Backstage at the Oscars: 2020

Oscar weathers the storm.

Okay, so where am I? 

I've said it for nine straight year including eight in this space—there's little more electrifying that when hit that plush Oscars burgundy carpet. Dreams are created here. Some are realized. Others are energized. It's a throwback to old Hollywood. There's nothing that can stop it. Not even the rain, and there was a lot prior to the red carpet arrivals. Everyone is there, year after year, in their quest to win (or see who wins) the thirteen-and-a-half-inch tall, eight-and-a-half pound golden statuette.

According to Adweek and Nielsen's fast national ratings, the 92nd Oscars drew 23.6 million total viewers and a 5.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demo. That's a 20% decrease in total viewers and a 31% demo drop from last year's ceremony, which had veeb watched by 29.6 million people and a 7.7 demo rating. Maybe they do need a host. Who knows.

I am happy to report that I've let my verbal contract with my agent expire. He's been missing for over a year and wasn't around for my KHL/Penguin book deal and my four movie scripts are gathering dust on his swank Avenue of the Stars corner office. I will make things happen on my own thank you. Onto more satisfying things...

So for the ninths straight year, here's my first-hand view of the happenings backstage at the 92nd Academy Awards:

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Q: I loved you in Judy. I have to say that it's, I mean, absolutely amazing performance and amazing film. So, basically, you became an extension of Judy in the film. It's almost like she transcended with you in the film.  And what I want to know is, how did you connect? What was it about Judy that connected you so closely by so in heart that you basically became her? I know you've done a lot of research, but was there anything else that you felt very close to with her that you were able to deliver such an incredible performance and become her, essentially?

credit: Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Renée Zellweger: That's really kind.  Thank you very much. I appreciate that. You know, I can't think about it. I can't extract myself from the collaboration. The only things that I would do by myself are sing in the car on the 405 in traffic, you know, for a year. So that was a lot of practice for anybody who's tried to drive down the 405.  But—and, you know, the reading and things, that was by myself. But what you're talking  about, that connectivity, that was a consequence of everybody's work on that set. Everybody was motivated by the same thing. We    just appreciate the importance of her legacy and who she was as a person and we all wanted to celebrate her. And everyday we came to work and we just tried things, we just kept trying things. And the director, Rupert Goold, called it "mining for treasure." We were all digging around in sort of the materials of her legacy, her music, her books, interviews, her television show. You know, just everything that we could find that seemed essential in conjuring her essence to tell the story.  And that was everybody's work, you know. And it was, you know, the partnership with every single department throughout. And it really was a celebration. We just came to work every day. You could feel the love, the love for Ms. Garland, and that was what we had hoped, so, and I thank you for your question.

Q: So have you called anyone? Who are you going to call first and how are you going to celebrate tonight?

RZ: Well, my phone is in somebody else's bag right now. So I haven't called anybody. But I know that my mom is with my dad and they're hanging out with their friends and they were watching TV and I told her, "Please just keep your phone on the coffee table so you can" -- so she's waiting. So I'm going to -- yeah.

Q: All right. They say that we learn a great deal in the hard times of life, but I think we learn a great deal also from success. From almost before this picture opened, people realized and began talking about how amazing your performance is, how amazing the movie is. So you've gone through this whole award after award, you know, expressions of success. How has that changed you? What has that done for you to know that you set out to do this and you did it?

RZ: Thank you.  That's a really great question. It's not something that I've actually thought about, you know. I wish I could answer you in a couple of days because I would sit with that for a second and I would really think on it, you know. Off the top of my head, if I could look back on this year of experiences, it's really nice when something that really matters to you resonates with someone else. That's -- you know, it's always a huge, wonderful kind of unexpected reaction to -- I don't know, for anyone who creates art. You write an article and somebody calls you and says, that touched me or -- you know? So it's a really nice thing and it makes me happy for everybody that, you know, that I worked with, because I watched how hard everyone worked. It always goes back to that. It always goes back to the collaboration and what you intended and what you hoped for it. And like you said, when it becomes meaningful to someone else, and it's kind of a confirmation that, "Yeah, okay, that's what we meant," you know. And this definitely was not what was on my mind when we started this experience, you know. But in my mind, when I go back to those couple of years that we shared celebrating her and telling the story and building toward it, boy, that's the blessing, isn't it? Yeah.

Q: How is this award different from the first one you won in 2004, and how have you changed as a person, as an actress?

RZ: Oh, my goodness, how much time do you have? Well, at that time, I think I was so busy that I wasn't actually in the moment. I think I had just flown home from something for Bridget Jones two or something. It's different, different perspective. I'm a little more present now.  I think that the time away and the time in between has helped me to appreciate it in a different way. I just look at it in a different way, what it represents is a little bit different.  And, obviously, this isn't ultimately -- you know, this is about this wanting to tell that story and to celebrate Judy Garland and to shine a light on, perhaps, the nuances of the circumstances of her life, which people dismiss as tragic. And, you know, the opportunity to tell a story that challenges that narrative and says, "Oh, no, no, no, no, you can't know how extraordinary a person is until you know what they struggle with and what they overcome." And, to me, that, you know, that's what this is.

RZ: Thank you, guys. Thanks so much. And good luck. My goodness, what a busy night for you all. I know you have deadlines, so good luck with those.

Onstage Speech:
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Note that Joaquin Phoenix did not come backstage for a Q&A with the media. No one held it against him; that's how he rolls. Instead I put in his acceptance speech, in which I mentally screamed "you tell them, brother...!" when he talked about second chances. Respect Mr. Phoenix.

Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

God, I’m full of so much gratitude right now. And I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room because we share the same love, the love of film, and this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life. I don’t know what I’d be without it. But I think the greatest gift that it’s given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless. I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively. And I think at times we feel, or were made to feel, that we champion difference causes, but for me, I see commonality. I think, whether we’re talking about gender inequality, or racism, or queer rights, or indigenous rights, or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice. We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity. I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world, and many of us, what we’re guilty of is an egocentric worldview, the belief that we’re the center of the universe. We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up, but human beings at our best are so inventive and creative and ingenious. And I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment. Now I have been, I have been a scoundrel in my life. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I’m grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance. And I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of humanity. When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, he said: run to the rescue with love and peace will follow. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Q: What's your Tinder profile going to say now?

Brad Pitt: (Laughs) You'll just have to look it up.

Q: Some unkind souls have suggested you had a writer throughout the speeches this award season. Say it ain't so.

BP: What, no, actually, historically, I've always been really tentative about speeches, like, they make me nervous. So this—this round, I figured if we're going to do this—like, put some, like, some real work into it and try to get comfortable, and this is the result of that. No, I definitely write them. I have some funny friends. I have some very, very funny friends that helped me with some laughs, but, no, it's, you know, it's got to come from the heart.

Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q: It's been a pleasure for all of us watching you go up awards show after awards show this season and it will certainly be something that we all remember looking back. When you look back on 2020 and this awards season, what do you want to remember?

BP: On 2020 awards season?

Q: Yes, this season, this year.

BP: What do I want to -- hell, if I know, man. I can't even catch up with—you know, what do I—again, it was—for me, it was just about getting cozy, you know, up in front of a mass of people. I know that sounds antithetical given the profession I've chosen, but it's not necessarily my thing. So that's probably what I'll remember.

Q: Brad, as referenced earlier, you had a lot of humor in your previous speeches this season, but tonight you did have your -- a political reference. What kind of prompted you to go that way?

BP: I was really disappointed with this week. And I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing, it's a sad day and I don't think we should let it slide. And I'm very serious about that.

Q: You mentioned your kids in your acceptance speech and Quentin Tarantino said that your son Maddox delivered one of the best film reviews he's ever heard. So what's his review of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood?

BP: I'm going to keep that...I just keep that to the...I keep that...that's like...I just keep that indoors.

Q: How are you going to celebrate with your kids?

BP:: Don't know yet. We'll see.

Q: In your speech you mentioned Robert Garcia. Could you talk about who Robert Garcia is and why did you decide to mention him in your speech?

BP: Robert Garcia is a dear, dear old friend of mine. He's a Teamster and I rely on him heavily and he's a lovely guy.

Q: You say this was dedicated to your kids. What would you say to them if they want to become actors? Would you let them do it and what would be the advice that you would give them -- to them.

BP: We can have that conversation if—once they are 18. And then I -- listen, I want them to follow their bliss. You know, follow their passions, whatever—whatever they are most interested in. And then it's—then I think it's about, you know, guiding as you can. But they get to try everything on and find what—where their passion lies. So, sure, why not?

Q: Are you having the time of your life? You know, you've walked up and won every single award. Is this the time of your life?

BP: Well, no. I hope not. I hope I got other shit going on. But it has been a really special—really special run. And, again, it's a community I love and friends that I've made over, you know, 30 years and they mean a lot to me, truly. And I feel a responsibility to that more than anything, more than, like, a victory lap. And so I think, like, right now I'm just looking—I think it's—I think it's time to go disappear for a little while now and, you know, get back to making things.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Q: Happy birthday.

Laura Dern: Thank you. Thank you. Will you help me for a moment? I just want to say I was in complete shock. And I forgot to say thank you to my guides in my life: Peter Levine, Jason Weinberg, Annett Wolf, Kevin Evein, and my life-long acting teacher Sandra Seacat, who I've been with since I was 18 years old. And now I can have a great night because it's a little bit of heartbreak when you haven't thanked all the people who bring you here, you know. So thank you.

Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q: Congratulations in promoting your close friends down in Australia. I have to say, so your mom's been nominated for an Oscar, your dad's been nominated for Oscars, you've been nominated for Oscars before. You are such an incredible acting family. What does it mean to be finally holding that statute tonight?

LD: Well, I went backstage, and people were telling me my mother was very moved, and that just makes me so happy to stand up and sing their praises. They literally got me here and artistically got me here as well. So it means the world. Thank you.

Q: My question is in such a divisive time culturally and politically, you mentioned about the gift of being able to talk about love through a story. What did you realize through Marriage Story that, perhaps, we should think about this year as a nation and just internationally as well?

LD: I think if a couple through heartbreak and divisiveness can come together to raise a child, then this country better get our act together. I think there is much to learn from the  story so beautifully told by Noah. And on a global level, as I mentioned, you know, we have a planet to save. So I pray we can all come together to focus on something that is not at all about politics. It's all about our home. Thank you.

Q: And I was wondering what advice you have for women who are looking to break into the film industry.

LD: Oh, said so beautifully by the filmmakers of How To Skateboard, you have to use your voice in this life. You have to stay true to yourself whoever you are. As my fourth grade teacher advised me, the best advice I got, "Keep your eyes on your own paper." And in a social media heyday, to stay true to your own inner voice and not be too focused on the noise and to feel blessed when we get to do what we love in this life. Thank you.

Q:Addressing the elephant in the room, if you had a chance to nominate any female directors, who would you nominate?

