2008 Spirit Awards nominees

Tom O'Neil is the author of "Movie Awards," "The Emmys" and "The Grammys" (Penguin Putnam Books) and has reported on showbiz awards for the L.A. Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Variety, TV Guide, Reader's Digest and other major media. In 1999, he launched GoldDerby.com, the first website devoted to predicting all top showbiz awards. It was acquired by the Los Angeles Times in November 2005 and folded into the launch of TheEnvelope.com.

O'Neil's special interest is how the awards affect each other, particularly the top film prizes that can be viewed as one single gold derby with the Oscars as the finish line. Consider what happened to "Chariots of Fire," for example. In 1981, it emerged from obscurity to win awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the National Board of Review, then fell behind "Reds" and "Atlantic City" at the film critics' awards and Golden Globes, then trotted ahead as best-picture champ at the Oscars. Contact O'Neil: GoldDerby@gmail.com.