Calgary’s film industry gets ready to celebrate the Oscars
Posted Apr 24, 2021 8:00 am.
Last Updated Apr 23, 2021 6:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The biggest night in Hollywood will finally take the stage this weekend, capping off a wild year for the global movie business.
Some in Calgary’s film industry say they’re looking forward to the annual ceremony, even if it will look different than the year’s past.
The 93rd Academy Awards will take place Sunday in person at two locations in Los Angeles: the Dolby Theatre and Union Station and will have fewer attendees than years past due to COVID-19 gathering limits.
Despite the changes, many film directors including Calgary’s Ryan Northcott can’t wait for the show to finally begin.
“I love the Oscars. I started as an actor when I was younger. I think that’s the dream right? When you’re a hockey player you always dream of getting the Stanley Cup. As an actor, you always dream of getting that Oscar.”
Northcott is a writer, actor and producer with the local film studio MediaPop, who like other studios, did suffer setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully though, his studio is still up and running and believes the future is bright for the film industry.
“The one thing that the UCP did great was to lift the cap and the film tax credit. It’s just going to bring an enormous amount of production to Alberta. The ripple effect that it will have on the industry I think is huge.”
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Northcott added that film production involves a wide array of professionals from editors, to grips and even caterers, that all play a vital role in the city’s film business.
The optimism for the future is also being felt by Brian Owens, Creative Director for the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF).
“Work that was done by the various agencies in the city and the province have really brought a lot of great work into the city.”
Some of that work includes the construction of a future film studio, recent productions like the “Fraggle Rock” reboot and the possibility of more big-market films coming to Alberta.
Vice President of Creative Industries & Film Commissioner at Calgary Economic Development, Luke Azevedo reflected back on some of the big Oscar winners that filmed in Alberta, largely because of the landscape.
Films like “The Revenant” and “Inception”, won the Academy Awards for Cinematography and used sites like Fortress Mountain and Kananaskis Country for some of their scenes.
Azevedo is hopeful Alberta will be the backdrop for more Hollywood winners in the future.
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When it comes to who will win what on Sunday night, Owens and Northcott made a few predictions but admit some categories are still up in the air.
“The favourite going in is obviously ‘Nomadland’. (Best) Actress is probably the most wide-open race of the major ones,” said Owens.
Northcott agrees that Best Actress is still undecided but he’s paying more attention to the smaller, technical categories like sound editing and mixing that he believes doesn’t get enough attention.
Regardless, he’s looking forward to celebrating with other film enthusiasts in what has been a different but unique year for the industry.
“They’re just unique films. You know what I love is that they’re not like ‘The Avengers’. They’re actually really meaningful movies this year and really have a good underlying theme and story to tell that is pretty spot-on on what society is going through right now.”
