yes, I know that star power is fading, but actors are still very relevant to movies and are paid well for what they do. I still think most people see a movie, either at a theater, on DVD, Internet streaming, etc., based on three things: who is in it, who directed it, and what is it about?

Also, I constantly promote independent films here. I picked 'Hurt Locker' as an Academy Award winner and Kathryn Bigelow to win best director as soon as the movie was released. I know first hand the discrimination women have experienced in both the movie and television industries for so many years, and Bigelow's win made history.

I promoted 'Slumdog Millionair' and 'The Kite Runner,' when few had heard of them, and the same for this year's 'Winter's Bone'. I also championed 'Hustle and Flow' and the song from that movie for best song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," and the song won. Of course, I am a little partial as I have long-standing ties with Memphis. Over the years, there have been many others I have picked to showcase here.

The big films do not need any help. They soar or crash on their own merit, but the small films suffer for lack of financial support, good publicity and distribution.

When I wanted to study the technical aspects of television in undergraduate school, a professor said, "Oh, don't bother. They will never let a woman touch the equipment in a TV studio."

A few years later, I got the FCC license required at the time, and became a broadcast engineer. In that position, I worked at the transmitter site for a small station in Corpus Christi, TX, until it went remote. Then, I ran the entire studio single handily on Sunday mornings. So, I learned, and I touched the equipment. That laid the ground work for my association with the movie industry and as a teacher of cinema.

So, what I was basically trying to say in the previous posts is, if the Academy is going to do a TV show, then do a TV show. If they want to honor their own and have a major television show, they need to stop, re-evaluate their mission statements and adopt some newer approaches.

I really think the biggest problem is that The Academy-Award industry, and it is a huge industry, has grown so large it is impossible to successfully reach their mission statement for both offering an evening of spectacular entertainment (show), and generating revue (business), while honoring their own in a dignified way all at the same time.

It is not pleasing or dignified for everything during the show to be executed in a rush, rush, manner, clip, clip, hurry, hurry. It stresses the people involved, and it stresses the viewers to watch their favorites being forced off mike by music with ever increasing in volume. It is not dignified. They may as well get a stick with a hook on the end.

This year's broadcast was full of hurry, hurry, and awkward moments. The pace of the broadcast should be varied and the show progresses, ebbing and flowing, not jerking, racing at one moment and dragging the next.

There may be a way to increase ratings, revenue, and offer the viewers a more relaxed, pleasant and entertaining broadcast. Well, not only one broadcast. Perhaps, the Academy should consider three or four. Why not? The Emmy Awards have already done that, and successfully. I can't see why ABC would not like that approach. Again, think logistics, which is the hot current business buzzword.

Also, I agree that to watch the broadcast on Sunday is really an imposition on those working during the week. I once attended when I was working, and I feel your pain. What is wrong with a Saturday night?

Thank you all for your comments and I welcome more.

SAG Honors James Earl Jones with Achievement Award

Actor James Earl Jones will receive the Screed Actors Guild (SAG) Lifetime Achievement Award when the Guild's annual awards are presented Sunday, 25 January 2009. His million-dollar voice is one of the most recognizable of any actor working today.

He is probably best known as the voice of Darth Vader in STAR WARS and Mufasa in THE LION KING. He has also done countless voiceovers (VO) in commercials and on CNN.

Jones has garnered laurels for his distinguished acting on television and in movies, as well as his appearances on the stage. This year, he starred in Broadway revivals of 'On Golden Pond' (Normal Thayer Jr.) and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (Big Daddy). His honors include one Golden Globe, two Tony awards, three Emmys, an Oscar nomination (male lead actor in THE GREAT WHITE HOPE, 1971), and the National Medal of Arts.

In 1995, he received the prestigious National Board of Review, USA, Career Achievement Award. The next year, he was nominated for a SAG award for best performance by a male leading actor in a movie, CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY.

Probably few know today that Jones had a terrible stuttering problem as a child. His problem was so acute that he actually stopped speaking for a long time. His love of reading eventually helped him gain confidence to begin speaking again.

When he did find his voice, he soon became aware his presence and deep resonant voice might lead to an acting career. The 77-year-old actor says his voice is his most prominent asset.

He has two VO projects in the pipeline at the moment: JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (2008), completed, and QUANTUM QUEST: A CASSINI SPACE ODYSSEY (2010), in post-production. However I suspect, as an accomplished actor his real love is live theatre.

