Movie industry and popular culture faculty experts from the University of Southern California are available to discuss tomorrow's announcement of Oscar nominees; the increase in number of "Best Picture" nominees; what the award actually means for the industry and the feature films that will be made in the future; predictions for upsets, snubs and big winners; blockbusters vs. independent films; celebrity culture and the awards ceremony.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Movie industry and popular culture faculty experts from the University of Southern California are available to discuss tomorrow's announcement of Oscar nominees; the increase in number of "Best Picture" nominees; what the award actually means for the industry and the feature films that will be made in the future; predictions for upsets, snubs and big winners; blockbusters vs. independent films; celebrity culture and the awards ceremony.
Todd Boyd, Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and professor of Critical Studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is an expert on popular culture and society, and race, class and gender in American film. He is available to discuss this year's Academy Award nominees -- including Avatar, Precious and The Hurt Locker -- and whether the Oscars are skewed towards blockbuster films rather than "good" films. Contact at ( 213 ) 740-3334 ( office ) or tboyd@cinema.usc.edu ( email preferred ).
S. Mark Young, George Bozanic and Holman G. Hurt Chair in Sports and Entertainment Business at USC Marshall School of Business and professor of Communication at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, is head of the entertainment business program at USC. He can discuss movie marketing, distribution and advertising, and the impact of an Oscar nomination/win on a film's revenue. Young is co-author, with Dr. Drew Pinsky of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, of The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America ( Harper Collins, 2009 ). Contact at ( 213 ) 740-4848 ( office ) or ( 626 ) 676-3134 ( cell ) or mark.young@marshall.usc.edu.
Drew Casper, professor and Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Endowed Chair at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is available to comment on this year's nominees and potential big winners, the Oscar nomination and voting process, and the history of the Academy Awards. Contact on Tuesday between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. PST at ( 213 ) 740-3334 ( office ) or dcasper@cinema.usc.edu.
Steve Ross, professor and chair of history at USC, is author of Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, and has worked on numerous documentaries about Hollywood. He is available to discuss the decline in mid-budget Hollywood films, how contemporary political issues are portrayed in Hollywood films, and the impact movie stars have on politics. Contact at ( 213 ) 821-1062 ( office ) or ( 310 ) 475-0015 ( home ) or sjross@usc.edu.
Johanna Blakley, deputy director of the Norman Lear Center at USC Annenberg, is an expert on entertainment and politics, and the intersection of media, commerce and society. She is available to discuss cultural diplomacy and the broadcasting of the Oscars worldwide, global entertainment and this year's hot celebrity political cause. Contact at ( 213 ) 821-1344 ( office ) or blakley@usc.edu.
More:
USC faculty played a significant role in the creation of Avatar. Paul Debevec, associate director for graphics research at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies and a research associate professor at USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is sharing a scientific and engineering Academy Award this year for the facial rendering system used in the film. The language spoken by the Na'vi characters was developed by linguist Paul Frommer, a professor at USC Marshall School of Business who received his Ph.D. in linguistics from USC College of Letters, Art and Sciences. Read more here.
USC Marshall School of Business: Evy Jacobson/Anne Bergman, ( 213 ) 740-5552, evy.jacobson@marshall.usc.edu, anne.bergman@marshall.usc.edu USC School of Cinematic Arts: Stephanie Kluft, ( 213 ) 740-9514, skluft@cinema.usc.edu USC Media Relations: Suzanne Wu, ( 213 ) 740-0252, suzanne.wu@usc.edu
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