Variety’s Artisans Awards celebrate below-the-line talent at the heart of filmmaking, and this year, the seventh edition of the honors once again unspools at the Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival but this time, virtually, on April 5.
“What I’ve always loved about the Variety Artisans Awards is that it reminds us of the film’s integral aspect of collaboration,” says Santa Barbara festival executive director Roger Durling. “In a year in which we were separated, it is essential to celebrate the spirit of community.”
Those being honored are editor Alan Baumgarten (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), sound designer Nicolas Becker (“Sound of Metal”), costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Emma”), visual-effects supervisor Sean Faden (“Mulan”), production designer Donald Graham Burt and set decorator Jan Pascale (“Mank”), makeup head Mia Neal (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), songwriters Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth (“One Night in Miami”), composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Mank” and “Soul”) and cinematographer Joshua James Richards (“Nomadland”).
Jazz Tangcay, Variety’s senior artisans editor, will moderate a virtual conversation with all the recipients after the presentations.
“It is so wonderful that the Santa Barbara film festival and Variety have created this space to recognize such a wide spectrum of filmmakers and projects,” Faden says. “I think it is inspiring to everyone out there who want to be a part of the filmmaking process but just aren’t sure where they would fit in … and to be a part of such distinguished company makes me incredibly proud of the work we did to help bring ‘Mulan’s’ world to the screen.”
Baumgarten adds, “To be joining those who have received this award in previous years, I am incredibly honored to be recognized at SBIFF with
the Variety Artisans Award for editing.
The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from March 31-April 10. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.