LD: If I could give this Oscar to Greta Gerwig, I would do it right now, and Lulu. I mean, there are so many beautiful films. I met the director of Honey Boy yesterday at the Independent Spirit Awards. There are great films. I think that our lens should focus, perhaps, less on the lack of accolades and more on the less -- the less opportunity that there is, and even more so the lack of second chances given to female voices. And as the business and the people with the money give more and more opportunity to extraordinary and diverse voices and representing who we want to see reflected in film, which is ourselves, we are going to be in a lot different shape. And I share this with Noah and Greta as well, who I spent my year with in art and friendship and now doing press for both films. So I would love to also see her continually awarded for all her beautiful work.

Q: I'm wondering on the note that you were just speaking about and considering Joaquin Phoenix's speech that he just gave at the BAFTAs encouraging everyone to actually look at what is happening systemically at these awards shows and in Hollywood in general, I'm wondering if you have any further thoughts about how the Oscars, how Hollywood as a whole, can be more intentionally inclusive when it comes to bringing about not just women but people of color as well?

LD: When we say, use our voice, we are talking about us, each other, in whatever industry we are in. We have power to say something. And when we don't see our culture reflected around us, we get to say something. And I think that's the biggest shift we've seen in the last couple of years is voices matter, and a community of voices rallying around the truth really matter in journalism, in this industry, and in many others. So make sure that your crew and the storytelling reflects our global community. And if you're an actor on a movie or you're the filmmaker, you're the producer, you get to say something. If you're the DP, you get to say something about your camera crew. And that matters.

Q: In Marriage Story and in Big Little Lies, you play these characters who, you know, take no crap, won't be silenced, and are very confident in who they are. And I'm just wondering who are the women in your life that inspired you in these roles? And if you had a message to little girls out there who want to be in the position that you are right now, what would it be?

LD: Well, I start with my mother, who she and my godmother, Shelley Winters, were massive influences on my life as an actor and activist, and be loud, be proud, stand by incredible sisters. You know, I have been blessed in this year to have extraordinary roles, and they said, "Wow, this year you're playing powerful women versus, you know, complicated, indigent addicts or some other reference a journalist said." And I said, "Because there are women in positions of power to play now. But five years ago, I probably wouldn't have gotten to play a leading divorce lawyer or a CEO of a major tech company because they weren't in those positions." So there are many more exciting roles to play, and the future generations are going to be the ones that lift us up and show us because they know it's their role, not because they are going to ask for permission. They're just going to do what they love, and bless them for showing us the way. Thank you all. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite
Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film, Writing (Original Screenplay)
 The Full Oscars 2020 Backstage Interview

NOTES ON THE SCORECARD:

Past Media Guy Oscars Backstage Columns: 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012

"If the Academy allows, I would like to get a Texas chainsaw, split the Oscar trophy into five and share it with all of you. Thank you, I will drink until next morning." —Bong Joon Ho

credit: Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Spike Lee with the moving tribute to Kobe Bryant:

Oscar-worthy bomb of Margot Robbie from Timothée Chalamet.

2019 Oscar-winner Regina King celebrates with 2020 Oscar-winner Brad Pitt.

Scarlett Johansson proved to be the "wow" of the arrivals.

Adapted Screenplay winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) mugs backstage with Natalie Portman.

The fun of Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus's critical insights into the role of the cinematographer continue off-screen.

The clean-up from the rain almost encroached into the celebrity arrivals.

THE envelopes...

Cats wasn't a hit, but Rebel Wilson and James Corden as cats was...

Oscar in hand, Brad Pitt takes a moment.

In a surprise move, Eminem performed his Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself" seventeen years after he won. Here, he shares a moment with Salma Hayek Pinault.

Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves in their own world.

It's all fun and games when Maya Rudolph and Kirsten Wiig are around.

Penelope Cruz and Bong Joon-Ho after one of his Oscar wins.

And the Media Guy on the Red Carpet prior to the show:

Note: Some photos courtesy of A.M.P.A.S.

Oscars Week 2020: My Picks

2019 Oscar winner Mahershala Ali during Saturday rehearsals.

I wasn't able to get the Las Vegas this year to double down on my incredible streak of picking Oscar winners. In sports gambling, they say if you pick sixty per cent winners, you'll be rich. My success rate of picking winners? How about 57 out of 68 in the major categories over the last nine years since I started covering the Oscars. Yep, that's money in the bank.

So now that I have established my Oscars dominance, let's look at the Media Guy's choices for this year's big prizes on Sunday:

Best Picture
1917
Media Guy Thoughts: It's hard to pick against the Sam Mendes-directed war movie. It's nabbed the top accolades from Golden Globes as well as the Directors and Producers guilds. No other film can boast anything similar. It's also peaking at the right time with more than $125 million at the domestic box office after a year in release and soared to number two just a weekend ago. Don't underestimate Parasite, but most likely that film will take the International Film award.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Media Guy Thoughts: Zellweger is poised to become the 21st woman to win more than one acting Oscar (she won 16 years earlier for best supporting actress in Cold Mountain). There's no denying that she was seemingly born to play the down-and-out Judy Garland in the last year of her life. She's been the favorite all awards season in this spot. As sure of a bet as there is.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Media Guy Thoughts: At all of the Oscars events where actual voters are present, I spoke 32 who said they voted for Phoenix because they like an actor's transformation into a role. I think you will agree that there was no more brazen act of transformation than Phoenix’s tugging, passionately carnal performance as the Joker. He’s widely voted by many critics to be the best actor of his generation. Those same critics can back up their ranking with awarding Phoenix his first Oscar. It’s happening.

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
Media Guy Thoughts: Toughest category on the board with a hall of fame cast vying for supporting actor prize: Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes, along with Al Pacino and Joe Pesci from The Irishman. None of these screen heroes quite delivered the complete, wide-ranging, performance as Pitt did. It's his time and wins at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards let's us know that many others agree.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Media Guy Thoughts: Everyone loves Marriage Story. Everyone loves Laura Dern. She's been nominated but fell short twice. Oscar voters love to reward a career resurgence which bodes well for a win for Dern here.

