Gold Rush Gang Members 2015/2016

Hello folks, Erik Anderson here and as its fearless leader it is my pleasure to announce that a new batch of Gold Rush Gang members has been inaugurated for the upcoming awards season. We have four returning members and five newbies and a returning former champ. And what’s this? There’s a GIRL in the castle! The Gold Rush Gang is made up of some of Awardswatch’s top prognosticators in last year’s Gold Rush, an annual competition on our forums in which members not only predict the Oscars, but also the most important precursors leading up to them. Our accuracy rate is often higher than most gurus out there so if you want know what’s really going to happen, look no further than right here. We will be predicting the Top 8 categories all season and adding the tech, animation and foreign language categories as the season progresses. As always, we’ll have juicy podcasts full of killer predictions and not just a little attitude. Let the season begin!

ERIK ANDERSON
Erik blames his mother for his love of all things Oscar, having watched them together since he opened his eyes. They also watched Miss Universe religiously every year (the pageantry!) and Erik came to the conclusion that the combination of these two things ultimately led him down the path to obsessing about awards and ACTRESSING. He began at GoldDerby, led by Tom O’Neill and then migrated over to Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), headed up by Sasha Stone before breaking off to create AwardsWatch. He is a member of the International Cinephile Society, GALECA (Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and co-founder/co-editor of AwardsWatch and was pretty excited when he when he got his first quote in the Sony Pictures Classics FYC campaign and trailer for Julianne Moore’s Oscar-winning vehicle, Still Alice. (erikdean in the forums)

EVAN KOST
For anyone that knows Evan, it’s no surprise that he was first introduced to the insanity known as Oscarwatching through his grandmother. He was instantly hooked, and they’ve closely followed each season since then – from Shakespeare in Love‘s shocking triumph to Argo’s history-defying win last year. He also serves as manager, and participant, of the infamous Gold Rush contest, where he ruled the roost once and has finished in the Top 5 every other year. (Submerge in the forums)

NICOLE LATAYAN
Nicole is a 23 year old writer slash blogger that hails all the way from Manila, the Philippines. His love for pop culture mostly focuses on awards prognostication, and while he thinks it’s not the sole basis of greatness and quality, he enjoys the forecasting aspect of it. His favorite awards show moment of all time would have to be “Falling Slowly” winning the Best Original Song at the 80th Oscars. He has been following the Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy races since 2002, and will continue to do so in the next decades to come. (klariso in the forums)

JAMES NARVEY
James has been Oscar-obsessed since childhood. His love of the Oscars dates back to watching the telecast with maybe only seeing a handful of the nominees, normally all in best song or score. Now he attempts to see all the nominees, a goal that he has always failed to achieve. But hey, he won Gold Rush 2014/2015 so anything can happen. James lives in Vancouver, loves the arts and cycles to work. (James in the forums)

ADAM NORBURY
Adam is college student studying economics and business data analytics and loves speculating and forecasting in order to solve problems, but all of this is dwarfed in comparison to his love of film. Put the two interests together and its clear where his interest in predicting the Oscars stems from. He is eagerly looking forward to another year that will inevitably consist of mostly of him twiddling thumbs wondering when Haneke’s Flashmob will come out.(Madadude in the forums)

JASON OSIASON
Jason’s currently a business student, but his real passion lies in film and predicting film awards, especially the Oscars. He has been watching the Oscars for many years now, but really entered the sport of Oscar predicting after being blown away by Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood in theaters (and being disappointed that it didn’t sweep the Oscars). He placed in the Top 5 in the last two Gold Rush contests. (DirkDiggler in the forums)

CHRIS PEPPER
Chris is a 21-year old history student from England. Even though he has only been a member of AwardsWatch since 2013, his interest in awards-watching began in 2008, with the race between No County for Old Men and There Will Be Blood not only being what introduced him to the idea of oscar-watching but was also what sparked his interest in classic film in general. His interest in television began even earlier than that, becoming instantly hooked on HBO shows like The Wire and The Sopranos. He is now an avid cinephile and television viewer however still loves analyzing film and television within the context of awards season. (chrispepper in the forums)

LONG PHAM
Long currently works as biologist, but spends his free time obsessing over film, television and all stuff pop culture related. Long started awards watching during the time The Hurt Locker and its David vs. Goliath triumph and has been intently following ever since. Long is a former Gold Rush champ and finished 4th last season. (boondoggle in the forums)

KENNETH POLISHCHUK
First and foremost, Kenneth likes awards because he loves movies, but he also loves the glamour and the pageantry of the shows themselves. The horse racing aspect of it all also appeals to him. He’s participated in the Gold Rush every season and has placed 5th, 6th, 3rd, 4th and 7th with this most recent game seeing him reach his highest peak, #2. (Moviefreak in the forums)

JACQUI SUTHERLAND
Jacqui is an Australian film fanatic who currently lives in Sydney. Like Kate Winslet before her, she too grew up pretending her shampoo bottle was an Oscar, until the realisation she had no acting talent to speak of dawned on her. She has since given up on her dreams, and now follows awards season so she can root for her faves and earn bragging rights for her predictions. Above all else, she lives for the analysis, fun and snark that awards season never fails to bring. (cocktailqueen in the forums)

But wait, there’s more…