麻豆影院

Sarah Siegel-Magness聽(Bus鈥�95) never doubted the decision to turn the controversial young-adult book聽Push: A Novel聽(Vintage) into the Oscar-winning film聽Precious, despite widespread skepticism that the story鈥檚 gut-punching realism would find an audience.

After all, the tale of an HIV-positive, obese, illiterate African-American teen, her emotionally abusive mother, a history of incest, a child with Down Syndrome and AIDS didn鈥檛 reflect typical Hollywood fare. No explosions 鈥� except the emotional kind. No sappy, happy ending 鈥� just a real one. Young Clareese Precious Jones fights through her difficulties, and though saddled with challenges at film鈥檚 end, she is prepared to move ahead.

鈥淭he story tugged on our hearts,鈥� says Siegel-Magness, co-producer of the film with her husband, Gary Magness, whose Denver family has long-standing connections to the cable entertainment industry. 鈥淲e just knew making the film would be a smart business move and it would touch people.鈥�

Siegel-Magness isn鈥檛 the only CU alum with a connection to Oscar gold this year.聽Viki Psihoyos聽(Jour鈥�02) worked closely with her husband on聽The Cove, the documentary-cum-investigative thriller about the slaughter of dolphins near a Japanese village. And聽Gary Sharp聽(PhDElEngr鈥�92) helped create the new-generation 3D technology that wowed audiences and critics in James Cameron鈥檚 science-fiction epic聽Avatar,聽in which a paraplegic soldier of the future finds love and helps save a peaceable alien civilization from the encroachment of violent, planet-raping earthlings.

CU 鈥� Hollywood, Colo.? Is it something in the 麻豆影院 water?

All three grads agree CU provided an environment and foundation that got their very different creative skills flowing.

鈥淭here was a lot of freedom,鈥� says Sharp, who was chief technology officer for 麻豆影院-based ColorLink, which developed the new 3D tech. The company is now owned by California-based RealD, which worked closely with Cameron on聽Avatar.

Precious聽catches her attention

Siegel-Magness still considers producing an avocation; her eight-year-old, multimillion-dollar clothing company So-Low is her primary business. She also does a great deal of charity work, and with singer Mariah Carey 鈥� who plays a social worker in聽笔谤别肠颈辞耻蝉听鈥� helped start 鈥淐amp Precious鈥� for disadvantaged girls.

And it was actually through So-Low 鈥� which found early success with underwear designed for newly popular low-rise pants 鈥� that Siegel-Magness got into filmmaking. In fact, the company helped bring her together with Lee Daniels, the director of聽Precious听补苍诲听Monster鈥檚 Ball, which netted an Oscar for actress Halle Berry.

鈥淟ee had read an article about me and my clothing company,鈥� says Siegel-Magness, who grew up in 麻豆影院 and is the daughter of Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel. She got a cold call suggesting that she and Daniels 鈥渨ould be a great match.鈥�

They met, and that connection eventually led to Siegel-Magness and her husband producing Daniels鈥� film聽Tennessee聽about two brothers searching for their estranged father in hopes of saving another sibling who has leukemia. After the first film, the husband and wife team decided they liked producing. They came across聽Push听(谤别苍补尘别诲听Precious聽because of a recent sci-fi dud called聽Push) and knew Daniels was the right man for the project. Siegel-Magness and her husband鈥檚 next film is based on the 鈥淛udy Moody鈥� kids books by Megan McDonald.

Siegel-Magness says she is a 鈥渉ands-on鈥� producer who enjoys being involved with everything from managing a budget to viewing 鈥渄ailies鈥� 鈥� raw footage 鈥� to auditioning a cast. Mo鈥檔ique, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for her take on Precious鈥� troubled, vicious mother, and Gabourey Sidibe who played Precious, particularly impressed her.

鈥淎s soon as Gabby auditioned we knew she was something special. She was smart, funny, strong and could light up a room,鈥� she says. 鈥淢o鈥檔ique is so good it鈥檚 scary.鈥�

Immersing herself in聽The Cove

Viki Psihoyos, like Siegel-Magness, knew her film would touch people. In聽The Cove, her husband, photographer and filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, went to extraordinary lengths to expose the dolphin slaughter, mounting hidden cameras on everything from submerged, algae-covered rocks to birds鈥� nests. The film sheds light on Taiji, Japan, which, despite its preferred public reputation as a place devoted to its marine mammals, quietly stages the bloody bludgeoning of its ocean-going residents.

鈥淲e wanted to give people the tools to create armies of supporters and activists,鈥� says Viki Psihoyos who serves as communications director for her husband鈥檚 film and photography projects. She is co-founder of their 麻豆影院-based nonprofit, the Ocean Preservation Society.