Directing
Sam Mendes, 1917
Media Guy Thoughts: In the last seven years, the top two categories (Directing and Best Picture) was split between two movies five times. So for Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) fans, it's entirely possible that if 1917 takes best picture honors, he could still take home the directing prize. When this type of split happens, the winner for directing usually comes from the larger, technically audacious film, which is why Mendes takes this no matter what.

Original Screenplay
Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won, Parasite
Media Guy Thoughts: I was leaning towards two-time original screenplay Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino, but Bong Joon Ho brings too much momentum and heat and to be denied. 

AD OF THE WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER: Heinz Oscars Snub

Heinz ketchup has joined the growing list of stars who are frustrated with being snubbed at the Oscars. I'm not kidding here. After hundreds of appearances in movies, Kraft Heinz Canada has propelled a humorous campaign into social media and it left me wondering why I didn’t come up with this myself. With the Oscars only a few days away and all of the normal buzz about snubs, Heinz’s campaign includes a brilliant spot highlighting all the cameos the iconic condiment has made in movies over the decades. It even included trying to get an official Heinz page up on IMDB.

Heinz Canada worked with the Rethink Toronto to put up an IMDB page but it was ultimately removed.

All this did was which further Heinz’s tongue-in-cheek outrage and generated a ton of free press. With IMDB playing right into its marketing plan, Heinz is asking its fans to look for the ketchup in movies and share them on their social feeds in exchange for free ketchup. Don’t offer a ketchup lover freebies because they will go seven extra miles to get the thick red stuff., with the promise of free ketchup for those who take part.

Take a look at the brilliance of this commercial:

This according to Brian Neumann, senior brand manager of condiments at Kraft Heinz Canada:

"Award season is an occasion that gets everyone talking. As we look to deliver more contextually relevant and timely content to our consumers, we wanted to find a way to join the conversation. Nothing speaks more to the iconic nature of Heinz Ketchup than our appearances in countless films. This felt like the perfect time to reward our fans for spotting us in their favorite movies"

Rethink Toronto's creative director Mike Dubrick told the Clio Muse:

"Heinz is front and center in some of the biggest movies and greatest scenes of all time. It's one of those things that once you notice it, you can't stop seeing it. As we were looking for ways to further cement the brand's iconic status, it just felt right. If Wilson the volleyball gets in the credits, why shouldn't Heinz?" 

It’s true, Wilson the Volleyball does have his own IMDB page.

The campaign’s massive response from fans has been nothing short of impressive. How will it all end? Who know, but for now, I'll have what she's having...

CREDITS
Spot Title: Heinz On Film
Creative Director: Mike Dubrick, Nicolas Quintal
Art Director: Hayley Hinkley, Vanessa Harbec
Writer: Jacquelyn Parent, Matthieu Lacombe

Mamba Mentality: The Random Cruelty of Losing Kobe Bryant

Sad and angry and thankful. That's how I feel.

First, the sad part: Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other souls perished in a helicopter crash yesterday. Kobe was only 41. I only met him twice—at an Academy Awards symposium and then backstage in the winners room when he subsequently won an Oscar for his work on Dear Basketball—and only followed his career from afar, safely in the confines of my personal man cave, so I won't invent false grief from my end when the affected family, friends and former teammates deserve this space. My condolences go out to everyone who loved him and knew him. At the same time, I am sad, and he's a guy who meant an excessive amount to me during a time when sports shouldn’t have meant so much.

Maybe I wasn't part of his life, but he was a huge part of mine. He gave joy to me in a time where joy was rationed to me. So it’s a dreadful day for Lakers fans, as well as fans of basketball in general. I cannot recall an athlete dying who crossed so many borders of industry and life, was so dear so much to so many people in so many different worlds, or was idolized so passionately by the youth looking for a clear path to their dream.

Kobe passed away before the Basketball Hall of Fame found a place for him. He's going to make it this year, as scheduled (this summer's finalists have already been announced and he will be part of the arguably the best incoming class ever). Now, they'll have the ceremony without him in Springfield, Mass., and everyone will say, "It's a proud day, but it's also a bittersweet day because he wasn't here to see it," and then they'll put up his plaque and we'll go on with our sadness.

Now, the angry part, the majority of fans who are rightfully sad and distressed love him for his basketball life, still holding near and dear his incredible play on the court. Indisputably, Kobe was as top 10 player of all time, and 18 time all star, and the greatest defensive guard of his era, maybe of any era: nine first team All-Defensive appearances and on the second team). That doesn't even begin to describe how destructive he played on that end. He was equally devastating on the offensive end. I am angry because someone I was awe in on the court was making real impact off the court. My access the Academy Awards allowed me to see his work and spend time in his presence. Hear his philosophies in candid situations, away from the cameras. He was real at that symposium. He wasn’t someone trying to grab the spotlight from Glen Keane as they spoke about his “love letter to basketball.” He spoke of the process and was thankful to his teammate who made his concept into something real. Detractors will tell you he won because of name recognition but truly this film was easily the best short film nominated that year. His relentless work ethic that drove his 20 years in the NBA also propelled drive his transformation into a business mogul, author, mentor, and advocate of women’s sports. I saw this through the prism of my media work. I am better off for the experiences. It seems impossible to find anyone in this sphere of human who did so much for so many.

