The Saturn Awards 2010

The Saturn Awards 2010
Avatar, Lost, Fringe, etc., the best in the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror genre honored at the Saturn Awards


The annual Saturn Awards brought out the top producers and stars for a fantastic night presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. Sci-fi legend Leonard Nimoy was there and won an award for Best Guest Star for his appearance on Fringe.

The show’s lovely star, Anna Torv picked up a Saturn trophy for Best Actress and gratefully said in her soft Aussie accent, “I get to work with our cast, and I enjoyed working with Leonard, and all the other creative and imaginative people, and basically I get to ‘play.’ Fringe has changed my life in every possible way.”

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Anna Torv (Fringe)

It’s as if she’s really in a parallel universe where everything good is happening to her, Anna reported. Fans will be happy to hear the parallel universe on the show will be a big part of the upcoming Season 3 of the Fox TV series.

The most high-profile production of the past year, Avatar was the biggest winner. That made James Cameron the king of the night with ten wins for his 3D masterpiece. Cameron was out of town, but sent a heartfelt video acceptance for the cheering crowd as he thanked everyone for the Best Science Fiction Film, Best Writer, Director and the Visionary Award honors.

Cameron holds a Titanic-like record for the most Saturn Awards of all time, and he loves the genre as much as the fans love to embrace his high-tech productions.

Television’s most talked about series this season, Lost got the Best Network TV Series trophy, which executive producer Carlton Cuse accepted. Back in the press room he told everyone he was pleased with the fans’ reaction to the finale.

Cuse said, “We feel like we answered what we wanted for the show. There’s a twelve minute segment on the DVD that’s coming out in August that has a few more answers. I think fans will really enjoy it. That’s all I’m going to say.”

More information from Mark Pellegrino, who played the deity-like role of Jacob on Lost, wasn’t forthcoming either. Although he was happy to talk about working with the rest of the cast. “Everybody had a unique gift. I loved working with Nestor Carbonell, because he and I went to the same theater company. I loved talking to Jorge Garcia about food and his dog. Matthew Fox was very serious, like his character, and Josh Holloway was funny, giving and loving.”

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Carlton Cuse and Mark Pellegrino

Among the presenters, James Kyson Lee revealed big news in the press room that the producers of Heroes are talking with NBC to put together a possible finale special. Lee is a regular at the Saturn Awards and said the genre “brings out the kid in all of us.”

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James Kyson Lee

Special awards were presented throughout the evening. On the 30th anniversary of his film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (arguably one of the best sequels of all time), director Irvin Kershner was honored with a Life Career Award. Billy Dee Williams read a letter from George Lucas, and then presented the award to Kershner’s son David.

The Producers Showcase Award was presented to Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced the super-successful X-Men franchise.

Drag Me to Hell won Best Horror Movie, and filmmaker Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) was happy to pick up his trophy. He said, “We wanted to make a horror film that entertained, shocked and scared the audience, and this award is a great validation.”

Raimi went on to say that the Saturn Awards are very special to him. “This group gathers great filmmakers like Zack Snyder (Fantasy Film winner for Watchmen), Richard Donner, Guillermo Del Toro, and others, plus great actors like Leonard Nimoy. And to be honored among your highly respected peers is incredible. It’s a very humbling experience. It really makes you want to improve your game and be worthy of something like this.”

The Saturn event was presented by executive producer Robert L. Holguin, who took over the leadership role of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror after founder Dr. Donald A. Reed passed away almost a decade ago. Dr. Reed would have been proud of the stellar evening.

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The ceremony was held in the ballroom of the Castaway Restaurant on a precarious hillside in Burbank, California. It was a great place for the sci-fi stars, filmmakers, makeup artists and other craftsmen to take a bow for their contributions to the films and television shows that haunt our fantasies and nightmares.


Margie Barron has written for a wide variety of outlets including Gannett newspapers, Nickelodeon, Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, Fresh!, Senior Life, Production Update, airline magazines, etc. Margie is also proud to have been half of the husband & wife writing team Frank & Margie Barron, who had written together for various entertainment and travel publications for more than 38 years. Frank Barron was the editor of The Hollywood Reporter, having served twice in that capacity. In between, he was West Coast news director for Billboard Publications, supervising their five magazines. Barron also created the western TV series “The Man From Blackhawk” for the ABC network. For more than three decades he and writer-wife Margie Barron covered Hollywood for Production Update magazine, and they contributed to numerous publications.

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