Oscar-Nominated 'Transformers 3' Shot Scenes in D.C.

'Transformers 3' shooting a scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Screen Junkies

Recently the press has been hounding the nation's capital for making it hard on Hollywood film shoots. First it was the Washington Post writing about the lack of tax incentives to lure big productions and too much red tape for location scouts to deal with, now it is Southern California public radio station 89.3 KPCC with a story about the few Oscar-nominated films that have been lensed in The District over the years.

But there is a ray of sunshine when it comes to filming in Washington, D.C. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" filmed scenes in Washington in October 2010 and now has a chance at winning multiple Oscars tomorrow evening in the visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing categories. Even though there was an on-set accident between a yellow Chevy Camaro—known in the film as the character Bumblebee—and a D.C. police SUV, the production was still a positive for D.C. with great publicity and money spent in the city.

So at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony tomorrow evening at Hollywood and Highland Center (formerly Kodak Theatre), there is a chance that "Transformers 3" will win as many as three Oscars and thus connect Washington, D.C. to showbiz's biggest night. Perhaps that will motivate city leaders to more aggressively pursue Hollywood productions so filmmakers are not forced to shoot in Baltimore or a studio backlot instead of the most powerful city in the world.