The thankful part lays in his Mamba Mentality. He validated my intense love for the process of gaining success through hard work. He nicknamed himself the Mamba and it stuck and authored “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” a book where his revealed his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. We learned how he studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, and how he played through injuries. In the book he described Mamba Mentality: “To be on a constant quest to try to be the best version of yourself. That’s what the mentality is. It’s not a finite thing. It’s a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were the day before.”

I’ve been preaching this mentality in my process since I was 20 working in New York City. Be a grinder I tell my people. It’s the clear path to success. Some people can’t handle this intensity. I was far more intensive as a young person. I’ve mellowed as I hit my fifties. I don’t throw hockey pucks through glass doors, and micromanage every detail of my staff’s daily workload. But I’ve never relented on the need for following the process. Kobe was that way too. You were either on board and all in, or he didn’t want to play with you. Every player who wanted to take the easier route and cut corners by ignoring the process received my mocking smile. I did the same when others on my three decades of marketing/advertising teams got the same treatment.

Today, I am searching to make sense of all of this tragedy. I doubt I ever will. Maybe I should be thankful for the many versions of Kobe I experienced in 24 years of being near his rarefied air.

Oscars Week 2019: My Picks

This year I sent a little dinero to Las Vegas to bet on some of my Oscars picks. Why would I risk money here, you ask? Well, since you did, since I started covering the Oscars eight years ago, I have correctly selected 51 out of 61 in the major categories. At 83.6%, that practically money in the bank, I mean if, uh, I gambled. Now that my overt bragging is complete, here's the Media Guy choices for the telecast on Sunday:

9Oscars winner Allison Janney and Gary Oldman during Saturday rehearsals.

Best Picture
Green Book
Media Guy Thoughts: The outrage police will be patrolling Twitter when this one wins. A Green Book win could set the Oscars back a few years. All of the so-called progress that occurred with the Shape of Water, Moonlight, and 12 Years A Slave victories might be destroyed. The hate Green Book has generated throughout awards season is might be enough to break Twitter when Peter “I flashed Cameron Diaz" Farrelly and Nick “Muslims celebrated on 9/11” Vallelonga get on the Dolby Theatre stage to accept their award.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close, The Wife
Media Guy Thoughts: How she didn't win for Fatal Attraction will never be explained.  No other actress has ever been nominated seven times without a win. This is her seventh nom. The Academy doesn't like those kind of streaks.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Media Guy Thoughts: At all of the Oscars events where actual voters are present, I spoke with about 40 (out of 50) who said they voted for Malek. In other words, in a sample of this size, it's as close to a lock as possible.

Amy Adams and I have six Oscars noms and two Emmy wins, combined

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Media Guy Thoughts: Two wins in three years sounds about right.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Media Guy Thoughts: She was the critical darling taking the Big Three (New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and National Society of Film Critics), plus she's adored and respected. Ask one hundred critics and you will be hard-pressed to find anything but a positive story about King.

Directing
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Media Guy Thoughts: They won't give him Best Picture, but he will take this and also honors for Foreign Language Film.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Media Guy Thoughts: Spike won't win the directing honors (at least he can't say it's a white thing) so this is the shot to get him his Oscar. Get ready for the drama.

The Oscars Swag Bag

What's in the 2019 Oscars Swag Bag? Win or lose, all of the nominees are gifted swag bags filled with luxury travel packages, world-class beauty products, fine art, jewelry and even the opportunity
to give back to charities.

The "Everyone Wins" nominee gift bags were crafted by Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets, who says "Every human being, regardless of career or fame, appreciates a great gift. While our 'Everyone Wins' Gift Bag is certainly not given based on need, it is put together with a profound sense of gratitude for the incredible performances these talented individuals gave all of us this year.”

Here are some of the highlights:

One of a kind custom stained glass portrait created by glass master and artist John Thoman.

Pure Organic Maple Syrup and Glamour Gourmet Gift Set: gourmet maple products with recipes.

Millianna’s interpretation of pop culture and fashion is infused with inspiration from historical eras such as Elizabethan England and various art movements. The company employs women from the World Relief Spokane Refugee Organization to make their pieces which provides the women with meaningful work while they resettle in the US.

Nominees (and a guest) can enjoy a luxury small-ship adventure with International Expeditions. Choose one of four: an adventure to Iceland, the Galapagos, the Amazon or Costa Rica and Panama.

Proceeds from every Love Is Stronger Than Hate merchandise purchases will provide hope and healing to communities impacted by tragedy through the Stars of HOPE therapeutic arts program and the New York Says Thank You Foundation.

Managing Creatives

Okay, so where am I?

I'm still recovering from the red carpet at the Oscars. Every year, for seven straight years, the photographers pit takes a little more from me. This year I may have brought back the flu bug from either the hundred or so camera clickers or the one of the beautiful people who lined the frenzied madness of the 9Oscars Red Carpet. I mean take a look at this:

In this time after awards season, I reflect on the year ahead and the year behind me for a strategic gut check. It's important to self reflect and make sure the you keep rowing your boat in the right direction. Age has its advantages, but complacency it often the plague that diverts you from your goals. I like to circle a huge goal and assess my talents. The last couple of years netted me some great accomplishments: lots of gold and silver statues (read some of the 2016 and 2017 columns for details), some brushes with getting the Media Guy Struggles script made into a pilot (close but no cigar), and a fourth book published (pretty good). This year I'm gunning to complete the framework of a documentary I've been eyeing for a few years. I'm not sure it will be as good as Icarus or Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405, but go big or go home.

I used to know I was great at a few things, namely being able to create great ad campaigns and crafting superior media buys. This still applies today, but after careful reflection, I realized my greatest talent was politics. Not the House of Cards style politics, but the kind it takes to managing creatives and all of the drama that surrounds them. Come to think of it, the process of managing creatives extends to employees that are high performers and high potentials.

