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    Owen Benjamin Returns as Host of ADG’s Excellence in Production Design Awards

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments907 Views
    Owen Benjamin
    LOS ANGELES --

    Comedian Owen Benjamin will host the 19th annual Art Directors Guild (ADG) Excellence in Production Design Awards for the second time, Saturday, January 31, 2015, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The announcement was made by ADG Council chairman John Shaffner and awards co-producers Dave Blass and James Pearse Connelly.

    Owen Benjamin, who emceed last year’s ADG Awards, is a regular on the TBS hit comedy series Sullivan and Son and has been featured on many popular television programs such as Chelsea Lately, Live at Gotham, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Punk’d and The Jay Leno Show. Owen recently appeared on episodes of Inside Amy Schumer and The Soul Man. Owen’s standup comedy specials include High Five ‘til It Hurts and Comedy Central Presents Owen Benjamin. Feature credits include All’s Faire in Love (2009) co-starring Christina Ricci and The House Bunny (2008).

    Benjamin’s numerous talents range from writing, directing and producing television shows including Gaytown, Owen Benjamin Presents and That’s My Daughter. Additional writing credits include Splitting Hairs (2012), Couldn’t Be Better (2012), Comedy Central Presents (2010) and All-Stars (2009).

    Benjamin has performed stand up at the Aspen, Montreal, and Chicago Comedy Festivals, alongside comedians Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, as well as performances at countless clubs and universities. He currently can be seen live at the Mad House Comedy Club in San Diego and IMPROV Comedy Clubs across the country.

    Nominations for this year’s ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards will be announced on January 5, 2015. The ADG will present winners in 11 competitive categories for theatrical films, television productions, commercials and music videos on January 31, 2015. A recipient of the Guild’s Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award and three new inductees into its Hall of Fame will be announced in the upcoming months.

    The ADG Council recently announced expansion of its honorary Lifetime Achievement Awards to annually include members selected from all four of its crafts. Also announced, Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated production designer Jim Bissell has been voted this year’s recipient of the ADG Council’s Lifetime Achievement honor. The additional Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees from the other crafts–Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Illustrators and Matte Artists; Set Designers and Model Makers; and Previs Artists–will be announced in the near future.

    ADG Awards are open only to productions, when made within the US, by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.

    Media sponsors for the ADG Awards include SHOOTonline.

    Tags:Art Directors GuildExcellence in Production Design Awards



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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