Oscars Nominees – Texas Actors and Filmmakers

From Texas to the big stage of Hollywood, we are proud to recognize some Texas talent! In honor of the Oscars, the 97th Academy Awards have released their nominations list for the best actors, filmmakers, directors, and so much more. Here we have found a few nominees from the music category, and the writing (adapted screenplay) category. Our nominee Adrian Quesada has a nomination for his song “Like a Bird” from the 2023 “Sing Sing” film. Our second nominee Greg Kwedar has been recognized as a writer for the adapted screenplay. Our nominees actually ended up working on the same project known as the film “Sing Sing”. The Oscars have given the opportunity to these talented individuals to receive a set of awards due to their recognition in the film and music industry. Coming up on March 2, 2025, we will recognize a few of our nominees who represent the Lone Star State. 

Today we will dive into our list of Texas Oscars nominees, who have achieved honorable recognition and couldn’t be more proud! Here we will briefly unpack everything from their background, where they are from, and how they started.  

Music Category

Starting off, we have Adrian Quesada who was born in Laredo, Texas! Adrian wrote his original song “Like a Bird” for the “Sing Sing” film. The music and lyrics were also written along with Abraham Alexander who is also known as a musician. Adrian Quesada started to play the guitar at the age of 13 and soon ended up loving Latin music, hip-hop, and funk to name a few. Adrian started a band called Grupo Fantasma after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin. They primarily played Latin music but with funk. Fast Forward to his career, he started a band called Black Pumas which is based in Austin. His inspiration for his nominated song “Like a Bird” was to be written as a “bird being let out of its cage”, leaning towards a more genuine organic feel. 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Next up we have Greg Kwedar from Forth Worth, Texas! Greg was nominated for his screenplay in “Sing Sing”. He worked on this project with other screenwriters known as Clint Bentley, Clarence Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield. Greg Kwedar decided to pursue filmmaking after dropping out of college and starting off his career in Austin. He started off directing films, documentaries, and writing stories. Some of his projects known as Transpecos have premiered at a SXSW film festival in 2016, winning the audience award category. Today in his career he loves to portray real-life storytelling especially as he did in the film “Sing Sing”. 

Both of our nominees have been recognized for their outstanding work and have come a long way. As we know Adrian Quesada and Greg Kwedar are native Texans, and their journeys started from a sense of inspiration. Storytelling has been a powerful tool, especially for the film “Sing Sing”. Adrian Quesada’s journey and talent have come a long way from the start of a young age to being involved in bands, to writing a song in a well known film. He has found an inspirational meaning behind his nominated song, Like a Bird helping it resonate with the film. Greg Kwedar has made it all the way to Austin Texas, helping him feel inspired by the filmmaking industry. He has spent quite some time with the screenplay of Sing Sing, leading up to an Oscar nomination. His achievements in his past projects reflect his hard work and dedication to the film. We are proud of our Texas nominees!