Stephen Spielberg, Lady GaGa, Seth Rogan and Halle Berry.
Beautiful and bold and dressed to the nines.
The 95th Academy Awards drew the rich and the famous on Sunday night.
And the biggest winner of the night stood center stage wearing a tux that he bought at the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama.
Like I always say, I don't make this stuff up.
Daniel Scheinert grew up a creative kid in Birmingham, Alabama.
From his early days at Oak Mountain Elementary and Oak Mountain Middle schools, he thought outside box.
Daniel took part in musical theater as a kid and later attended the International Baccalaureate School in Birmingham.
He entered short films at the Birmingham Sidewalk Film Festival and headed to Emerson College in Boston.
Comedy troupes and music videos followed after he met a young man named Daniel Kwan in college.
Soon, “The Daniels” would embark on a two-year movie project called, “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
“We set out to make a movie about the chaos of modern life, and it’s a movie about focusing your attention on the people you love,” Scheinert told me days before the Oscars.
The movie resembles a runaway train, yet features a downhome, heartfelt message.
As Daniel Scheinert’s fame grew, he never forgot his roots.
His parents Ken and Becky never stopped encouraging their creative son, as Daniel would shoot many of his films in Alabama.
“My parents were very supportive of my creative endeavors, even when the endeavors were kind of abrasive and weird,” said Daniel.
Said Daniel’s mother Becky, “He was almost like static electricity- he was everywhere.”
Now, back to Daniel’s clothing of choice on Sunday night.
“Years ago Daniel bought an old tux at the Unclaimed Baggage Center as a prop,” mom Becky told me (the center serves as a hub for airline, train and bus luggage that goes unclaimed).
“He found that the suit fit him perfectly- Daniel is tall and thin, but it was a perfect match.”
“Daniel figured that he would wear it to the Oscars.”
There he was on Sunday, his film winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture.
Daniel and his business partner Daniel Kwan won for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The film also won Oscars for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
And in the midst of Hollywood royalty, Daniel Scheinert never forgot his roots.
Scheinert thanked his many teachers back in Birmingham as he accepted the Best Original Screenplay award.
He thanked his parents and his friends.
And in the company of Kate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Michael B. Jordan and Colin Farrell, there he stood.
The man raised in Alabama.
Wearing a tux from the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro.
Feeling like a million bucks.
*Pictures courtesy Jordan Strauss & AP
#Oscars2023 #academyawards #DanielScheinert
Rick Karle WVTM
