Two people with extremely close ties to Chicago were among those celebrating after the Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning.
Veteran local theater actor Michael Shannon was a somewhat surprising nominee for best supporting actor for his role in “Nocturnal Animals.” The actor previously was nominated in the same category in 2009 for “Revolutionary Road.”
In a statement Tuesday from Northern England, where he’s in rehearsals for his next film, Shannon said he was “thrilled” and loved making the film. Referring to the “Nocturnal Animals” writer-director, he said, “I would work with Tom Ford anytime, anywhere.”
Slyly taking note of the recent presidential inaugural address, Shannon added, “Nice to get some good news in the midst of all the carnage, so to speak.”
• Also excited by the Oscar news was Lake View’s Gigi Pritzker, executive producer of “Hell or High Water,” which walked away with four nominations Tuesday morning: for best picture, best supporting actor (Jeff Bridges), editing and best original screenplay. “We delivered the goods,” she said when asked if she had any inkling her film would win Academy notice. “So we feel it’s right for us to be in that conversation.”
Pritzker, whose producing credits have included “Rabbit Hole,” “Drive,” “The Way Way Back,” “Enders Game” “Draft Day” and Jon Stewart’s film directing debut, “Rosewater,” did admit it often is difficult for films released earlier in the year to get Oscar’s attention. “Hell or High Water” was released Aug. 26.
“That was a little bit of a concern when we released this film, but it’s not a science — this release alchemy — and I think CBS Films did a great job of keeping us top-of-mind with everybody.”
This year, “La La Land” has generated talk about movie musicals making a comeback. In the case of Pritzker’s “Hell or High Water,” similar industry buzz focused on its Western-themed storyline.
“It’s interesting,” said Pritzker, calling from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. “This is what happens. Something we haven’t seen in a while makes a splash and then everyone says, ‘Oh! We should be making musicals.’ But beyond that, I think we should simply just be telling great stories. They should be told with a unique vision from great storytellers. I think that’s what wins the day — rather than jumping on the bandwagon with a particular genre.”
She also revealed Tuesday that she and her partners in OddLot Entertainment , a division of Madison Wells Media, had sold their most recent project “at 4:30 this morning!” That movie is “Landline,” which was shot in New York last summer and was just in competition at Sundance. Amazon acquired the U.S. rights to the film, which A24 will distribute later this year. Jenny Slate, John Turturro, Edie Falco and Finn Wittrock star. UTA Independent Film Group and Clint Kisker of Madison Wells Media negotiated the deal.
As for the film itself, “it was directed by Gillian Robespierre. It’s her follow-up film to ‘Obvious Child,’ which we also produced,” said Pritzker. “Talk about a 180 [degree] switch from ‘Hell or High Water, but it’s also great for very different reasons.”
