Composer Justin Hurwitz is swimming in Oscar nominations right now, which he presumably keeps next to his Golden Globes. Hurwitz won his Globes for the score and his original song “City of Stars” from La La Land — the movie that wants to sink the Titanic as the all-time Oscar champ. La La Land got 14 Oscar nominations in total. La La Land ‘s director Damien Chazelle is also swimming in Oscar nominations. Chazelle and Hurwitz have been swimming together since their days at Harvard, a new profile at the Harvard Gazette reveals.
Chazelle and Hurwitz worked together on the musical Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, which the Harvard paper calls “Chazelle’s senior thesis and a precursor to La La Land.” The indie Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench won admirers when it played at festivals in 2009. The Hollywood Reporter called it “beguiling.” In between Guy and Madeline and La La Land, of course, there was the wicked morality tale Whiplash –– which introduced the pair to Oscar (it won three).
