Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet
Kentucky Film Office Congratulates Success of Kentuckians In the Film Industry

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Film Office today congratulated Louisville actress Jennifer Lawrence for her Academy Award nomination for best actress in the film “Winter’s Bone.”

“We’re proud to have an Academy Award nominee from Kentucky – especially for a young lady who has just begun her career,” First Lady Jane Beshear said. “She is a tremendous actress with great talent. I know all Kentuckians will be pulling for her to win.”

In “Winter’s Bone,” Lawrence plays a teenage girl caring for younger siblings while searching for her drug-dealing father in rural Missouri. The film has been nominated for the Academy Award for best motion picture. Lawrence, 20, also received nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild for her acting. The movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance festival.

Lawrence has appeared in television shows and several other movies since she began acting at age 14.

Mrs. Beshear noted that another actor with Kentucky connections was also recently honored with awards for his film.  William Mapother of Louisville, a member of the Kentucky Film Commission, is a lead in the science-fiction drama “Another Earth,” which was recognized at this year's Sundance Film Festival with both a Special Jury Prize for Drama and the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for Science.  The film was purchased for worldwide theatrical distribution by Fox Searchlight Films.

Mrs. Beshear said she hopes the success of both Lawrence and Mapother will call attention to the efforts in Kentucky to promote the film industry. Governor Steve Beshear proposed and signed legislation in 2009 that improved incentives offered through the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority to make Kentucky more attractive to filmmakers.

For more information about Kentucky’s film incentives, visit www.kyfilmoffice.com

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