Celebrating Oscar-Nominated Productions Filmed in Santa Clarita

Earlier this spring, stars from around the world converged at the Academy Awards in Hollywood to celebrate the remarkable films and productions that were released in the last year. While the Academy Awards ceremonies are never short on surprises, including mistakenly announcing the wrong film as Best Picture and more recent show-stopping moments, The Oscars continue to highlight the hard-working industry professionals and their inspiring films which are recognized at this landmark occasion.
The City of Santa Clarita has a robust history of filmography with numerous productions that have used the City‘s rugged landscape as a scenic backdrop. In addition, Santa Clarita also has dozens of unique movie ranches and soundstages that previous Oscar-winning pictures have used to tell their stories. Let‘s take a closer look and celebrate the diverse set of blockbusters that have filmed scenes in Santa Clarita.
During this year‘s Academy Awards, King Richard was nominated for multiple categories, including best picture, but did you know several scenes were filmed on one of the City‘s many soundstages? The American biographical sports drama follows the life of Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams and is a must-see film for tennis players and movie-goers alike.
Santa Clarita has also been used to film scenes for previous Oscar-nominees, including Roman J. Israel Esq. where Hollywood legend Denzel Washington received a nomination in the Best Actor category during the 2018 Academy Awards. Scenes from this production include a driving sequence that was filmed in Santa Clarita‘s Newhall Pass Open Space area. Hikers can visit the beautiful open space area from the Old Road trailhead while making their way out of the City.
With six Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Movie, Clint Eastwood‘s drama, American Sniper is a must-see film recognized in 2014 for Best Sound Editing. Based on Navy Seal Chris Kyle‘s autobiography of the same title, a majority of the film‘s scenes were shot at Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, which was designed to look like the Iraqi city of Ramadi.
Speaking of diverse locations, the western streets at Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studios were used in Quinten Tarantino‘s western hit, Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx. This action-packed film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor, Christoph Waltz, and Best Original Screenplay.
All of these productions have made their mark on Santa Clarita thanks to the City‘s Film Office, which was started in 2002 and has since helped guide productions through the film permitting process, processing over 500 permits each year, contributing over $30 million in positive economic impact to the local economy on an annual basis. Filming is a great benefit to the community, with over 6,000 Santa Clarita residents currently working in the media and entertainment industry. For a full list of what has filmed in Santa Clarita, please visit FilmSantaClarita.com and follow the City‘s Film Office on social media at @FilmSantaClarita. 

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