Three Mid-Missouri women - Debbie Franklin, Katie Troesser and Belinda Van Nostrand - took home cash prizes and movie passes after winning the 2013 Local Oscar Contest.
The event is co-hosted annually by the Capital 8 Theater and the Jefferson City News Tribune.
Each of the women correctly predicted the winners in several Oscar categories. Approximately 1,142 people competed in the contest; of those, 38 cast perfect ballots. The three women were drawn at random from the correct-ballot pool.
Of the three, Franklin, of Camdenton, and Troesser, of Frankenstein, are committed movie buffs. Van Nostrand, who lives in Jefferson City, is a fan, but sometimes misses films she wants to see because she is busy. Still, it was a small thrill to win.
"It was a lucky guess," Van Nostrand said. "Usually I'm not lucky, but this time I was."
Franklin had seen most of the movies that won Oscars this year. She said Argo deserved to win Best Picture. "The Iran-Contra affair was really interesting to me. I liked the subject matter and the suspense created by the need to get the hostages out of there," she said. "I thought it was deserving of winning."
Troesser boosted her chances of
winning a prize by following the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes. "I only truly guessed on Supporting Actor," she said.
(In that category, Christoph Waltz won for "Django Unchained," an epic western by Quentin Tarantino.)
Troesser said she loves to go to the movies, but tends to see more kids' films these days.
All three women agreed Daniel Day Lewis deserved a third nod for Best Actor and were delighted to see Jennifer Lawrence's selection as Best Actress for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook.
"It was nice to see a young, down-to-earth actress win," Troesser said.
As first-place winner, Franklin took home 52 movie passes and $100. As second-place winner, Troesser took home 26 movie passes and $50. And as third-place winner, Van Nostrand took home 12 movie passes and $25.
This year, Capital 8 Theaters broadcast the ceremony live from its theater near the Capital Mall. About 30 people attended the event where movie posters and T-shirts were given away as prizes.
"People dressed up, as if they were attending the Oscars," explained Erin Stovall, assistant manager at the Capital 8. "It was a fun time. We'll probably do it again."