Jason Reitman, ’99, on the set of Juno. Image from firstshowing.net

The Oscars had their inaugural year way back in 1928. It’s only fitting that USC, the first university in the United States to offer a B.A. in film in 1929, has a great tradition in the history with the little man in gold. This year is no different. Several notable USC alumn have gotten 2008 Oscar nods including a best director nomination for Jason Reitman ’99, who elicited hilarious, powerful, yet subtle performances from his actors in the off-beat comedy Juno (also up for Best Picture/Actress/Original Screenplay), about a high school girl’s unexpected pregnancy.

There’s also Robert Elswit, class of ’75, nominated in the Achievement in Cinematography for capturing the stark California landscapes and shadowy inner-workings of Daniel Day Lewis in the turn of the century oil drama, There Will be Blood.

And there’s more…

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It’s a return trip for Thorton Music School grad, James Newton Howard DMA ’69, who was nominated for the seventh time for Best Original Score for Clooney’s legal-thriller Michael Clayton. Marco Beltrami ’93 is up for the same category for his original score to the Russel Crowe/Christian Bale Western, 3:10 to Yuma.

John Knoll ’84 was part of the visual effects group nominated for achievement in visual effects for Disney’s final installment of the Jack Sparrow Saga, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

And it’s not all fiction. Adam Hyman ’98 Cinematic Arts MFA production grad, co-produced the nominated documentary Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience . USC Annenberg alumna Talleah Bridges ’02 and Megan (Parlen) Schwartzman ’05 helped on that film. Jack Lewis Jr., a ’94 Cinematic Arts writing MFA graduate deployed in Iraq with a detachment of the Army Reserves in 2004, wrote a story that is part of Operation Homecoming.

The Oscars will be presented live, Sunday – February 24, 2008 5pm PST on ABC

Information on Nominated Alumni from USC a Press Release