ASC President Michael Goi (left) and producer ToddLondon (right) congratulate ASC associate Steven J.Scott on his award for Outstanding Color Grading.American Express, “Curtain”; and TimMasick of Company 3 NY, for Converse,“The Procession.”Outstanding Editing awards, sponsoredby Avid Technology, were presentedto Angus Wall, ACE and Kirk Baxter, ACE,for The Social Network; John Wilson, ACEof Carnival Film & Television, for DowntonAbbey, “Series 1 Episode 1”; and ChrisFranklin of Big Sky Editorial, for AmericanExpress, “Curtain.”Outstanding Sound awards werepresented to John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff andRick Kline of Warner Bros. Post ProductionServices and Per Hallberg and Karen BakerLanders of Soundelux, for Green Lantern;Brad North, Joe DeAngelis, Luis Galdamesand Jackie Oster of Universal Studios Sound,for House, “Bombshells”; and David Brolinof Universal Studios Sound and Bill Neil ofBuddha Jones Trailers, for Dream House,“Trailer #1.”Outstanding Compositing awardswere presented to Jeff Sutherland, JasonBillington, Chris Balog and Ben O’Brien ofIndustrial Light & Magic, for Transformers:Dark of the Moon ; Paul Graff, Brian Sales,Merysa Nichols and Jesse Siglow of CrazyHorse Effects, Inc., for Boardwalk Empire,“Boardwalk Empire”; and Dan Glass,Gabby Gourrier, Chris Bankoff and JeffWillette of Method Studios, for Jameson,“Fire.”The show culminated in the presentationof the Lifetime Achievement Awardto ASC associate Cyril Drabinsky, presidentand CEO of Deluxe Entertainment ServicesGroup, Inc. Drabinsky’s career in the industrybegan at Cineplex Odeon Corp., wherehe served as senior vice president of distributionand affairs. In 1987, he became presidentof the Cineplex Odeon-owned FilmHouse laboratories in Toronto, which waspurchased by the Rank Organization in1990, the same year Rank bought DeluxeLaboratories from 20th Century Fox.Drabinsky transitioned into operations forDeluxe, and in 1995 he was named presidentof Deluxe Laboratories North America.In 2001, Drabinsky was named president ofDeluxe Laboratories Worldwide. In 2006,MacAndrews & Forbes acquired Deluxe,and Drabinsky was appointed to his currentposition.Silverman kicked off the presentationof the Lifetime Achievement Award,noting Drabinsky’s ties to the late Burton“Bud” Stone, a former president of Deluxe.“Following in the hard-to-fill shoes of oneof my own heroes, and one of those trulylarger-than-life industry legends, the incomparableBud Stone, Cyril took the reins atDeluxe and not only made the role his own,but [also] set our entire industry on its pathto the future,” said Silverman. “Over thecourse of his career, Cyril has earned therespect and admiration of his peers,competitors, clients and employees.”The sentiment was echoed by TomSherak, president of the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts and Sciences, and TedGagliano, president of feature postproductionat 20th Century Fox. “In a businesswhere it’s an Olympic sport to talk dirtabout people, I could not find an uncleanword spoken about Cyril,” said Gagliano.Addressing Drabinsky directly,Gagliano continued, “I honestly can say Icould not do my job without you. And thisroom is filled with people from every studioand every film company who feel the sameway. You’re too young to get a lifetimeachievement award, so let’s just call this apit stop and let’s recommit ourselves toanother 20 years together in what is still thebest damn business in the world.”Ronald Perelman, chairman and CEOof MacAndrews & Forbes, offered a fewprerecorded remarks before Barry Schwartz,MacAndrews & Forbes’ executive vice chairmanand chief administrative officer,stepped to the microphone. “I have seen[Drabinsky’s] vision and his determinationtransform Deluxe from its role [as a] filmprocessor to a postproduction juggernaut,”said Schwartz. “Cyril has also surroundedhimself with a team that reflects theirleader: confident, inspired and loyal to eachother and the industry they serve so well.”“One of Cyril’s many, many, manyqualities is his ability to be so incrediblyhumble about his achievements,” addedWarren Stein, COO of Deluxe EntertainmentServices Group. “In all the year’s I’ve knownCyril, I’ve never heard him start a sentencewith the words ‘I did this’ or ‘I did that’ or‘Look what I’ve done.’ It’s always ‘we.’”“He understands the pressure thathe puts on us, but he also understands thatwe are human beings,” enthused ASC associateBeverly Wood, executive vice presidentof technical services and client relations forDeluxe’s EFilm. “A boss like Cyril sets anexample for an entire organization.”“Lifetime achievement,” marveledDrabinsky when he stepped to the stage.“That’s something that can give you pause,in part because you feel like you’re justgetting started, and in part because it makesyou look back on how everything’s changed— and keeps changing. That’s what I loveabout this business: it changes every day.You never sit still; you manage your risk andkeep moving forward.“There are times I wonder what BudStone would say if he’d seen our transformation,”Drabinsky continued. “If not forBud, I wouldn’t be standing here…. Hetaught me the Hollywood film industry, andnobody understood it like him, because heknew what it comes down to is communicatingwith the customer on a personallevel.“The industry is in constant change,and nothing changes faster than technology,”he said. “At the end of the day, we tryto remember that these are just tools. Thejob every day is to make our clients’ visionconnect. I feel incredibly fortunate to be partof this fascinating business.” ●30 January 2012 American Cinematographer
★ ★ ★ ★ for yourCONSIDERATION“A sharp and scintillating lenson Washington run amok.”Karen Durbin / ELLEBEST CINEMATOGRAPHYPhedon Papamichael, ASC
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