‘Argo’ receives L.A.’s Made in Hollywood award

The people behind “Argo” hope to pick up some more hardware for their trophy cases at Sunday’s Academy Awards, but in the meantime they’ve added another accolade to their accomplishments list.

On Friday, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge presented the film with the second annual Made in Hollywood award, which recognizes films that are shot primarily in Los Angeles.

“‘Argo’ is a great film that was shot in a great location: the city of Los Angeles,” LaBonge said while presenting the honor to Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer. “When filmmakers choose not to film in Los Angeles, we risk losing the creative force that makes Hollywood the entertainment capital of the world.”

Filmmakers spent 48 days in Southern California filming “Argo,” which shot in many Los Angeles locations despite being set in 1970s Iran.

The Los Angeles Times building became CIA headquarters; a private home in Hancock Park was used as the Canadian ambassador’s house; and a Veterans Affairs medical building in North Hills, with its institutional red brick facade, stood in for the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

“It even had the same number of stories as the U.S. embassy in Tehran,’’ Chris Baugh, location manager for “Argo,” told The Times in October. “It was a huge stroke of luck.”

The inaugural Made in Hollywood award was given last year to “The Artist,” which shot in locations including the Bradbury Building, the Orpheum Theatre and the American Film Institute and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

You can bet the makers of “Argo” -- which is the only one of the movies up for this year’s best picture Oscar to be filmed in Los Angeles -- are hoping they’ll have similar luck.

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