The day before filming a scene for Nebraska, crew members photographed the Osmond Republican newsroom, detailing the location of every filing cabinet, every reporter notepad, every chair and wall hanging.
Then the editing began. Filing cabinets and chairs shifted. Reporter notebooks were tucked away. Wall hangings came down.
By the time the stars and film crew arrived on a cold, windy October morning, the Osmond Republican had been pared and recast as the community newspaper for the fictional town of Hawthorne.
Still in the frame of the Academy Award nominee for best picture of 2013: The Farm Credit Services of America calendar that I delivered to real-life editor Bernice Blecha and her staff.
If you haven’t seen Nebraska, this might be a good weekend to catch up on one of the most talked about films of the year – and not just to spot our calendar’s supporting role as an authentic newsroom prop. Nebraska is a contender Sunday night for six Academy Awards, including best director for Omaha native Alexander Payne.
Bernice met Alexander Payne when he came to her newsroom to give it the once-over. She stood across the street as Will Forte drove down State Street, parked and walked into the newspaper, over and over. She doesn’t know which shot made the final cut. Bernice hasn’t yet seen Nebraska in the theater.
The film crew used its photographs to put the newsroom back together, exactly as it had been. And right on cue, Bernice resumed her role as editor of a weekly newspaper with 700-plus subscribers, all of whom depend on her staff to track community events with the calendars that hang in the Osmond Republican. One of those calendars proved a standout.
