BF Editors’ Blog: On Location, Best Picture Nominees
The film and television industry has significant economic impact. With the upcoming 94th Academy Awards, here's a look at the filming locations for the Best Picture nominees.
T he entertainment industry is big business. Across the U.S. and the world, the economic impacts of film and television is significant and continues to grow. As an example, the American film and television industry supports 2.4 million jobs, pays out $186 billion in total wages, and comprises more than 122,000 businesses — according to an analysis of the most recent economic figures released by the Motion Picture Association. With the upcoming 94th Academy Awards, it’s interesting to look at the geographic locations where the 10 Best Picture Nominees were filmed.
Image: Adobe Stock/serhii
American Fiction. This comedy/drama was filmed in 2022 in several Massachusetts locations, including Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, and Scituate.
Anatomy of a Fall. A significant portion of this thriller was filmed in Savoie, in the French Alps.
Barbie. While the vast majority of this breakout movie of 2023 was set in “Barbie Land,” the actual locations include Venice Beach, California and England. (Barbie Land was inspired by Palm Springs, California, according to reports.)
The Holdovers. The state of Massachusetts was the location for this comedy/drama. During 2022, the production took place in Boston, Worcester, Gill and other communities.
Killers of the Flower Moon. In 2021, this drama began filming in locations across Oklahoma, including Osage County and Washington County (Pawhuska, Fairfax, and Bartlesville).
Maestro. This Leonard Bernstein biopic was filmed at locations in New York City; Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, and England.
Oppenheimer. Locations for this historic drama include Princeton, New Jersey; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Pasadena and the U.C. Berkeley campus in California.
Past Lives. This drama was filmed in South Korea, Canada, and New York City.
Poor Things. This drama was primarily filmed at a studio located in Budapest, Hungary.
The Zone of Interest. This historic drama was filmed on locations in the United Kingdom and Poland.
Business Facilities’ 19th Annual State Rankings in July 2023 highlighted locations that had led with economic impact from film and television industry in the previous year (list below). The ranking also considered existing and new incentives for the industry over that time period. Maybe we’ll see more of these ranked states among the Academy nominations in 2025.
Has your community been part of a film or television production? What economic impact has it delivered? Share your experiences and thoughts in the Comments section below.
Twice monthly, our editors dive into topics, industries, and news-of-the-day items in the BF Editors’ Blog that might be a bit different from our typical coverage. Have an interesting idea for a blog topic? Email our Associate Editor at kwilliams@groupc.com with “BF Editors’ Blog” in the subject line.
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