South West gets giddy with gongs at the Oscars

The Wolfman: shot on Dartmoor, The Wolfman picked up the Oscar for Best Make UP

South West shot films Alice in Wonderland and The Wolfman picked up three gongs at this year’s Academy Awards.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which filmed on location at Antony House in Cornwall, received two awards. Costume designer Colleen Atwood collected her third career Oscar for Best Costume Design, and Robert Stromberg and Karen O’Hara picked up the trophy for Best Art Direction.

Make-up guru Rick Baker won his seventh Oscar as he shared the Best Make Up award with Dave Elsey for Joe Johnston’s horror The Wolfman, which filmed at Dartmoor and Castle Coombe.

The biggest winning film of the evening was of course The King’s Speech, which picked up four wins out of its 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. South West talent on the hit film includes producer Iain Canning, who is originally from Bristol, and Bath-based location manager Jamie Lengyel.

Despite rumours that he may attend, iconic Bristol street artist Banksy did not appear at the awards where he was nominated for Best Documentary Feature for Exit Through The Gift Shop. Ian Barnes’s short film Wish 143, which shot in Bristol, missed out on the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Caroline Norbury, South West Screen’s chief executive, told D&CFilm: ‘The Oscars represent the most prestigious awards in the film calendar. It’s fantastic to see awards go to Alice in Wonderland and The Wolfman which shot using our locations, and well done to all the South West talent that was nominated, which in itself is a major achievement.’

Film and television is a vital part of the economy in the South West, last year accounting for an estimated £62 million in inward investment and supporting over 39,000 jobs. Other recent features to have filmed in the region include Stephen Spielberg’s upcoming War Horse, Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe and Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go.