KEY POINTS:
An Auckland animation company got an Oscar thrill yesterday - its work is part of a documentary in line for one of the Hollywood awards.
The Grey Lynn-based company, Flux Animation Studio, worked with former United States Vice-President Al Gore on his global warming movie, An Inconvenient Truth, which is a frontrunner for best documentary at the Academy Awards on February 25 in Hollywood.
The feature-length film follows Mr Gore's campaign to spread the word about the effects of climate change and the dangers of global warming.
Flux created two animation sequences for the movie. The first, directed by Andrew Newland, is about a polar bear searching for a piece of ice.
The other, directed by Fraser Monroe, shows what happens to a frog when the water he is swimming in is heated to boiling point.
Company founder and creative director Brent Chambers was excited to find the movie was among the nominations yesterday.
"We're absolutely rapt because it was a bit of a punt initially but it seemed like a good cause," he said.
"It hasn't happened quite the way we imagined but it's a dream come true to be associated with it.
"At the end of the day, it's not a craft award but it's something quite special that we've been a part of."
He's been following the progress of the film at the box office and believes it is the third highest grossing documentary of all time with takings of US$42 million ($59.9 million).
It's been good for business too. Since the start of the year Flux has received seven new jobs as a result of the success of An Inconvenient Truth.
The film is also nominated in the best original song category for I Need to Wake Up by Melissa Etheridge.