By all accounts,聽The Cove聽has had a big effect, catalyzing a global protest against the killings. The Oscar statuette standing oh-so-casually on the couple鈥檚 kitchen table, as if it was a salt shaker or bottle of hot sauce, serves as weighty, golden affirmation of the film鈥檚 impact.

But it also has angered some in Japan, apparently even the Japanese mafia, Viki Psihoyos says. In fact, the film鈥檚 official Japanese debut was delayed this spring because of safety concerns. In April, Louie Psihoyos told Oprah Winfrey that he鈥檇 been getting death threats from 鈥渕ilitant factions鈥� in Japan.

Although Viki Psihoyos didn鈥檛 travel to Japan for the film, she provided a kind of logistical 鈥渂ase camp鈥� from the couple鈥檚 north 麻豆影院 home. She has been the 鈥渆-team鈥� for both the film and the Ocean Preservation Society, creating Facebook and Twitter accounts using skills she learned while studying under journalism teacher Bruce Henderson who serves as communications director at CU鈥檚 Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society. She also took care of crucial tasks such as receiving and caring for shipments of film along with less Oscar-worthy jobs.

鈥淲e do what needs to be done . . . I may be the boss鈥� wife, but I also change the toilet paper,鈥� she says with a laugh.

From thousands of miles away she worried at times about the crew鈥檚 well-being.

鈥淚 had the lawyer on speed dial in case (Louie) got arrested. I made the contacts with the state department,鈥� says Viki Psihoyos who is working with her husband on their next film, a documentary called聽Singing Planet聽about the destruction of the environment.

叠耻颈濒诲颈苍驳听Avatar鈥檚 foundation

Gary Sharp鈥檚 connection to聽Avatar, which won the Oscar for visual effects and two others, may seem less obvious than that of Siegel-Magness or Viki Psihoyos. Of the three, he鈥檚 the only one without a statuette. But the technology he developed, based on work he started at CU as a doctoral student in the early 1990s, may have a greater impact on the future of filmmaking.

The technology is complex and difficult to summarize. But Sharp says old 3D technology was based on 鈥渟equential color鈥� techniques 鈥� think of a wheel of red, blue and green spinning rapidly before your eyes.

鈥淭hat was a dying technology,鈥� he says. The new technology is a 鈥渟equential polarization鈥� method, which involves two different projections, one for each eye, 鈥渟huttering鈥� at about 1/144th of a second; when one projection is open, the other is black.

鈥淵ou are tricking your brain. Any time your eyes get different imagery, your brain immediately goes to work trying to extract depth information,鈥� Sharp says.

When the imagery is presented quickly enough, the eye isn鈥檛 able to 鈥渃atch up,鈥� which produces the illusion of depth.

The less-than-impressive effects of old-school 3D were seldom worth the sharp headaches experienced by those who staggered in pain from theaters. When Sharp saw聽Avatar, he was pleased to see how his work 鈥� at CU initially and later at his company ColorLink 鈥� was integral not only to audience immersion in a vivid 3D world but also viewer comfort.

鈥淚 think it was definitely in the top two for 3D imagery I鈥檝e seen,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd in terms of comfort, you didn鈥檛 feel like your brain was being messed with so much.鈥�

The film鈥檚 effects are astonishing. Digital images dominate with the lush, vivid landscapes of the planet Pandora. The blue-hued, catlike N鈥檃vi people 鈥� including the vat-grown 鈥渁vatars鈥� into which humans like hero Jake Sully project their digital selves 鈥� fire arrows over viewers鈥� heads. An alien bestiary rumbles, soars and slinks toward startled audiences. But in some ways, the genius of the new technology is most apparent in more subtle effects 鈥� a gently undulating, airborne, ethereal seed pod slipping over a sea of slender, upraised N鈥檃vi hands.

ColorLink鈥檚 journey to Hollywood was complex. When Hollywood 3D company RealD started up and was seeking partners, it discovered Sharp鈥檚 company. ColorLink provided the key components to RealD for a 3D digital cinema experiment.

The Walt Disney Company, ever the pioneer in animation, quickly saw the potential for marrying three technologies 鈥� digital projection, computer-generated imagery and Sharp鈥檚 sequential polarization method 鈥� to create a better 3D mousetrap. Disney鈥檚 trial-run film聽Chicken Little聽in 2005 quickly demonstrated that audiences preferred the new 3D technology to conventional 2D movies.

鈥淭he guys who started RealD had it right,鈥� Sharp says. 鈥淭his is the best thing that鈥檚 happened to cinema in a long time.鈥