Oklahoma has not gone Hollywood just yet, but several major films have selected the Sooner State for their filming location over the past few years. A film called “Minari,” which was shot in 2019 at the 260-acre Meadowlake Ranch in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, has even generated Oscar buzz. The movie, released in 2021, centers on a Korean-American family who embark on their version of the American dream when they start a farm in Arkansas in the 1980s. The movie is based on the true story of writer and director Lee Isaac Chung’s family.
“Minari” has been nominated for six Oscars, including best picture, best director, best actor, best supporting actress, best original screenplay and best original score. The Oscar awards will be presented at the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony, which will take place April 25.
“Minari” was also awarded the grand jury prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for three Screen Actors Guild awards, including best cast in a motion picture, best male actor in leading role and best female actor in a supporting role. Youn Yuh-jung, who plays the grandmother in the movie, recently took home the SAG award for best supporting actress for “Minari” and became the first Korean actress to win in the category.
Tom Warren, co-owner at Meadowlake Ranch, said several national commercials and three movies have been filmed on his property. More filmmakers are looking to rural areas like Oklahoma to shoot their projects. Another upcoming movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of David Grann’s popular nonfiction book about a series of murders of Osage tribe members in the 1920s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation case that followed, was recently filmed in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is a long way from the Chinese Theater and it may have taken the silver screen a while to discover all that the Oklahoma has to offer, but once movie stars get some red dirt on their boots, they are sure to return to where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.
Lacey Newlin can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
