Here’s how LA’s Union Station is refurbishing [Photos] – Deadline

The basement of a hotel, an Al Malaikah temple and the annex at an outdoor shopping center are just a few places where the Oscars were held during its 93-year history.

But with the pandemic comes major changes in the entertainment industry, and what is the best time to change Oscar venues – in this case, the Dolby Theater is trading for the John and Donald Parkinson-designed 82-year-old Union Station in downtown Los Angeles?

As Oscar producer Stacey Sher discussed during a press conference on Saturday: ‘We are here to state a case for why cinema business,And Union Station is an iconic landmark in the film capital of the world, where features such as crime noir Union Station, the way we were, to live and die in LA, Blade Runner and The Dark Knight Rises was shot. As Deadline’s Pete Hammond wrote, Oscar producer Steven Soderbergh’s ‘manifesto’ makes the awards show look like a movie, not a TV show, at 24 frames per second, widescreen with movie recordings, also about the shoulder.

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Oscarcast production designer David Rockwell told a news conference today that this year’s inspiration comes from a setback to the elegance of former Oscars at the Biltmore and Roosevelt hotels. Both of these locations were actually considered before production was established at Union Station. The train station shows the Art Deco architecture LA is very popular, but what is important at the annual show is to create a room within a room, according to Rockwell, specifically one that is transparent.

The building lent itself to an Oscar show in its “enormous scale” and “oxygen,” enabling “horizontal scale and vertical sweeping”. In essence, the old box office at Union Station will house the main stage. The north and south porches with jacaranda trees will be used for the pre- and post-show. “The room will be used 360,” Rockwell said. “There will be camera positions throughout the room.”

One of Rockwell’s challenges in working with the yard: “Nothing can attach to the ceiling, and nothing can attach to the floor.”

The deco lighting fixtures are part of the lighting of the show, as well as the windows of the 40-foot station in the old ticket area. The contestants will sit at tables and banquets in pods of two – a nominee and a guest.

“Remember the ceremony starts at 5pm, so this production goes from daylight to night,” Rockwell said. “We will use those daylight and other production lights in the corner of the room to illuminate the stage.”

The deadline has recently ventured to Union Station, and it’s a work in progress; many of the details come to life in the last 48 hours before the show. The station remains in full operation between the Metro lines and Amtrak trains, with large areas such as the patios and the original ticket portal barred and accessible to license plate staff.

The Oscars will be broadcast live on ABC from 5pm Sunday, April 25th.

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