Nominations for the 73rd Annual Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel Awards were announced on January 12. FotoKem teams were nominated in the category “Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Animation.” For Rick and Morty, “The Summer of All Fears” from Cartoon Network, Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Design Hunter Curra MPSE, Sound Effects Editor Corbin Bumeter, and Dialogue Editor James A. Moore from Margarita Mix were all recognized. For Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, “Friends” from Disney+, Dialogue Editors Chris Cirino, Bobby Garza, Kevin Hart, and Carlos Sotolongo from LA Studios were all recognized. Congratulations on all the hard work and the recognition! The MPSE Golden Reel Awards will be held on March 8 at the Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.

FotoKem is proud to be nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Classic Film Home Media Release for our remastering and restoration work on Frailty from Lionsgate Home Video. Other Saturn Award nominees FotoKem contributed to include Alien: Earth (ADR), Bugonia (dailies & film prints), Eden (ADR), FrankensteinI (film prints), Invincible (ADR), It: Welcome to Derry (nextLAB and color finishing), KPop Demon HuntersI (ADR), Lilo & Stitch (ADR), Marty Supreme (film processing & prints), Marvel Zombies (ADR), Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (NLS), One Battle After Another (film processing, dailies & film prints), Pluribus (end-to-end services), Sinners (end-to-end services), Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (end-to-end services), Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld (ADR), The Conjuring: Last Rites (color finishing), The Last Of Us (ADR), Thunderbolts* (dailies), and Wake Up Dead Man (end-to-end services).

Nominees for American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Awards include Bob’s Burgers (online editorial and ADR), Love, Death + Robots (ADR), KPop Demon Hunters, Bugonia, Death By Lightning (ADR), Dying For Sex (ADR), Marty Supreme, Mountainhead (ADR), One Battle After Another, Pluribus, Sinners, and Wake Up Dead Man. Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards nominees include Death By Lightning,In Your Dreams (ADR), It: Welcome to Derry, KPop Demon Hunters, Lilo & Stitch, Mickey 17 (trailers), Sinners, The Last of Us, Warfare (commentary record and mix), . BAFTA Film Awards nominees include Arco (ADR), Bugonia, Frankenstein, Lilo & Stitch, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Train Dreams (film prints). For the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Awards nominees include Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, and Sinners.

FotoKem helped out with two films that are premiering at Slamdance 2026: Ten Will, a FotoKem Lodge project directed by Max DeFalco, follows a recently released convict desperately trying to meet a very important deadline.  And Under The Rainbow: The Curious Crimes Of The Ruby Slippers, a mystery that unfolds when the original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz are stolen from a museum, directed by Seth Gordon and Nikki Calabrese which features audio and video finishing by Margarita Mix. 

Independent movie fans and filmmakers will descend upon the 2026 Sundance Film Festival from January 23-February 1. This marks the last time the event will be held in Utah since its inception as festival moves to Boulder, Colorado next year. FotoKem Creative Services handled dailies and color finishing on The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, directed by Noah Segan and lensed by Sam Levy. FotoKem’s Margarita Mix recorded ADR for Chasing Summer starring Iliza Schlesinger and directed by Josephine Decker, The Invite directed by Olivia Wilde, and The Gallerist directed by Cathy Yan. This year’s event will also honor the legacy of its late founder, Robert Redford. Not to mention SXSW will be featuring a few great films FotoKem helped finish as well: Sender (Color Finishing in the FotoKem Lodge), directed by Russell Goldman, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice with (Final color collaboration between FotoKem and Goldcrest, NY), They Will Kill You (Final Color), directed by Kirill Sokolov, and Never After Dark (Color Finishing in the FotoKem Lodge), directed by Dave Boyle. 

Don’t miss the upcoming George Stevens Lecture on Directing, featuring the premiere screening of the 4K restoration of The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). The event will be held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in the David Geffen Theater on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 2pm PT, accompanied by special guest filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.

The FotoKem Creative Services team has meticulously restored the film, utilizing 8K scans from the original 65mm Ultra Panavision Technicolor negative to preserve its artistic integrity. The film marks Max von Sydow’s U.S. debut and garnered five Oscar nominations, including a nod for Cinematographers William Mellor and Loyal Griggs.

