Valley native receives Oscar nod for 'X-Men' work

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Nominees for this year's Academy Awards were announced on Thursday morning and a Valley native received a nod for his involvement with "X-Men."

Lou Pecora is a Fresno State and Bullard High School graduate who made his way to Los Angeles in the 1990s with a goal to do visual effects. During his 17-year career he's worked on about 20 projects you may have seen on the big screen, including three "Transformers" movies, "Pirates of the Caribbean III" and "I, Robot."

Pecora says he's thrilled about the honors from the Academy but never imagined his career would take him this far. He said, "I never stopped to kind of recalibrate what I was shooting for, so getting to do visual X in movies for me was all I was really shooting for. I never really thought it would end up with me getting a nomination."

Pecora plans on taking his wife to the Oscars and says going to the awards show is something she's been wanting to do since she was a little girl.

The Oscars will take place on Sunday, Feb. 22. You can watch the ceremony live on ABC30.