. . On Oscar Night : A CalArts Filmmaker Lives Out Her Dream

In the end, all the joy and disbelief came together in a single red carpet that led Vanessa Schwartz from her curbside limousine to the Shrine Auditorium’s glittering entrance.

The 25-year-old CalArts student found herself in the improbable position of Oscar hopeful on Monday night. Her first effort, a project called “The Janitor” made at the Valencia art school, had been nominated in the short animated film category. It felt, she said, like a dream.

Making her way toward a pair of towering statues outside the Shrine, through crowds screaming for Sylvester Stallone just a few steps ahead, Schwartz held her hands out and stopped.

“I don’t want to go too fast,” she said. “I want to enjoy this.”

Her dream would last only 90 minutes longer.

“Bob’s Birthday,” a humorous look at midlife crises, was named the winner in her category. Host David Letterman hurried the ceremony along to awards for art direction and visual effects.

“I don’t feel sad,” Schwartz said moments later. “It’s weird. I feel as happy as can be.”

For all its glitz and improbability, hers was not the tale of an average person whisked like Cinderella to the ball. Schwartz is a dedicated artist who toiled at her 4 1/2-minute project for five years.

The film centers around a pudgy little fellow who works for God. Made of soft scribbles, he sweeps up around the cosmos, paints Mars with two coats of red and spruces up around the moon, which, he grumbles, “is a real dust catcher.”

While Schwartz had hoped “The Janitor” would turn out to be a good film, she never suspected it would attract a series of film-festival prizes and make her one of only a dozen students to be nominated for an Academy Award. So perhaps there was some magic to her circumstance.

The British Broadcasting Corp. flew her to England for a documentary on young animators. Two weeks ago she attended a pre-Oscar luncheon and sat at the same table with Tom Hanks, who clapped loudly and waved his napkin when her name was called. On Monday a television crew crammed into her bathroom to catch her applying makeup before the ceremony.

“I’ve learned a lot from this experience,” she said.

Not the least of which was how to shop for an Oscar gown. As soon as the nominations were announced, designers such as Versace and Armani bombarded the actresses with flowers and offers to create dresses for them.

“Nobody bombarded me,” Schwartz said.

She went out last Sunday and found an old-fashioned dress embroidered with pink roses for $200. That left her short of cash for the matching straw hat, but when the shopkeeper learned that she was nominated for an Oscar, he sold it to her for half price.

Her Academy Award status did not pull even that much weight when it came time for the limousine ride to the Shrine. Schwartz finagled extra tickets for her parents and sisters and friends. As the youngest of the family, she got squeezed into the smallest seat in the car.

The trip from her family’s Santa Monica home was raucous. In between the jokes and laughter, Schwartz let herself imagine taking home the statuette.

“I’ll sleep with it,” she said. “No, I’ll probably just put it in my room.”

Inside the star-packed Shrine, her parents sat in the front row, not far from Hanks, who would be honored again as best actor. Schwartz took a seat farther back, though she didn’t seem to mind.

“I love films,” she cooed, suddenly sounding dazzled. “Being surrounded by all this talent is so exciting.”

And it went by so fast. At 7:35 p.m., the carriage turned back into a pumpkin. But the rest of the show was left for stargazing. Then Schwartz and her sister, Karin, retired to the Governor’s Ball with a vow to celebrate.

“I don’t feel like a failure,” Schwartz said. “Tonight is all about a party.”

After all, Cinderella had her ball.

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