Design engineer Takuo Miyagishima, has been voted the Gordon E. Sawyer Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He will be presented with the first Oscar statuette of 2005 at the Scientific and Technical Awards Dinner on February 12 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Established in 1981, the Sawyer Award is "presented to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry."
Miyagishima, the 18th recipient of this award has worked at Panavision for nearly 50 years where he has been influential in developing and designing new technologies that are unique and innovative advancements in the field of cinematography.
"Tak has been and continues to be a leading design engineer," said Richard Edlund, chair of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. "His work with Panavision, in particular the technologies he has created, revolutionized the industry."
Miyagishima began his award-winning career with Panavision in 1955. Under his guidance, Panavision received two Oscars, first in 1978 for the Panaflex Motion Picture Camera System and, again in 1993, for the Auto Panatar anamorphic photographic lens.
Miyagishima was honored with the Fuji Gold Medal in 1991 for his design of the single autofocusing anamorphic camera lens.
He received both a Technical Achievement Award and a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy in 1998 (with Albert Saiki) for the design and development of the Eyepiece Leveler and the mechanical design of the Primo Lens Series, respectively. He also won an Emmy Award for the Lens Series in 2001.
In 1999, Miyagishima received the Academy's John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, awarded for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy. That same year the American Society of Cinematographers gave him (and Albert Mayer) its President's Award honoring his contributions to the industry.
A longtime member of both the Academy and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Miyagishima has served on numerous film technology committees for both organizations including the Academy's new Science and Technology Council.
