Oscars 2017: The Regulars

The Academy Award nominations were out a couple of days ago. Meryl Streep has earned her 20th nomination and will be hoping for her fourth win. Jeff Bridges with his seventh and Denzel Washington with his eighth (and first as a producer) are other celebrities who appear to be regulars at the Oscars. Matt Damon has been nominated for producing this time. But there are several technicians and musicians who are regulars at Oscars and we do not know them because they work behind the camera. This post is dedicated to them, to recognize some unsung heroes who are Oscar regulars.

• Scott Rudin: 58-year old Rudin, whose filmography as a Producer includes 'The Hours', 'The Social Network' and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' has been nominated for the eighth time for 'Fences'. He'll be hoping for his second win after 'No Country for Old Men'.
• Wylie Stateman: The Sound Editor of films like 'Born on the Fourth of July', 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'Inglourious Basterds' has won his eighth nomination with 'Deepwater Horizon'. Will he win his maiden Oscar?
• David Parker: 65-year old Parker has been the Sound Mixer for 'The English Patient' and 'The Bourne Ultimatum', winning for both. 'Rogue One' has earned him his eighth nomination and may give him his third trophy.
• Alan Robert Murray: He has already won two Oscars as a Sound Editor for 'Letters from Iwo Jima' and 'American Sniper'. 'Sully', another film by Clint Eastwood, has earned him his ninth nomination.
• Gary Summers: After being nominated for 'Return of the Jedi' and 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', this Sound Mixer won four Oscars in eight years, for 'Terminator 2', 'Jurassic Park', 'Titanic' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. With his eleventh nomination, '13 Hours', Summers may end his sixteen-year long dry run!
• Stuart Craig: 74-year old Craig won his first nomination as a Production Designer for 'The Elephant Man' (1980). He has won three times, for 'Gandhi', 'Dangerous Liaisons' and 'The English Patient'. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' has earned him his eleventh nomination, fifth with the Harry Potter franchise. He will hope to win another trophy, since it has been twenty years when he won it last.
• Colleen Atwood: 68-year old Atwood has won the award thrice for the Costume Design of 'Chicago', 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'Alice in Wonderland'. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' gives her her twelfth nomination.
• Thomas Newman: The musician who created the Original Score of 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'American Beauty', 'WALL.E', and 'Skyfall' has never won an Oscar! He is again in contention, for the fourteenth time, with 'Passengers'. The others in competition together have only half as many nominations as Newman. Will the veteran win this time?
• Greg P. Russell: 16 nominations without a single win! That must hurt! As Sound Mixer, Russell has worked on films like 'Armageddon', 'Pearl Harbor', 'Spider-Man', and 'Skyfall'. Nominated for the seventeenth time for '13 Hours', he may win that elusive trophy for the first time.
• Andy Nelson: This year's favorite, 'La La Land' gives Nelson his 21st nomination as a Sound Mixer, after 'Schindler's List', 'Braveheart', 'The Thin Red Line', 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', to name a few. A win will give him his third trophy, after 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Les Miserables'.
• Kevin O'Connell: This 59-year old Sound Mixer has won his 21st nomination with 'Hacksaw Ridge'. And he has never won an Oscar, despite working on films like 'Terms of Endearment', 'Top Gun', 'A Few Good Men', 'Apocalypto' and 'Transformers'. He will be competing with his long-term associate Greg P. Rusell, mentioned above, both for their maiden trophy.