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Meet the New Carpetbagger

Posted by Sasha Stone On October - 20 - 2009

MelenaRyzikWe are very excited to announce that Melena Ryzik will be taking over as lead writer for the NY Times’ Carpetbagger blog, following in the footsteps of media columnist (and friend of AwardsDaily) David Carr.

There are only a scant few of us women on the Oscar beat, so it’s all kinds of cool that Carr is passing the baton to a dame. Let’s hear it for girl power!

Ryzik will take over interviews and general coverage, and will also continue Carr’s video series. She comes highly recommended, so we will be keeping an eye on her as she wades into the Oscar pool. Carr’s announcement is probably a good sign that Oscar season is indeed upon us. I hope you all are as ready as I am.

The full press release, with everything you ever wanted to know about Melena Ryzik after the cut.

MELENA RYZIK TO WRITE THE CARPETBAGGER BLOG ON NYTIMES.COM
Annual Blog on the Hollywood Awards Season to Relaunch December 1

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2009 – NYTimes.com announced today that culture reporter Melena Ryzik will be the new lead writer of the Carpetbagger blog beginning Dec. 1, when it is relaunched for the Hollywood awards season. In addition to being a general assignment culture reporter, Ms. Ryzik chronicles cultural life in New York for the UrbanEye video series, and writes the UrbanEye e-mail, a daily guide to events around town. As the Carpetbagger, she succeeds media columnist David Carr, who originated the blog but is retiring his tuxedo from the red carpet beat after four seasons. He will continue as a media columnist and a general assignment reporter.

The Carpetbagger blog is devoted to the ups and downs of Hollywood’s award season, taking its audience behind the scenes of major industry events including the Sundance Film Festival, the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Ms. Ryzik will also continue the Carpetbagger video series, which Mr. Carr launched on NYTimes.com, to cover the film world and give viewers a peek into how celebrity news is made, on and off the red carpet. Additional reporting to the blog will come from several other Times journalists, including the Los Angeles-based reporters Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes.

The Carpetbagger blog also hosts many additional features to engage readers, from calendars to track the nominations to an Oscar-race scorecard. The blog was launched in fall of 2005 and has appeared every year since, earning a devoted audience of readers and viewers.

Ms. Ryzik joined The Times in 2001 writing for metro and investigative news. She was a contributing writer for The Times’s former celebrity column Boldface Names. The UrbanEye video series will go on hiatus during Carpetbagger season; the UrbanEye e-mails will continue.

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    13 Responses for "Meet the New Carpetbagger"

    1. Dan October 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pm 1

      I’m happy to have her, but I sure will miss David. He was great.

    2. Magically Delicious October 20th, 2009 at 4:06 pm 2

      Why is David quitting?

    3. Sasha Stone October 20th, 2009 at 4:11 pm 3

      He’s decided to concentrate more on the media aspect of the media – the Carpetbagger was never meant to be a permanent thing with him … I think David will still be around doing this or that, just not the regular beat of the Bagger.

    4. Cliff October 20th, 2009 at 4:12 pm 4

      Women writers are great. Awardcontenders.com has a few really good ones. I think she will do a great job. Speaking of women, will this be the year of the women in the director category?

    5. daveylow October 20th, 2009 at 4:23 pm 5

      It wouldn’t be surprising if at least two women were nominated for Best Director this year.

    6. luca mazzarini October 20th, 2009 at 5:22 pm 6

      Melena is a great writer and I am sure she is going to rock the world!

    7. Flapp October 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm 7

      Congratulations!

    8. Euan October 20th, 2009 at 7:53 pm 8

      I found her a bit annoying in the urban eye features she did, but she’d make me so happy if she brought the Carpet back to Times Square. Wasn’t that the essence of the thing to begin with? Hopefully she’ll have more time to do fun crap like that (and maybe less time to do the daily updates that lasted like 40 seconds; and he always just ‘had to go’, Why?!) Anyway, new blood always welcome.

    9. Cahiers October 21st, 2009 at 1:29 am 9

      Gah, Carr was the one who really got me into the whole Oscar lead-up thing and introduced me to this wonderful site which I look forward to reading every fall. I’ll admit the Bagger had been slacking the past year or two and the whole basement 30 second swag shows were kinda pointless, but I liked Carr’s grizzled interviews and man on the street pieces. Hopefully Ryzik will get into it like the Bagger of old did. I look forward to seeing her pieces.

    10. uberVU - social comments October 21st, 2009 at 3:06 am 10

      Social comments and analytics for this post…

      This post was mentioned on Twitter by AwardsDaily: Meet the new Carpetbagger…http://bit.ly/w2n3V…

    11. The Carpetbagger is dead. Long live The Carpetbaggess. « ShareTrain Dot Com October 21st, 2009 at 11:24 am 11

      [...] and I’m excited to see what she brings to the beat. And not, unlike some of my chromosomal compatriots, just because of “girl power.” Because, really — the game of Oscar yelling is [...]

    12. glimmer/ i want a bandslam tat... October 21st, 2009 at 11:30 pm 12

      don’t think i knew of the carpetbagger thing until i started to hang around here a bit.oh well, i hope melena does a nice job of keeping the mania going. :)

    13. The Carpetbagger is dead. Long live The Carpetbaggess. | Unreleased Movies November 26th, 2009 at 11:07 pm 13

      [...] I’m agog to wager what she brings to the beat. And not, different whatever of my chromosomal compatriots, meet because of “girl power.” Because, rattling — the mettlesome of accolade [...]