Tickets and further details are available here.

Lots of big films on 70mm this month. First up: Quentin Tarantino’s 4-hour-41-minute new version of Kill Bill, titled Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair was released December 5, delivering a whole new edit (largely to stitch the two originally released films together), as well as a new filmout to 70mm from FotoKem, produced by Shannon McIntosh and reflecting the director’s original vision for the film. Also on 70mm in December, The Testament of Ann Lee, a musical/drama about Ann Lee, the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, directed by Mona Fastwold and lensed by DP William Rexer, released December 25 and Marty Supreme, about a young man aspiring to be a ping-pong champion, directed by Josh Safdie and shot by Darius Khondji.

FotoKem is helping bring attention to two groups leading the effort to keep production jobs in Los Angeles. The StayInLA Campaign is focused on removing the cap on the tax incentive for Los Angeles county production through 2028, with the immediate goal of assisting industry workers who’ve lost their homes in the recent fires. StayInLa has a growing list of name talent aboard the project, including Keanu Reeves, Gia Coppola, Jason Alexander, and Bette Midler.

The second group is the California Production Coalition, a group of over 40 companies in the film, tv, and streaming business (such as the Motion Picture Association, Raleigh Studios, and Wrapbook). The coalition’s purpose is to lobby California state government to boost the state’s annual tax incentive’s funding to $750 (up from $330 million) in order to help keep film and tv production in Los Angeles.

The movement to keep production in Los Angeles comes as a slew of other states and countries have started luring productions away from Los Angeles with their own tax incentives which are larger and more flexible, and therefore more attractive to said productions than what California currently offers.

Says FotoKem Chief Operating Officer Tom Vice. “We’re are hopeful that FotoKem’s efforts with these groups will lead to greater opportunity here in Southern California in 2026 and that the tax incentive reforms will include consideration for post production as does New York. Our infrastructure and experience is vital to maintaining a healthy creative community.”

FotoKem is honored to have supported several Oscar-winning motion pictures this year, including the winner of 2025’s Best Picture, Anora, written and directed by Sean Baker and produced by Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker.

FotoKem Senior Colorist Alastor Arnold worked closely with cinematographer Drew Daniels and Baker to create the show LUT and polish the film’s final color.

“Nearly 30 years ago, when I began my career,” says Arnold, “I could never have imagined having the privilege of supporting a film as incredible as Anora! Sean Baker’s vision embodies everything I love about cinema—an auteur-driven, character-rich, fiercely independent story, beautifully captured on celluloid. I am deeply grateful to Sean, cinematographer Drew Daniels, producers Sammy Quan and Alex Coco, and of course, Bunsen the wonder dog. Congratulations on all the well-earned accolades this year, culminating in a well-deserved Best Picture win!”

Anora also won for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing (both also Sean Baker), and Best Actress (Mikey Madison).

And the FotoKem film lab team created the 35mm and 70mm prints for The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet. The film was nominated in 10 categories, including Best Picture, and won for Best Cinematography (DP Lol Crawley, B.S.C.), Best Original Score (Daniel Blumberg), and Best Actor (Adrien Brody).

Meanwhile, Dune: Part Two racked up 5 nominations (including for Best Cinematography for DP Greig Fraser, (ACS, ASC)) and won for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. The FotoKem team provided prep-to-premiere services for the epic sci-fi sequel, including nextLAB® dailies, 70mm film prints, SHIFT analog intermediate, and final color with FotoKem Senior Colorist David Cole.

James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was also a FotoKem prep-to-premiere project and was nominated in 8 categories. FotoKem teams assisted with the film’s final color with David Cole and helped dial in the film’s unique filmic look with our SHIFT analog intermediate process, as well as provided nextLAB® dailies.

FotoKem’s Margarita Mix team brought their creative touch to The Wild Robot, which snagged 3 nominations including Best Animated Feature, and for Best Visual Effects, Better Man and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes each received a nomination – both of which FotoKem Creative Services also had a hand in helping complete.

The FotoKem team congratulates all the artists and execs who helped get all these great projects onto the screen for audiences to enjoy, and we thank you​ sincerely for the opportunity to help bring your ​c​reative vision to life. Three cheers for many more great pictures to come​!