Oscars 2025: Academy Award hopes for Lisburn man Nick Emerson hopes as he chases gong for hotly-tipped movie Conclave
The Oscars are the biggest night of the year for the movie world – but for one Northern Ireland man, it’s the biggest night of his entire career.
Lisburn’s own Nick Emerson is up for the ‘Best Editing’ Academy Award for his work on Conclave, a tense thriller about behind-the-scenes political wrangling in the Vatican as a new pope is elected.
A critical hit and popular success, the movie is up in a host of Oscar categories, and its cast and crew are set for an evening almost as nail-biting as the film’s twisty plot.
Tonight (2nd) Nick hits the red carpet, joining the most glamorous stars of Hollywood for the glitzy ceremony – meaning he’ll be making a rare appearance in front of the cameras, instead of his usual place behind an editing desk.
Starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, Conclave won both the Best British Film and Best Film overall categories at the Baftas last month, while Nick himself scored the trophy for Best Editing.
Now the Oscars beckon; the film is up for eight Academy Awards and after its Bafta sweep, many industry insiders have marked it as the frontrunner for the big prize of Best Picture – and, of course, Nick’s in with a good chance of scooping the editing gong.
Last month marked the first time he’s won a Bafta, after almost 30 years in TV and cinema.
Nick’s work includes the Belfast-set ‘Good Vibrations’, a 2012 movie examining the city’s late 1970s punk scene through the eyes of Terri Hooley, owner of the titular record store and label that first released music by the Undertones.
Starting his career in the BBC Northern Ireland newsroom in the late 1990s, he found the media machine an inspiration for his later work.
“I found myself doing factual TV and now feature films. It’s the process, that's the joy of it for me,” he recently told the BBC.
Anyone wanting to catch Neil’s category could have to pull a late one, however.
Although the Oscars begin late afternoon California time, over here they don’t start until a 10.30pm livestream on the digital channel ITVX.