>> COMPLETE STORY: Hannah Beachler’s historic Oscar win | PHOTOS: Hannah Beachler’s Hollywood night
** PREVIOUS COVERAGE
It’s Hollywood’s biggest night, and a Raider might reign supreme.
Hannah Beachler, a 2005 Wright State University graduate and a Centerville graduate, is the first African-American to be nominated in the category for Best Production Design for her work in creating Wakanda in Marvel’s “Black Panther.” She is nominated alongside Jay Hart.
Beachler and Hart won the Critics Choice Award in the Best Production Design on Jan. 13, placing them among the front-runners to win the Oscar.
>> DAYTON PROUD! Wright State grad goes from ‘single mom working two jobs’ to Oscar nominee for ‘Black Panther’
Beachler managed a reported $30 million budget for “Black Panther” and was the first woman to work for Marvel as a production designer.
“Black Panther” has also been nominated for numerous other Academy Awards including Best Picture, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score, Original Song and Costume Design.
Credit: ROZETTE RAGO
Credit: ROZETTE RAGO
WHAT IS A PRODUCTION DESIGNER?
The choice of colors you’ll see in a film is just one of Beachler’s responsibilities. She’s one of three key people — along with the director and cinematographer — who are integral to the film. She has a hand in designing the movie’s overall look and transporting theater audiences to the environment that will help advance the story.
Beachler explained her role best during a visit with Wright State students last year.
“Production design is what everything else bounces off of — it’s architecture, it’s color palette and it’s everything in the room,” Beachler said. “I’m the first one hired after the director and first one on the job after the director. I work with producers, cinematographer, costume design and visual effects.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
This Oscar nomination makes Beachler the third person with Miami Valley roots in recent years recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oakwood-raised actress Allison Janney earned the Oscar for best actress in a supporting role last year at the 90th annual Academy Awards for “I, Tonya.” Springfield native John Legend won the 2015 Oscar for Best Original Song for “Glory”.
>> Daytonians who’ve made us proud at the big Hollywood award shows
Before that, Yellow Springs filmmaker Julia Reichert earned three Oscar nominations: Best Short Documentary (2010) for “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” Best Documentary Feature (1984) for “Seeing Red” and Best Documentary Feature (1978) for “Union Maids.”
Credit: ROZETTE RAGO
Credit: ROZETTE RAGO
BEFORE ‘BLACK PANTHER’
In addition to “Black Panther,” Beachler has received mega praise for her work on “Fruitvale Station” “Moonlight,” “Miles Ahead,” “Creed” and Beyonce’s “Lemonade.”
Beachler went to great lengths to build her career and had more than a few setbacks and rejections along the way, starting with her studies at Wright State.
“I was a single mom. I worked two jobs, and I went to school full time. If it weren’t for help from others, I would not have been able to so that,” she told us during a recent podcast interview. “I was a commuter student. There was a lot of that at Wright State, where people have families and they are going back to school and you need all the help you can get, especially nowadays.”
After college, she still had a tough road to success.
For 2013 critically acclaimed independent film “Fruitville Station” — her first job with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler — Beachler told us she drove alone from New Orleans to work on the film in California. Beachler took a pet-sitting job for a place to stay.
Credit: Amelia Robinson
Credit: Amelia Robinson
STRONG CONNECTIONS TO DAYTON
Beachler still has strong ties to Dayton.
Her father, the late Mark Beachler of Mark Beachler & Associates, lived in Kettering while her mother, Marsha, resides in Centerville.
Her sisters are also still in the area. She has given several talks at Wright State and the Neon movie theater in downtown Dayton, offering encouragement to local students, filmmakers and film fans.
Last summer, Hannah Beachler announced that she would establish a scholarship fund for Wright State University and Dayton-area high school students interested in careers in communications, media, film and entertainment fields.
In September 2018, Beachler was inducted into the Dayton Walk of Fame along with a class that included Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julia Reichert, one of Beachler’s professors at Wright State.
Beachler also was named the WSU Alumni Association’s “2018 Alumna of the Year.”
Beachler grew up in Centerville and studied fashion design at the University of Cincinnati before attending Wright State’s Motion Picture Program.
ANOTHER LOCAL CONNECTION
"A Star Is Born," another film with multiple Oscar nominations, has connections to the Miami Valley.
Bradley Cooper screened the film at the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs in October.
The movie features Yellow Springs resident and Cooper’s real-life pal Dave Chappelle, who was also there and participated in a question-and-answer session with Cooper after the screening.
In the film Chappelle plays a character called Noodles, an old friend of Cooper’s character. Chappelle’s daughter Sanaa, also has a role in the film.
“I can’t wait for everyone to see this movie, man,” Chappelle told the Yellow Springs audience. “This movie is real powerful. People don’t know what it’s like to be in entertainment or step on a big stage. This movie really does capture the content of it. It’s gut wrenching up there.”
“A Star is Born” has been nominated for Best Picture, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, and Original Song.
HOW TO WATCH
What: “The 91st Academy Awards”
When: 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24
Network: ABC
About the Authors
