Oscars 2015: Canadian talent celebrated ahead of Academy Awards

The Oscars are still three days away, but the party has already started for Canadians nominated at this year's Academy Awards.

• More Oscar stories, videos, photos and interactive content
• Who should win - and who will win - at the 2015 Oscars?
• INTERACTIVE |Oscars ballot 2015: Make your picks

Telefilm Canada, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angelespaid special tribute to Canadian Oscar contenders in a gala Thursday night at theFour Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills Hotel.

Thursday's Canada Stars in Awards Season event honours excellence infilm and television and featured a number of high-profile talents, including:

• EricMcCormack
• Cameron Bailey
• Don McKellar
• Jason Priestley
• Craig Mann
• Dean DeBlois
• Graham Annable
• Joshua Bartholomew
• Torill Kove
• Norman Jewison
• Sandra Oh

Kove, Annable, DeBlois, Bartholomew and his American wife and co-writing partner, Lisa Rae Harriton, tell CBC's Kim Brunhuber how they're getting ready for the Oscars in the video above.

The soiree also recognized select nominees for this year's Canadian Screen Awards which will be handed out March 1 in Toronto.

Canada representing

There are a good number of Canadians either nominated orwith connections to nominated films, at this Sunday'sAcademy Awards.Canada is especially well-represented in the animated feature category, with three out of five films coming from Canadian directors. Of those threeCanucks, two are best friends.

It's a surreal situation that hasBig Hero 6co-director Chris Williams joking about red carpet fisticuffs with longtime pal DeanDeBlois, director ofHow To Train Your Dragon 2.

"We met working at Disney onMulan,in the story department 20 years ago. We had a cubicle wall between us and we hit it off and we've been really close ever since," says Williams, who was born in Columbia, Mo., to Canadian parents and raised in Kitchener, Ont.

• INTERACTIVE |Awards season scorecard
• INTERACTIVE |Oscars quiz

This Sunday, the duo will be watching the Academy Awards together alongside fellow Canadian animator GrahamAnnable, who co-directed the intricate stop-motion filmTheBoxtrolls.

JayBaruchel, from Montreal'sNotre-Dame-de-Grceneighbourhood, is the voice of the lead character inDragon 2.

Me and MyMoulton

Norway-born, Montreal-raisedTorillKoveis up for a prize in the best animated short film category forMe and MyMoulton.Kovehas been nominated for an Academy Award for each short in her personal animated shorts trilogy, includingMoulton, 1999'sMy Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirtsand 2006'sThe Danish Poet, which won the award.

• AUDIO |Torill Kove on her Oscar-nominated film

"I do feel like I'm part of this amazing Canadian animation legacy,"Kovetold CBC Radio's As It Happensin January. "It's really a wonderful place for an animator to work, especially for animators who are interested in making personal films, to explore new ways of doings things, make theirauteurpieces."

Lego Movie & technical nominations

While fan favouriteThe Lego Moviemissed out on an animated feature nod, its infectious anthemEverything is Awesomewas nominated for best original song. The popular song was co-written by Joshua Bartholomew of Pembroke, Ont., and performed by the award-winning duoTeaganand Sara from Calgary.

• 'Everything is Awesome' for Canadian songwriters stateside

Other Canadians are getting nods for their technical skills. CameronWaldbauer, from Pitt Meadows, B.C., was nominated as part of the visual effects team forX-Men: Days of Future Past.

And Craig Mann, who was born inOakville, Ont., is part of the team nominated for Sound Mixing onWhiplash.

How to watch

The 87thAcademy Awards will be given out at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. on Sunday, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET with the red carpet starting at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and CTV in Canada.

• More Oscar stories, videos, photos and interactive content
• INTERACTIVE |Oscars ballot 2015: Make your picks
• Who said it: Oscar Wilde or Oscar winner?

CBC arts team ison the ground in Hollywood and will be live blogging from the parties, the red carpet and behind the scenes all weekend.

Watch for full coverage, including photo galleries and all the winners, here onCBCNews.ca/arts.

CBC's film critic Eli Glasner will be live chatting with theCBC Community Teamin the aftermath of the awards Monday starting at 12 p.m. ET.