Irish likely to win the partying Oscar with historic five Academy contenders

IN THE long history of the Oscars, never before have so many Irish people had a direct stake in the awards ceremony.

With three production companies, two individual nominees and family and friends all involved, the Irish have arrived en masse in Hollywood for tomorrow night’s event at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

There are five Irish nominees and they are all billeted at the Grafton Hotel on Sunset Boulevard and an Oscar party will be held win or lose at Dillon’s Irish Pub afterwards.

The buzz around the Irish contingent was confirmed on Thursday night by the presence of Tom Cruise at the Oscar Wilde pre-Academy Awards party hosted by the US-Ireland Alliance. The Irish Film Board (IFB) has also been drumming up business and a memorandum of understanding has being signed between the Producers Guild of America and Screen Producers Ireland.

IFB head of legal and business affairs Teresa McGrane said there was “an enormous buzz” among Irish film-makers and 10 Irish production companies are over to try and get financing and help from the major studios.

"We were over in Warner Brothers and they were remarking how incredible it was for a small indie film company to get a nomination for best animation feature," she said referring to The Secret of Kellswhich is up for best animated picture.

The film is regarded as the rank outsider in its category with Up being the outright favourite, but the makers will be buoyed by a positive article about the film followed by a glowing review in the New York Times.

“We’ve won just by being here,” said Tomm Moore, the director. “It’s a huge thing to be nominated. All we’re hoping for on Sunday night is a good night. Fingers crossed for the people on the short Brown Bag film, they have a real chance.”

Quite the biggest contingent in Hollywood will come from Brown Bag Films who are nominated in the short animated film category for Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty.

There are nearly 30 people either from Brown Bag directly or family and friends. The short film’s producer Darragh O’Connell has even brought his wife and nine-month-old son Dexter to Los Angeles.

O’Connell said the week has been as much about drumming up “business for 100 people who work in Brown Bag”.

“There’s so many meetings. I just want to get back to the day job,” he said.

Having been nominated before for Give Up Yer Auld Sinsin 2002, O'Connell and the director Nicky Phelan are almost veterans of the Oscar experience.

“It’s not something you can get used to. When your name is called out, you’ll be nervous like you were never nervous before,” he said.

Their fellow Ballyfermot College of Further Education graduate Richie Bingham is the one Irish nominee who is regarded as a near certainty to win an Oscar for visual effects on the blockbuster Avatar. His family from Tallaght are all in Los Angeles for the event.

The Bray-based company Octagon Films is up for an Oscar in the short film category for The Door.

Its co-producer Louise Curran said: “The buzz is that there are three hot contenders and we’re one of them, but we just don’t know,” she said.

For those who have to stay at home, there are Oscar parties being held in the Residence on St Stephen’s Green for the Brown Bag crew and at the Set Theatre in Kilkenny for those from Cartoon Saloon who have been left behind. Both parties will have a red carpet and a fake Oscar ceremony.

The other Irish nominee is Belfast-born Peter Devlin who is up for best achievement in sound for his work on Star Trek.