Posterwire.com is a movie poster weblog. From images of the latest Hollywood one-sheets to vintage movie posters, this film poster weblog hopes to offer a bit of insight into film key art.
The Hollywood Reporter’s 37th Annual Key Art Awards were presented June 13th during a ceremony hosted by actor-comedian Jeff Garlin. Highlights of the 2008 Key Art Awards included a “Best in Show” award to The Simpsons Movie in the Print category and No Country for Old Men in the newly-created “Best Campaign” category. The “Best Campaign” winner was selected by a panel of experts that included filmmakers David Fincher and Kevin Smith.
The Visionary Award, given to a filmmaker who “inspires movie marketers”, was presented to comedy director Judd Apatow:
“I’d like to thank everyone here who has done such amazing work. I’ve enjoyed my interactions with everybody. It’s one of the most fun parts of the process. This award brings me full circle because I started out thinking you were all f***ing a**holes.”
Looking back at the Key Art Awards of recent years (including this most recent ceremony), it seems clear that The Hollywood Reporter is struggling on how to define the entire enterprise. Award categories are constantly being added, changed, merged, or removed each year, which seems to give the whole process an air of confusion. Awards (such as Judd Apatow’s Visonary Award) are doled out to above-the-line talent in recent years in an effort to make the Key Arts ceremony more appealing. It may be more entertaining to sit through an awards ceremony where Apatow calls them “fucking assholes”, but it does push film advertising personal further into the background during the only occasion they even have a chance to gain any recognition. There even seemed to be a half-hearted attempt this year to tweak the name of the award ceremony itself to The Hollywood Reporter Movie Marketing Key Art Awards (since no one outside of the industry knows what “key art” means), but even that effort was inconsistent. One wonders what categories will be offered next year.
2008 Key Art movie poster winners:
ACTION/ADVENTURE/HORROR POSTER
COMEDY POSTER
DRAMA POSTER
FAMILY POSTER
To see the complete list of 2008 Key Art Award winners visit The Hollywood Reporter.
Great post! That’s why I like monkeyartawards.com, they really go after the marketing veeps… they summed up Apatow’s remark by saying:
Comment posted by Matt R. on 06/16/08 8:50 AM.“We assume he means that, upon completion of the circle, he is back to thinking you are all f***ing a**holes again.”
I agree that this was a great post. It’s funny though, I took away the opposite impression of your post as Matt R. The stuff you’re talking about is exactly why I find both the Key Art Awards and monkeyartawards.com annoying. I happen to like what I do for a living and could do without being called a “fucking asshole” by a guy who’s being honored for “inspiring” what is now a formula for comedy posters (as if he really had anything to do with it — give the award to Crew if you need to honor somebody).
The Key Art Awards seem to be more dedicated to making fun of, or outright insulting, movie marketing than they are honoring it. Why bother? The same is true with the monkeyartawards They expend as much, probably more, energy insulting the profession and clients then the Key Arts do. So while I’d agree that the Key Art Awards are a lame event, the monkeyartawards arnt’t cool for making fun of them, they’re actually also lame for the very same reasons.
Comment posted by Cappy on 06/16/08 7:37 PM.Interesting post. I never heard of wither set of awards before. I find the world of movie posters fascinating.
Comment posted by Poster Guy on 06/23/08 2:41 PM.Screw the Keyart Awards.. It’s the studios marketing departments stroking themselves . They dont even mention the designers anymore, who create some of the most artistically groundbreaking & amazing posters/dvds in the initial rounds of creative exploration, that marketing waters down & destroys.
Comment posted by Digital Diva on 07/18/08 11:02 AM.