The Oscars: Kiwis in the running

Anthony McCarten, the screenwriter of The Theory of Everything.

New Zealand writer Anthony McCarten has two Academy Award nominations for his work on the Stephen Hawking film, The Theory of Everything.

He is up for best adapted screenplay for the film, and, as one of the producers on the British production, his name his name appears on the Best Picture nomination.

McCarten said he was humbled by the news.

"To be in the company of such great writers and producers and artists is a tribute to our film, to our talented team who worked so hard to bring this story to life, and, most importantly, to the extraordinary example provided us all by Jane and Stephen Hawking."

"I spent a few years in Los Angeles and I used to stand outside the Baskin-Robbins and watch the limos going by, and it's a bit like Cinderella finally being invited to the ball."

Queenstown-born UK film industry veteran Tim Bevan is also a producer on Theory, which has five nominations in all, including Best Actor and Best Actress for its leads Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as well as Best Original Score.

Taranaki-born UK-based McCarten was the driving force for the film, taking years to convince the astrophysicist's first wife, Jane Hawking, that he should adapt her autobiography, Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen for the screen.

Bevan paid tribute to the writer.

"It's particularly great, from our point of view, to see Anthony McCarten recognized for his script because that's where it all began and it was a labour of love."

The novelist-playwright's previous works include co-writing the hit play Ladies' Night and directing his own scripts for the modest NZ movies Via Satellite and Show of Hands.

Among other Kiwis nominated are Weta Digital boss Joe Letteri and his team of Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist who are up for Best Visual Effects for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

It's Letteri's ninth visual effects Academy Award nomination and he's won four before.

The only nomination for Sir Peter Jackson's final Middle-earth film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, is Best Sound Editing going to the film's sound department team of Brent Burge and Jason Canovas.

Lorde, who was up for a Golden Globe this week for her Hunger Games song, Yellow Flicker Beat, missed out on a nod for best original song.