WINSTON-SALEM – It’s that time of year again.  

The Oscars and the Independent Spirit Awards are this weekend, and the North Carolina School of the Arts has connections to both! 

NCSA alumnus Angus MacLachlan (pictured) ’80 (Drama) and ’76 (Visual Arts) is nominated for Best First Screenplay for JUNEBUG in the Independent Spirit Awards, which will air live on the Independent Film Channel at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, March 4.   

Amy Adams, who is featured in JUNEBUG (but is not an alumna), is nominated for both the Independent Spirit Award and the Oscar for her “best supporting” role as Ashley. 

NCSA alumnae Celia Weston ’73 (Drama) and Beth Bostic ’81 (Drama) and ’76 (Music) also are featured in JUNEBUG, which was filmed in Winston-Salem. 

NCSA alumnus Will Files ’02 (Filmmaking) is part of the sound team (assistant sound designer) on WAR OF THE WORLDS, which is nominated for an Oscar in the Achievement in Sound Editing category.  

Files also worked on the sound teams for HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (as assistant sound designer) and STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH (as cinematic sound designer).  

Also working on Oscar-nominated films (though not in the nominated categories) were NCSA School of Design and Production alumnus Tony Fanning ’86 (art director, WAR OF THE WORLDS), and NCSA School of Drama alumna Missi Pyle ’95 (Mrs. Beauregarde, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY). 

And last, but not least, NCSA School of Music faculty member John Ellis, oboe, is featured (with Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman) on the soundtrack for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, the score for which John Williams is nominated for an Oscar. Ellis also is featured on the soundtrack for MUNICH, another John Williams score.  

The Oscars will be broadcast on ABC at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 5.

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For more information, contact Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 or carpem@ncarts.edu in the public relations office at NCSA.