MCN Press Release: Key Art Awards

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT CAPTURES THE MOST TROPHIES WITH SIX AT THE
32nd ANNUAL KEY ART AWARDS,
WHICH HONOR EXCELLENCE IN MOVIE ADVERTISING;
MIRAMAX PLACES SECOND WITH FOUR WINS

* Best Poster of the Year Winner (Best of Show Print)
Sony's "Adaptation" Comedy Poster

* Best Trailer of the Year Winner (Best of Show Audiovisual)
Miramax's "Chicago" Drama Trailer

* Best Movie Website Winner (Internet Advertising Category)
New Line's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"

(June 23, 2003 -- Los Angeles) At the 32nd Annual Key Art Awards Friday night, Sony Pictures Entertainment placed as the overall winner with six awards, including Best Poster of the Year, for its creative advertising work in 2002. Miramax placed second with four awards, including Best Trailer of the Year, and DreamWorks SKG came in third with three wins. The event was held in the International Cultural Center's theater in Los Angeles, where more than 1,700 entertainment industry professionals gathered to pay tribute to the best creative minds in movie advertising. The Key Art Awards were created and are sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter.

On hand were such stars as Sharon Stone, Tobey Maguire and Rob Schneider; directors McG, Kevin Smith and Spike Jonze; writer Charlie Kaufman; and producer Gale Anne Hurd. MGM's head of marketing Peter Adee played host.

Sony claimed trophies for work on "Spider-Man" and "Adaptation," while Miramax's wins were tied to work on "Chicago," "Gangs of New York" and "Frida." DreamWorks scored with "Catch Me If You Can," "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," and "Road to Perdition."

For the second year in a row, the audience voted on the best of show category. Bemis Balkind's and Sony's "Adaptation" comedy poster walked away with the Best Poster of the Year award (print best of show), while The Ant Farm's and Miramax's "Chicago" drama trailer took Best Trailer of the Year (best of show audiovisual). Attendees were polled by paper ballots after all the awards had been given out; the results were monitored and tabulated by National Research Group, which, like The Hollywood Reporter, is owned by VNU.

Bemis Balkind founder Peter Bemis was this year's Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Balkind was introduced by Warner Bros.' Joel Wayne, who recalled hiring him several decades ago at Grey Advertising.

Universal vice chairman Marc Shmuger presented the awards to the student winners. Meredith H. Carty of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising won for best poster (based on "Moulin Rouge"), while Oscar Daniels of the American Film Institute won for best trailer (based on "Beautiful Mind").

A new honor was added this year, the Movie Marketer's Dream, which recognizes the entire moviemaking team that contributes to the marketing success of a film campaign. Sony marketing chief Geoffrey Ammer took the stage to introduce Sony's Amy Pascal plus "Spider-Man" producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad, along with star Tobey Maguire, to fete the huge marketing and boxoffice success of that movie.

This was the first year The Hollywood Reporter launched a Web site allowing the public to vote on their favorites among the Key Art nominees. The "By the People" results often differed from those of the Key Art judges, though the trailer for "Chicago" was a big hit with both panels. Disney marketing head Oren Aviv announced the Web results, with about 60,000 votes cast.

The Key Art Awards is the only competition in which working professionals honor their peers for creating the motion picture advertising materials that directly influence a film's financial success. Entrants vie for top prize in 24 categories of posters, trailers, TV spots, standees and print, outdoor, Internet and home entertainment advertising. A panel of more than 200 industry judges viewed and ranked a record 1,200 entries received this year using a system designed and regulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers Llc.

In 1972 The Hollywood Reporter founded the Key Art Awards to recognize the artists whose work directly influenced a film's financial success. In 1989 the Key Art Advisory Board was instituted to reflect the expertise of industry professionals.

The term "key art" refers to the singular, iconographic image that is the foundation upon which a movie's marketing campaign is built.

Visit www.hollywoodreporter.com/keyarts for more information and a complete list of winners.

The Hollywood Reporter is published by Netherlands-based VNU, the world's largest organization of entertainment-related publications and services. www.hollywoodreporter.com.