'La La Land' Boasts Oscar-Nominated Ties To Delaware Valley
by Vittoria Woodill
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The nominations have been announced for the 89th Academy Awards, and "La La Land" leads the Oscar race with a record-tying 14 nominations.
La La Land has been an Oscar favorite from the start, tapping into the traditions of Hollywood's golden age.
The movie may play homage to Hollywood, but has many ties to our area, including director Damien Chazelle. He spent his early years in Haverford before the family moved to Princeton.
Ukee Washington spoke with him about his dream of becoming a director.
"The movie's set in LA. I moved to LA wanting to make movies there, so I had these big dreams when I moved there and no idea if they would work out, but I wanted to try to capture that feeling of young people in the city with big dreams and the ups and downs of that journey," Chazelle said.
Chazelle is nominated for Best Director.
Ardmore's Benj Pasek got a double nod in the Best Original Song category.
Two of the songs he wrote for La La Land earned nominations.
Members of the producing team have ties to the Delaware Valley. Marc Platt went to Penn. So did executive producer and co-star John Legend.
Fellow producing partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius hail from Wynnewood.
Now to the other contenders for Best Motion Picture, it's a diverse field: "Arrival," "Fences," and "Hacksaw Ridge," which also scored a director nomination for Mel Gibson, "Hell Or High Water," "Hidden Figures," "Lion," "Manchester By The Sea," and "Moonlight,"
Nominees for best actress are: Isabelle Huppert, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, and Meryl Streep
Among the more surprising omissions: Amy Adams was left off the list for "Arrival," although the film got eight nominations overall.
Best Actor nods went to Casey Affleck, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Viggo Mortenson, and Ukee's cousin Denzel Washington.