For more on current and upcoming awards, click the link on the right sidebar for Mimi's Awards Page.

Toronto Festival Wraps - Let the Film-Awards Season Begin

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

The film festival in the city that has been dubbed "Hollywood North," Toronto, Canada, wrapped Sunday. The Toronto International Film Festival is also considered the opening of the film-awards season, which culminates with the Academy Awards® in February.

However, the first major awards after Toronto's IFF are usually the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Primetime Emmy Awards®. This year is no exception.

The 60th Primetime Emmy gala (Diamond Jubilee) will be broadcasting live on ABC from the NOKIA Theatre, Staples Center, Los Angeles (8:00-11:00 PM, ET / PT, 7:00 PM CT) next Sunday the 21st. The New York party will be held at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Time Warner Building, NYC.

The next night, Monday 22, the 29th News and Documentary Emmy Awards is at the Fredrick P. Rose Hall, Time Warner Building, NYC, and will not be broadcast. You can get a bird's eye view of both the Primetime and the News and Documentary awards on my Awards Page. Here's the link to the Official Primetime Emmy Site for more details.

As for Toronto, it is interesting to me that the Cadillac Audience Award went to British Director Danny Boyle's movie SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE filmed in India, the story of a orphaned young man trying to win big on a television show that is the Indian version of a U.S. show, and the Best Canadian First Feature Film was awarded to Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu's BEFORE TOMORROW. The movie is based on the novel by Danish author Jørn Riel, which is about a strong Inuit woman and her beloved grandson, who become trapped on a remote Island.

Toronto IFF proves every year how truly international filmmaking is becoming. Go to my Film Festivals Page and see what I am talking about. There's plenty of highlights on my page, including pictures and the recent awards. For more details go to the TIFF Official Site.

Also, I have highlighted some of the movies at the festival that most likely will make the nomination list, in some aspect, for the upcoming 81st Academy Awards® on Sunday, 22 February 2009. Go. Get a heads-up!

Film Festivals and Awards in June Wrap

Sir Sean Connery presented the awards in Edinburgh.

All the film festivals that I follow in June have wrapped, Edinburgh (Scotland) and Los Angeles (USA) this past weekend. For information about these, and others held this month: Jackson Hole (USA), AFI SILVERDOCS (D.C.), and Shanghai (China), click the link on the right sidebar for my Film Festivals Page II. There is also a link for Part I, which began in January with Palm Springs and ended with Cannes.

Next up: Michael Moore's Traverse City (fellow Michigander Madonna will be there with her new film) and then, Sarajevo (Bosnia). Festivals in August and September are also in Part II.

The Daytime Emmy and Broadway's Tony Awards wrapped in June, too. The Emmys had three awards sessions: the sports awards, daytime creative arts and entertainment awards, and the 35th daytime Emmy gala hosted by ABC's Cameron Masterson (All My Children) and Sherri Shepherd (The View). Regis Philbin (Live With Regis and Kelly) took home the lifetime achievement Emmy.

For more on these awards and many more for this year, click the link on the right sidebar for my Awards Page.

Want to know what Sally Field Said at EMMYs?

Would you like to know what was deleted from Sally Field's acceptance speech at the Emmys®? Do you know what Al Gore has won an Emmy and two Oscars® for this year (different projects)? You will find answers to these questions on my 2008 Award's Page.

Want to find out some more happenings in "Hollywood North" at the Toronto International Film Festival? How about what is, and will be, happening at the Film Festival in San Sebastián, Spain, and many others?

You need to access my Film Festival and Award Pages. The Emmy Awards for Prime Time were presented last night (15 September), and I have posted on my Award's Page, incorporating some information from the Creative Emmy Awards presented 8 September. There are extra tidbits as well.

So far this year, I have written about 25 international film festivals since the first of January on my Film Festival Page. I am currently following one recently closed (Toronto), one currently going (Boston), and five upcoming (San Sebastián, Vancouver, New York (NYC), Sitges (Spain), BFI-London). All have links to the Official Web sites, plus other links of interest. More upcoming festivals will be added the last of this month.

Once the last major film festival ends for this year, usually in late November, the awards season, in anticipation of the ultimate awards the last of February, kicks off. Those ultimate awards for movies are the Academy Awards® to be presented Sunday, 24 February 2008. There are links to both my Film Festival and Award pages on the right sidebar of this blog. Come visit.