In my younger days, I was very totalitarian with a "my way or the highway" approach to managing, but today I like to say: “teams made up of diverse members who are open to taking each others' perspective perform most creatively.” I guess that's when totalitarianism meets socialism. Laugh all you want but look at my staffs for the last twentysomething years and you see one thing: low staff overturn and massive productivity.

Back in the day, I wanted everything done in a few minutes. That didn't work then and it doesn't work today. I think I finally realized that watching an episode of Mad Men where Don Draper defended his creatives to new management calling them out for being lazy:

“You came here because we do this better than you, and part of that is letting our creatives be unproductive until they are.”

So simple, and yet it pretty much says it all when it comes to effective talent management for creative people. Let them be unproductive until they are. A very difficult pill for task-oriented managers to swallow, but an absolutely crucial prescription for the creative potential.

So for those stuck on how to get the most out of your creative team, keeping them happy and motivated, let's drill down a little bit more.

The Creative Workplace

Having a creative workplace is critical to great work. I mean some agencies or departments really go to town with central meeting spaces looking more like a spoiled teenager’s bedroom with big screen televisions, PS4s, pool tables, and Slurpee machines. This where staff emerge from their office to unwind, brainstorm, bounce ideas off each other while bouncing racquet balls off the wall. Does this mean the creatives are a bunch of immature lunkheads who play all day and get very little work done? Maybe. But I say let them be unproductive until they are. The math of it all usually works out and the clients are always more than happy with the results no matter how hard they fight the process.

Employees need a work environment that inspires their creativity. This can sometimes be as simple as positive performance appraisal or by giving them the right personal music to listen to. Daydreams and pie-in-the-sky ideas produce the best inspiration because we are relaxed, calm, out from under the weight of managerial pressures.

The right colors, lighting, furniture, all have tremendous impact on our moods, energy, productivity, and creative ideas are often a reflection of the mood we are in. This is why a lot of musicians prefer to live in darkness, as it helps them tap into their anger and sadness to create some of those head banging or tear jerking songs.

Motivating the Creatives

Creatives are not paid huge salaries, and yet we often work into the evenings and over the weekends to meet important deadlines. But why would anyone do anything if the cash isn’t there? It has been proven again and again that creative people are not motivated by money. For simple tasks, yes. You offer a cash bonus to the employee who can lick the most stamps, and watch as the tongues start to fly! But offer the same incentive to whoever creates the best jingle for your company’s new cereal, and you’ll get some really lousy jingles.

“People will be most creative when they feel motivated primarily by the interest, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself, not by external pressures.” 

The Public Relations Society of America did a survey where they asked, “What matters most to you about your job?” If this were an Olympic event, money would have gone home empty-handed. Challenge and responsibility, flexibility, and a stable work environment took gold, silver and bronze respectfully, leaving money in fourth place. In fact, nine out of the top ten answers were about the work itself, the work environment, and the people they work with.

No one is given a bonus for impressing the pants off their clients with incredible ad campaign ideas. But they all beamed with pride for having worked so hard and would celebrate whenever their creativity was rewarded with a simple “Good job, the client loved it.

Be Like Garbo

Creatives work their best when there is no one hovering over them, micromanaging their every move. They like to feel autonomous, like their own boss, independent and without distraction. This can be very difficult in an open office environment, where anyone can just walk up to you and ask you a question, or where you can hear conversations happening right next to you, or constantly getting bombarded with emails and instant messages. When creatives aren’t working together to brainstorm ideas, they need to be left alone.

Want to crush someone’s creativity? Get them to fill out a progress report before they’ve finished a project. Not only will this interrupt the process, but it will make them feel watched, managed, stifled.

This is not to say that creative people don’t respect deadlines, they very much do so, but they don’t need managers on their shoulders every step of the way. They want to channel their inner Greta Garbo ("I want to be alone.")

Of course not all interaction is negative. Your employees should be encouraged to brainstorm with others as often as possible. Creation can be a lonely journey sometimes, and ideas grow exponentially when more than one brain is working on something.

“Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise” – Dale Carnegie

While creative employees give off the impression of being extremely strong and proud, lone wolves who ‘don’t need nothin’ from nobody’, who can just brush criticism off their shoulders like too much dandruff, are actually the complete opposite. They are like delicate egg shells, and can very easily crack if not handled with care.

Creatives are very sensitive, especially where their work is concerned. And while they don’t need extra money to do a good job, they definitely need a pat on the back for a job well done.

Backstage at the Oscars: 2018

Okay, so where am I? 

I've been a little fidgety because the Oscars seem so late this year. I mean I can't recall the last time the show was as late at March 4th. But today is where my dreams soar while I settle into my spot on the red carpet (which as you all should know is actually a burgundy shade of red) of the Academy Awards®. I mean, I only have three scripts written (two for film and two for television), but I sincerely believe that somehow one of these will become the perfect blend of compelling, emotional, heartfelt, and ultimately Oscar-worthy. Let it be noted that I don't want to be like that dude Terry Bryant who tried to steal Frances McDormand's statuette at the Governor's Ball. I want to earn my own.

I hope more watch the telecast though. This year the show lasted nearly four hours and tumbled 19 percent from 2017 with only 26.5 million viewers. That's easily the least-watched Oscars in history, trailing 2008 by more than 5 million. Yikes!

This still a far better audience than I received from my agent. I've been waiting for his promises to be fulfilled since we talked about traveling to Beirut together in 2006. Alas, I'm going it on my own and every year I feel like I'm being chased by the Revenant bear. I was told once that you have to persevere to success.

Here's to perseverance...

