Oscar-nominated films again have regional connections
Expanded from Sunday’s Cornershot.
Our region has a winning streak when it comes to forging connections to Academy Award-nominated movies, even if those nominees didn’t win this time around (last year, winning film “The Artist” featured an appearance from Roanoke County native Jen Lilley.)
One connection this year came through Christiansburg actress Sarah Wylie, who appeared in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.”
Bill Logan and Quvenzhané Wallis. Courtesy of http://thenovoproject.com.
Here’s another one. Proud Roanoke mom Jackie Logan wrote me to let me about her son Bill Logan, who worked as props master for the independent magical realist movie “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
A 1998 graduate of North Cross School, Bill Logan discovered an interest in art under the tutelage of teacher Shirley Johnson. He’s pursuing a master of fine arts degree at the New York Academy of Art.
He spent more than four months building sets in Louisiana for the reported $1.8 million production. Set in a bayou community flooded by a hurricane, the movie took the film festival circuit by storm, so to speak, winning the Grand Jury Prize for drama at Sundance and the Camera d’Or award at Cannes.
The film’s Oscar nominations included best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best actress for star Quvenzhane Wallis, who at 9 years old was the youngest ever to be a candidate for the category.
She was 6 when she acted the part of Hushpuppy, a girl who faces down both her temperamental, fatally ill father and prehistoric creatures released from the polar ice caps.
A behind-the-scenes photo shows Logan and Quvenzhane clowning together, both striking strongman poses.
In an interview at thenovoproject.com, he said he gets artistic inspiration from everyone around him, and writes that the love of his life is “either paint or all the people I’ve known.”
February 25, 2013 - 2:51 PM
That’s a terrific photo and a terrific article. What an awesome movie and that little girl is a powerhouse performer.
Being props master on a film like this is something to be proud of forever. I do wonder if he was in charge of the taxidermized Alligator Gar.
Maybe his mom can shed light? I will ask.
Dusty & Mike,
Bill gutted and built everything on the set. He was working 16 hr days, 6 days a week for 4 1/2 months. When Mr. Henry was teaching Hushpuppy to fish from the homemade pontoon, Bill was under the water holding up the fish. He was in any places during the movie, to make the scene work. Do not know why he did not end up with some kind of awful disease working in that territory.
Side Bar-Bill has worked with other independent films that had as leading actors,
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Mirrens and Bill Murray in Magic Kingdom
Jackie, that is too cool! I know you must be insanely proud and rightfully so. I run a small movie blog and I’d love to do a feature or interview with him about some of his work. I’m not promising national exposure or anything, but I’d make sure to represent him well. Let him know if you get a chance. I can be reached at facebook.com/dustyonmovies or on twitter @dustyonmovies
This may come as a shock, but my blog address is DustyOnMovies.com – I’m not too creative….
Dusty,
I will forward this to Bill and hopefully he will have time to respond. At the New York Academy of Fine Arts he is either in class or working in his studio. Thank you for the interest!
Jackie Logan