'Everything Everywhere All at Once' directors Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert's Oscar journey began at Emerson College
LOS ANGELES – Sunday was a big night for Emerson College graduates Daniel Kwan, a Westboro native, and Daniel Scheinert.
The directors of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" brough home seven Oscars, including the award for Best Picture.
Kwan and Scheinert, from Birmingham, Alabama, met while studying film at Emerson in Boston. Kwan and Scheinert took home Best Director, Best Screenplay, and the film also brough home the awards for Best Supporting Actor and Actress.
Scheinert dedicated the director Oscar to "all the mommies in the world," and to his own parents.
"Thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dressing in drag as a kid, which is a threat to nobody," he said.
When they won for screenplay, Scheinert railed off the names of his favorite school teachers, saying, "you guys all inspired me and taught me to be less of a butthead."
And Kwan said "my impostor syndrome is at an all-time high." He called Scheinert "my confidence. He is the person who told me I was a storyteller before I believed it."
The pair began their career making music videos before moving on to features, occasionally directing episodes of television.
Kwan becomes the third winner of Asian descent to win a directing Oscar. Chloe Zhao and Bong Joon also won the prize. The film was a boon for Asian actors, who were cast in most of the major roles, including Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan, all of whom got Oscar nominations, with Quan and Yeoh winning and Hsu losing to castmate Jamie Lee Curtis.
Another local also took home a big win as the remake of "Pinocchio" won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Haverhill native Parker Merrick was among those who worked on the film.
Merrick was a stop-motion animator for the film. He said working on the movie was a life-long dream and it was rewarding to see his work pay off.
Merrick's job included moving puppets and taking their photos in order to create animated scenes. Each second of the film takes about 12 photos.