So for the seventh straight year, and without further ado, here's my take on the happenings backstage at the 90th Academy Awards:

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

A. Thank you. Don't give me anymore attention because it will all go to my head. Come on. Ask away. I'm ready. I'm ready.

Q. Please explain your comment at the end, the two words "inclusion rider."

credit: Michael Yada / A.M.P.A.S.

A. Right. I just found out about this last week. There is -- has always been available to all everybody that get -- that does a negotiation on a film, an inclusion rider which means that you can ask for and/or demand at least 50 percent diversity in not only the casting, but also the crew. And so, the fact that we -- that I just learned that after 35 years of being in the film business, it's not -- we're not going back. So the whole idea of women trending, no. No trending. African Americans trending, no. No trending. It changes now, and I think the inclusion rider will have something to do with that. Right? Power in rules.

Q. I want to ask you about a bit of a follow up to that question. The tone of the evening, obviously it's about awards, but there was certainly throughout the evening the idea that this was a different Oscars than in the past because of what has happened since October.

A. No. It actually was it happened way before that. I think that what happened last year, you know, with Moonlight winning the best picture, that's when it changed. And it had to be acknowledged. That had to be acknowledged, and it was acknowledged in the best possible way. Not just by, you know, fixing the mistake, but actually recognizing that that won Best Picture. Moonlight won Best Picture of 2017.

Q. It was about the idea that this evening was sending a message because of the activities that have happened and the revelations and women being brave enough to speak out since October. Did you feel that was handled properly and enough this evening?

A. Well, yeah. You know, it was really interesting because like I said, feeling like I was Chloe Kim doing back to back 1080s in the halfpipe, I was -- I don't do everything. As you know, I don't show up all the time. I only show up when I can and when I want to, but I was there at the Golden Globes and it's almost like there was an arc that started there. It doesn't end here. But I think publicly as a commercial, because that's what we are ‑‑ this is not ‑‑ this is not a novel.. This is a TV show after all, but I think that the message that we're getting to send to the public is that we're going to be one of the small industries that try to make a difference. And I think $21 million in the legal defense fund is a great way to start. And the commission that's being headed by Anita Hill, that's really smart. See, we didn't just -- we didn't just put out commercials about it. We actually started a conversation that will change something.

Q. Okay. Three Billboards has started a movement. Have you seen the billboards all over the world?

A. Oh, are you kidding? Off the screen and on to the street. Really exciting.

Q. Talk about that. I want to hear what your comment is about that.

A. Well, you know, recently my husband and I were in London at the BAFTAs, and we went to the Tate Modern and we saw an exhibition about the Russian Revolution -- Russian Revolution and the propaganda that was used. Now, that revolution did not go so well, so we don't want to think too much about that. But the red and black is a really, really good choice. And Martin McDonagh knew that. He was involved in the choice with the with the set design of the film to use that kind of iconography, and I think that idea that activists are taking that kind of statement and putting it out there billboards still work. They still work. So I think that it's really exciting. It started actually with the Grenfell Tower fires investigation. Then it leapfrogged to the Miami gun control situation. It was outside the UN about the Syrian situation. You know, it's a kind of -- that's the kind of power that an image can have. And that's what we're making. We're making powerful images.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Q. You asked Kazu makeup artist to work with and why do you think he's special? Computer graphic can't replace his work.

A. Do I think the computer graphic can replace his work?

Q. Yeah.

credit: Michael Yada / A.M.P.A.S.

A. I hope not. You know, the ‑‑ the clothes, makeup and clothes are the things that ‑‑ are the closest things to the actor. And they actually touch the actor.  And they are the first people that you meet in the morning and they are really ‑‑ they are vital individuals that you interact with to ‑‑ I've done motion capture and you are in a gray void with no costume, and they then CG it on you later.  So to lose that kind of connection, you know, we really ‑‑ we worked as a team. And plus, it's always easier, I think, to throw something out because something new comes along. You know, just because you can.   mean, he's a consummate artist and it was really my ‑‑ once I had stepped off the ledge, as it were, with Joe Wright, I said to Joe, it's contingent on getting Kazuhiro because, for me, he was really the only person on the planet that could have ‑‑ that could have pulled it off. I mean, I think he delivered.  Yeah.

Q. It's been almost a year since we were in Vegas, and you said if you ‑‑ if they will offer the Oscar, you wouldn't say no.  So what it really means to finally get it?

A. I didn't say no.

Q. What it means, what it means for you an Oscar, to win an Oscar?

A. I think for this role, it's got a sort of special -- it feels like it has a special significance. I can't say what it would be like to win an Oscar in any other year. But winning an Oscar for playing arguably one of the greatest Britons who ever lived. To win it for playing Winston makes it doubly special. Does that make sense? And this film and this company of actors and Joe, working again with Sarah Greenwood and Jacquie Durran and those actors on the set, it was a very -- it's been an unforgettable experience and a highlight of my career.

Q. What is it like for you meeting so many young actors and young filmmakers that have looked up to you in their youth and throughout their career and are getting to share the stage with you tonight?

A. I think we are -- the thing that I -- one of the lessons that I learned from -- from John Hurt, the late John Hurt, God bless him. When I was a younger man, went to the cinema, I looked up at, you know, Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay and Alan Bates and Peter O'Toole, and Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, they were all sort of my heroes. We are links in a chain, you know. I'm thrilled for Chalamet. He's a lovely kid. I mean, he really is. He's a kid. And he's a charmer. Hugely talented. And I said to him tonight, in the words of Armie, You will be back. You know, he's got -- this is probably it for me. He's got years. He's got years yet.

