Fred Siebert presenting SVA animation awards

Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer Fred Siebert (The Fairly Odd Parents, Fanboy and Chum Chum, Adventure Time, Escape from Cluster Prime) will present the Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Animation Awards at the Dusty Film & Animation Festival Awards Ceremony on May 9.

The Outstanding Achievement in Stop-Motion Animation Awards will be presented by Emmy-nominated directors Mike and Tim Rauch, aka The Rauch Brothers (NPR's StoryCorps).

The BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at the School of Visual Arts, home of the 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival, announced Monday that five-time Billboard Award winner and celebrity interviewer Valerie Smaldone will be the master of ceremonies for the awards ceremony, according to Reeves Lehmann, chair of the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department, and independent producer Annie Flocco, SVA faculty member and the producer of the event.

Lehmann and Flocco also announced the prominent industry personalities who will present the awards in the following categories:


Presenting Outstanding Film Award:
Emmy Award-winning actor and director John Turturro (The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Transformers, O'Brother, Where Art Thou?)

Presenting the Human Spirit Award:
Actress Kathrine Narducci (A Bronx Tale, Two Family House, Chicago Overcoat; TV: Law & Order, Third Watch, The Sopranos, Workaholics, Hung)

Presenting Outstanding Achievement in Directing:
Director Daniel Minahan (True Blood, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under)

Presenting Honorary Sound Awards:
Academy Award-winning production sound mixer Chris Newman (The French Connection, The Godfather, Amadeus, The Exorcist)

Presenting Outstanding Achievement in Editing:
Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated film editor Craig McKay (Reds, Silence of the Lambs, NBC mini-series Holocaust)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography:
Cinematographer Barry Markowitz (Sling Blade, Crazy Heart, The Apostle, All the Pretty Horses)

Presenting the Outstanding Documentary Award:
Academy Award-nominated director and producer Nina Rosenblum (Liberators: Fight on Two Fronts in World War II, America and Lewis Hine, Through the Wire)

Presenting the Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting Award:
Emmy-winning writer and producer James Manos (Dexter, The Sopranos, The Shield)

Presenting the National Board of Review Scholarships:
Screenwriter and producer Roy Frumkes (The Substitute, The Substitute 2: School's Out, The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All, Street Trash)

Presenting the New York Women in Film and Television Award:
Alex Levi, president of New York Women in Film & Television and managing partner of Element Financial Group


The Dusty Film & Animation Festival was established and named after SVA Founder Silas "Dusty" H. Rhodes with the mission of introducing films made by BFA Film, Video and Animation Department students to a wider audience. This year, the 23rd Annual Dusty Film & Animation Festival, or "23 on 23," will be held from Sunday, May 6 through Wednesday, May 9.

All festival screenings and the awards ceremony are free to the general public and will take place at SVA's state-of-the-art theater, located at 333 West 23rd Street, New York City. The four-day event will showcase more than 100 films and animations from students graduating this spring, as well as celebrate 23rd Street as a home for the college and the theater.

This year's headlining sponsors include Animation Magazine, Avid Technology, Inc. and Blue Sky Studios. One hundred percent of the sponsors' donations will benefit students in the form of grants and in-kind gifts.

SVA in New York City is widely regarded as one of the leading art schools in the United States for its innovative curriculum, unparalleled faculty of more than 1100 creative professionals, and its participation in the larger arts community of New York City. BFA Film, Video and Animation Department alumni have received accolades from the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Sundance Film Festival; American Film Institute; Women in Film; and the National Board of Review, among many renowned institutions and organizations.

For more information on the 2012 Dusty Film & Animation Festival, visit www.sva.edu/dusty.