The dearth of Oscar nominations for British stars sucked the glamour out of the Great British Film reception in Los Angeles last night. Hosted by British Consul-General Dame Barbara Hay, the event, which launched in 2012, is held on the Friday before the Academy Awards Ceremony to celebrate the success of the UK’s creative achievement.
Addressing the assembled crowd of her guests, Dame Barbara said that the UK had established itself as a centre for excellence in filmmaking, boasting over 100 film studios, nearly 5000 production companies, 2500 post production companies and offering 300,000 jobs.
Indeed, her residence was swarming with the best talent in the world in all aspects of filmmaking, including animation, documentary, musicals and live action movies. Among the guests were members of production teams from Oscar nominated pictures such as the feature animations The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists and Paranorman, the musical Les Miserables, and documentary Searching for Sugar Man.
The director of Les Miserables, Tom Hooper, who missed out on a nomination in the Best Director category, was in a good mood. “I am happy we won the Golden Globes for best picture,” he told me. I recall seeing him quite nervous on the eve of the Golden Globes awards last month, when he was competing against Silver Lining Playbook in the Musical and Comedy category, but now he knows that there is no point of stressing out about it. “There is no Musical category at the Oscars, so I don’t think we have a chance. Argo will most likely get it,” he concedes, smiling.
Ironically, in spite of their absence, the two Oscar-nominated British stars, Daniel Day-Lewis, in the Best Actor category for Lincoln, and Adele, in the Best Original Song for Skyfall, are expected to take home the coveted trophy.