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    • 82nd Oscar Ceremony

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      Producers: Adam Shankman, Bill Mechanic
      Director: Hamish Hamilton
      Music: Marc Shaiman

      Quentin Tarantino
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      Ampas Breakdown

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      Sound-405
      Writers-382
      Art Directors-373
      Directors-375
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    • 82nd Oscar Ceremony

      Hosts: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin
      Producers: Adam Shankman, Bill Mechanic
      Director: Hamish Hamilton
      Music: Marc Shaiman

      Quentin Tarantino
      Pedro Almodovar

    • Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due

      Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed

      Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT

      Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater

      Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed

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    • Words

      “The first time I saw The Hurt Locker, I had forgotten who the director was. As the film unfolded I kept saying to myself, “Wow, whoever directed this really has a unique intellect and highly focused directorial vision.” I knew that this film was different, that it had a depth not usually seen in a film set during wartime — but I didn’t know exactly how or why I was experiencing this reaction. When the end credits rolled, my “aha!” moment arrived. “So it’s a woman!” I thought, “It all makes sense to me now.”

      Yet, I believe that Bigelow won the DGA — and quite possibly will win the Oscar — not because she’s female but because she did excellent work. Some voters may choose her to make some kind of political or feminist statement, but Bigelow’s name wouldn’t be on that ballot unless she deserved to be there.

      Some claim that the dearth of awards recognition for female directors is because there are so few good female directors. To me, a statement like that ignores the fact that bias has prevented more women from getting good material to direct.”
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      Awards So Far

      NBR Winner+
      /top ten*
      LAFCA Winner+
      BFCA Critics Choice Win+/Nominee*
      NYFCC Winner +/*
      SEFCA Winners+/*
      Golden Globes Nominee+/*
      SAG Winner+/Nominee*
      National Society of Film Critics winners+
      Producers Guild Winner+/Nominees*
      Directors Guild Winners+/Nominees*
      Art Directors Guild Nominees*
      Writers Guild Nominees*
      American Cinematographers Society*
      American Cinema Editors*
      Cinema Audio Society*
      BAFTA Nominations*


      Best Picture
      The Hurt Locker*+++**+++******
      Avatar*+********
      Inglourious Basterds***+****
      Up in the Air+*+*******
      Precious******
      District 9*****
      A Serious Man*****
      An Education*****
      Up****
      The Blind Side

      Best Actor
      Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart++++*
      George Clooney, Up in the Air+*++***
      Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker**+*
      Colin Firth, A Single Man****
      Morgan Freeman, Invictus+***

      Best Actress
      Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side+++
      Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia++++**
      Carey Mulligan, An Education+****
      Gabby Sidibe, Precious****
      Helen Mirren, The Last Station**

      Best Supporting Actor
      Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds+++++++*
      Woody Harrelson,The Messenger+***
      Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones****
      Matt Damon, Invictus***
      Christopher Plummer, The Last Station*

      Best Supporting Actress
      Mo'Nique, Precious+*+++++*
      Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air+****
      Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air****
      Penelope Cruz, Nine**
      Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

      Best Director
      Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker++++*++*
      Jim Cameron, Avatar*+**
      Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds****
      Jason Reitman, Up in the Air***
      Lee Daniels, Precious**

      Best Original Screenplay
      Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds+*
      Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man+*+*
      Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker***
      Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Up*
      Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camo The Messenger

      Best Adapted Screenplay
      Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air+++++*
      Armando Iannucci, In the Loop+
      Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious**
      Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell, District 9**
      Nick Hornby, An Education*

      Best Editing

      Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron, Avatar+**
      Chris Innis, Bob Murawski, The Hurt Locker***
      Julian Clarke, District 9**
      Joe Klotz, Precious
      Sally Menke, Inglourious Basterds**

      Best Cinematography
      Mauro Fiore, Avatar+**
      Christian Berger, White Ribbon+++*
      Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker***
      Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds***
      Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter

      Best Art Direction

      Avatar+**
      Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus*
      Nine*
      Sherlock Holmes
      The Young Victoria

      Best Sound Mixing

      Avatar+**
      The Hurt Locker***
      Star Trek* **
      Inglourious Basterds
      Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen*

      Best Sound Editing

      Avatar
      The Hurt Locker
      Up
      Star Trek
      Inglourious Basterds

      Best Costume Design
      Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria +*
      Catherine Leterrier,Coco Avant Chanel*
      Janet Patterson, Bright Star**
      Colleen Atwood, Nine*
      Monique Prudhomme, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

      Best Original Score
      Michael Giacchino, Up+*
      Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, The Hurt Locker!
      James Horner, Avatar*
      Alexandre Desplat, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
      Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes*

      Best Foreign Language Film (submissions)

      A Prophet, France+*
      The White Ribbon, Germany**
      El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
      Ajami, Israel
      The Milk of Sorrow, Pru


      Best Documentary Feature

      The Cove++**+
      Food, Inc.**
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      Burma VJ*
      The Most Dangerous Man in America
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      Best Animated Feature
      Up+++**
      The Fantastic Mr. Fox+*+***
      Coraline****
      The Princess and the Frog***
      The Secret of Kells

      Best Visual Effects

      Avatar+*
      District 9* *
      Star Trek**

      Best Makeup

      The Young Victoria**
      Star Trek*

      Il Divo*


      Best Song
      The Weary Kind – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, Crazy Heart ++
      Down in New Orleans, The Princess and the Frog
      Almost There – Randy Newman, The Princess And The Frog***
      Loin de Paname, Paris 36

      Best Live Action Short
      The Door
      Instead of Abracadabra
      Kavi
      Miracle Fish
      The New Tenants


      Best Animated Short
      French Roast
      Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
      The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
      Logorama
      A Matter of Loaf and Death


      Best Documentary Short

      China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
      The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
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      Music by Prudence
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