“KPop Demon Hunters” continues to receive praise.
The film’s song “Golden” won the award for Best Original Song from the American Cinematheque Tribute to the Arts. Songwriters EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick received the award. EJAE was overcome with emotion as she told the audience what songwriting means to her. She called the song “a beautiful coincidence.”
“I thought I would become a KPop idol, but it didn’t happen. But in my mid-twenties, when I had to give up on my dream of becoming a singer, I met some KPop producers.” She explained how they asked her if she wanted to write a track, and how she did so, going through a breakup with an ex-boyfriend. “What was strange was that after work, it strangely helped me cope with the breakup better than talking to my girlfriend. Every melody, every word had a purpose and expressed my emotions in their purest form.”
EJAE, along with Sonnenblick, won the Golden Globe Award and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Original Song. EJAE talked about writing “Golden” and how she had her character Rumi in mind. “Even though the character was fictional, the emotions were raw and very real. I think we all know what it feels like to really yearn for hope when you feel so hopeless. And it really brought light to a very dark time in my life. I actually cried while singing the demo.”
Since the movie’s release and success, she has been inundated with messages from fans sharing what the song means to them. “The most common message I received was, ‘Your song ‘Golden’ saved me.’ That’s exactly why you’re writing this song.”
Production designer Jack Fisk, who has never won an Academy Award, received the Career Achievement Award. His wife, Sissy Spacek, presented him with the award.
Fisk, whose credits include Badlands, Mulholland Drive, The Revenant and Marty Supreme, recalled being close friends with David Lynch. “In 1970, fresh out of art school, my best friend David Lynch and I drove from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in a rented U-Haul truck. He was going to attend the new American Film Institute, and I was looking for a job. I got one. The union. I was stuck in traffic while the movie company was shooting at my house about 400 meters away.I wanted to be closer to the set.I then learned that most movies had an art department, so joining the art department became my goal.”He also worked with Lynch on “Straight Story.”
Mr. Fisk expressed his gratitude to Mr. Spacek and also spoke about how the two met. “I met Terrence Malick, who was directing my first feature film, and he introduced me to a girl from Texas named Sissy Spacek, who ended up starring in the film. In 1972, Terry, Sissy, Martin Sheen and a crew of 35 began filming Badlands, and my life changed forever.”
He said he has no regrets about his career after 50 years in the industry. “As my friend David used to say, ‘The art life is a great life!’
Sinners casting director Francine Meisler thanked the organization for taking the time to “recognize the vital role that casting plays.” The Academy Awards will recognize casting for the first time at next month’s ceremony.
“One Battle After Another” editor Andy Jurgensen called director Paul Thomas Anderson “an extraordinary mentor and collaborator.” Jurgensen added, “He taught me to defy convention, to be inventive, to let the audience know it’s okay to laugh, to embrace mistakes and imperfections, and perhaps most of all, when not to cut.”
Here are the tributes to the Crafts winners:
Casting: “Sinners” (Francine Meisler) – Warner Bros. Pictures
Cinematography: “Train Dreams” (Adolfo Veloso) – Netflix
Choreography: “Wicked: For Good” (Christopher Scott) – Universal Pictures
Costume Design: “Hedda” (Lindsay Pugh) – Amazon MGM Studios
Edited by “One Battle After Another” (Andy Jurgensen) – Warner Bros. Pictures
Hair & Makeup: “Frankenstein” (Mike Hill, Cliona Fury, Jordan Samuel) – Netflix
Production Design/Set Decoration/Prop Master: Frankenstein (Tamara Deverell, Shane Viau, Christopher Geggie) – Netflix
Score: “Sinners” (Ludwig Göransson) – Warner Bros. Pictures
Song: “Golden” – “KPop Demon Hunters” (EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, IDO, 24, & TEDDY) – Netflix
Sound: F1 (Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary Rizzo, Juan Peralta, Gareth John) – Apple Original Films
Stunt: “Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning” (Wade Eastwood) – Paramount Pictures
Trailer: “Weapons” (John Stanford & Susie Shen on behalf of Warner Bros., Jared Saporin, Joel Walden, James Edgington, Greg Brotherton, John Salazar & Nate Lowe on behalf of Mark Woolen & Associates) – A Warner Bros. Pictures
Visual Effects: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (Joe Letteri, Richard Benham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett) – 20th Century Studios
