BOSTON (WHDH) – The announcement of this year’s Academy Award nominees brought with it big accolades for Boston on Tuesday as two movies with local ties earned nods in the Best Picture category.
“American Fiction” and “The Holdovers” were both filmed in Massachusetts and filled with Boston-bred actors.
With the films now in the running for one of Hollywood’s biggest prizes, the lead casting director on both projects said she is feeling honored.
Speaking with 7NEWS, Boston Casting Co-Owner and Casting Director Lisa Lobel said the excitement can also have a special effect on tourism.
“The actors and the crew here have really stepped it up,” she said.
“All of Hollywood has taken notice,” said Co-Owner Angela Peri.
“American Fiction”, focused on a novelist from Boston, shot in the city and on the South Shore at the end of the summer in 2022.
“The Holdovers” follows a prep school history teacher forced to stay on campus with a group of students who aren’t returning home for the holiday break. It was shot in multiple locations across Massachusetts last winter, including Brattle Book Shop in Boston.
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Lobel said all of the local actors and extras in “American Fiction” and “The Holdovers” were cast in Boston.
“They shot 100% here and they were all on location,” Lobel added. “None were shot in any studios.”
Christopher Inman said he saw streets shut down for filming in recent years.
Following Tuesday’s nominations, he said this activity is “good for the industry.”
“It’s great for Boston and for actors here,” said Judith Chafee, who formerly taught actors.
With recognition on the silver screen comes exposure for the region. With exposure comes tourists like David Walji, who recently visited Boston from England.
“It’s one of the things that really attracts you to a place like Boston,” Walji said.
Walji told 7NEWS he came to Boston after watching the locally-based blockbuster “Good Will Hunting”, which won two Oscars in 1998.
More modern movies, he said, will have a similar effect for the next generation of tourists.
“I was like ‘Oh yeah, this is a cool place to come visit and that’s why I’m here,” he said of his experience watching “Good Will Hunting”.
Beyond Best Picture, “American Fiction” earned additional nominations in the Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score categories. Actors Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, respectively.
“The Holdovers” picked up additional nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role honors.
In the Best Picture category, both films are nominated against “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro, ” “Oppenheimer,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest”.
This year’s Academy Awards are scheduled for March 10.
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