Industry’s 90th Oscars Ceremony Highlights L.A. Region’s Brightest Projects

The glitz and glamour of last evening’s Academy Awards was befitting for the show’s 90 year history!

As Hollywood transformed for the Academy Awards on March 4, L.A.-based films were nominated for 17 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Animated Feature.

In all, projects made in the Greater Los Angeles Region were honored with seven statuettes. The Oscar for Best Animated Feature went to Disney/Pixar’s Coco. In their acceptance speech, the filmmakers were excited to create a film that could “change and connect the world.” Coco also went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Remember Me” – which was recorded in Los Angeles as well.

Dunkirk received three Academy Awards including Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. Dubbed “one of the greatest war films of all time,” Dunkirk conducted a portion of its filming in the Port of Los Angeles (Berth 60) and at Apollo Airfield (Woodley Park, Sherman Oaks).

Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short, is a film about Mindy Alper, a 56-year-old artist who suffers with anxiety and depression. In the film, Alper mentions the peace she feels simply sitting in traffic on the 405 freeway. The film features shots from the interstate and the Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Glendale.

Dear Basketball won the Oscar for Best Animated Short film. Serving as retired Laker player Kobe Bryant’s “ode to basketball,” the film is an animated, hand drawn short set to melody. The film used Los Angeles as its backdrop, with Bryant narrating his love affair with the sport from a very young age. Dear Basketball features clips of the athlete playing in downtown’s Staples Center and features Bryant at various stages in his career, wearing numbers 8 and 24.

“The Oscars capture so much of what I love about being Mayor of the world’s entertainment capital, and it was especially rewarding to see L.A.-based projects take home seven statuettes this year — more than any other city in the country,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “But the filmmakers, editors, and composers aren’t the only big winners — the Academy Awards delivers an estimated $200 million in economic activity for Los Angeles County, and our work to stop runaway production is bringing new hope and opportunity to the below-the-line workers who make the magic of Hollywood possible.”

Congratulations to all 2018 Academy Award winners and nominees!