ROCK TAVERN, N.Y. -- At Polich Tallix, there's no shortage of work.
With orders coming in from all over the country, the company at times is working on more than 100 projects at once. And since October, the company has been working on one of its most important orders of the year.
For the second year in row, Polich Tallix was commissioned to make the Oscar statuettes for the 89th Academy Awards.
“Last year was kind of the trial run; this year, we know what we’re doing," Stephanie Minor said. "We kind of figured out the kinks, worked out the kinks, [and] production has gone a lot smoother.”
Minor is the sales and project manager at Polich Tallix. She says the process starts with a 3-D design. Then the model is cast, and then goes through a wax process.
“We pour bronze at 2,000 degrees into the ceramic shell," Minor said. "The shell with the Oscar cools for about an hour or so, [we] crack it open, and we’re left with a bronze Oscar.”
From there, Brad Conklin takes over to put the final touches on the award.
“It’s a lot of steps, time-consuming steps, but it’s a lot easier the second year around than the first year,” said Conklin, a Polich Tallix finisher.
It takes the company about three months to make these statues, and when a statuette is all done, it weighs about 8.5 pounds. This year, the company is making more than 50 Oscars.
When Polich Tallix was tapped last year to make the Oscar, the academy wanted to get closer to the original 1928 design.
“The bodies are a little bit different," Conklin said. "The shoulders are a little closer together. They designed it and made it the way the Academy wanted it.”
The company has wrapped up production on the awards. The Oscars will be shipped to Los Angeles in about a week and a half.
“We feel really lucky to be a part of it, grateful to be a part of it, and everybody at the shop [has] the opportunity to touch an Oscar, work on an Oscar,” Minor said.