Q. This movie seems to be a lot about facing up to great fears and great obstacles. Do you think people can relate to that in their lives apart from, like, politics and stuff like on a personal level so they connect to it in the movie?

A. We all have -- I think we can all relate to -- I mean, Joe has said that there's part of the movie that is about doubt. But those insecurities and fears, we do things -- we want to do things with the best intentions. I would like to give people the benefit of the doubt and say that they are motivated by a good heart, and, you know, they have the best intentions. You know, but when you are in a position like, I think, Winston is in like he was in 1940, we see in the movie he sends 4,000 men to their death to save 300,000. And when you are in that big chair, making those decisions, though in war, those are the types of things -- those are the types of decisions that you have to make, and then of course I don't know how you then sleep soundly in your bed on the evening of the day when you sent 4,000 innocent men to their death. But you walk -- you walk in those shoes. And I think that we can all    we -- not that extent, but, you know, most people, I think, you know, in the audience, they have got financial worries. They have got children. They are trying to put the kids through college or they have illness or sickness in their family. We've all got -- and certainly, I know that I, you know, there are regrets and things. And you -- you know, that's the worst thing you can do as an artist is you can edit yourself and second guess, but I still sometimes have that little demon on my -- that little voice talking to me like that kid, you know, Mrs. Torrance.

Q. If Winston Churchill were alive today, what advice would you think he would give the leaders of the world?

A. Oh, my heavens. He would probably 

Q. Impeach Trump?

A. He would what?

Q. Impeach Trump?

A. Maybe. My God, he would give him a good talking to, wouldn't he?

Q. What would he say?

A. Well, none of them look at history. He was a big believer that you've learned -- that you've looked at history to move forward. There's an -- actually, there's an interesting thing. There was sort of a survey done, and the children were asked about Winston Churchill, and not just -- I'm not talking about nine or ten year olds, I'm talking about, you know, young, young sort of college people. And a great many of them thought that he was either a soldier in the First World War or he was a dog in a TV commercial in Britain, and there is a TV commercial called Churchill, and it's a bulldog, and he talks. It's an insurance company called Churchill. And we don't -- we don't teach history anymore, do we? They don't know anything about it.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Q. Could you tell us more about the process? How you embodied the character? How you started working on that role?

credit: Michael Baker / A.M.P.A.S.

A. Oh, it's so boring, but if you want to hear it, I can tell you the whole -- you know, it's like a big soufflé or a stew. You throw in some potatoes and some carrots in there and you work with an amazing dialect coach like Liz Himelstein who worked with Gary Oldman and Margot and Terry Knickerbocker, my acting coach. And I did some ride alongs with some cops, Josh McMullin in Southern Missouri. Liz Himelstein taped two cops, actually. There was a guy named Demer [phonetic] in L.A. I did a ride along with him. And I met with this skin graft doctor who introduced me to some burn victims, actually. I mean, but the thing is, that's if you have luxury, the luxury of time, you know, which you don't always have for a part. And then I worked with Martin and but sometimes you get a part and you only have a week or a couple days to prepare. I heard that Jeremy Renner only had four days to prepare to play Jeffrey Dahmer, which is a lot, if you are playing Jeffrey Dahmer, you know. So I had the advantage that I had, like, two or three months. And so I got to indulge in all this research. And so it was a lot of fun. So that's the long answer to your short question.

Q. You said a wonderful thing about the arc of your character being Barney Fife going into Travis Bickle.

A. Yes, yes.

Q. I'd love to ask, in any way, was Barney Fife and the great Don Knotts any inspiration to you as an actor throughout your career?

A. Absolutely. I mean that when I say Barney Fife and, you know, the town of Ebbing is very much like Mayberry, and Woody Harrelson's character is very much like the Andy Griffith character. And, in fact, I could be wrong about this, check your facts, but I think we shot in Sylva, North Carolina and I think Mayberry was shot there, but I could be wrong about that. But, you know, the goofiness of Barney Fife, the kind of hapless thing of Barney Fife, and then his transition into somebody else was just sort of -- Travis Bickle was kind of a -- Barney Fife to Travis Bickle was kind of a generalization, but it's a lot more complicated than that, obviously, but, you know, yeah.

Q. You dedicated your win to Phil Hoffman. 

A. Oh, you caught that, good.

Q. So I'm curious, as a friend and as a colleague, tell me, you know, what he meant to you, how he inspired you.

A. Well, I guess you want to start making me cry, but he's, yeah, he was an old friend of mine, and he directed me in a play at the Public Theater and, yeah, he was very close to me and he was an inspiration to all of my peers. You know, people like Jeffrey Wright, Billy Crudup, Liev Schreiber, you know, you know, everybody. Mark Ruffalo, Josh Brolin. I mean, whoever was in my age range, Phil Hoffman was the guy. And he was a great director and he believed in doing theater. In fact, he was -- he vowed to do a play a year, which I don't know if he got to do because he was very busy doing movies, but he was a great inspiration and a great theater director. And I don't know if anybody knows, he was a bit of a jock. He was a wrestler, and he played basketball, and he inspired me. And I could go on for an hour about Phil Hoffman. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a good friend and he was a huge, huge inspiration on me. Yeah.

Q. I stopped counting at 21 the awards that you won. So do you count them at all and do you feel that those were like billboards saying, Sam, you're going to win the Oscars now?

A. No, but that sounds like a really cool dream, but no, no.

Q. Can you talk about, specifically, your character and whether you take that criticism on or was that how you dealt with it and your sense of that?

A. Well, yeah. I mean, it's a complicated issue, but, I mean, Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote an article that was really amazing sort of defending the movie as far as that goes and it was really eloquent. I didn't realize he's like a cultural professor, which I didn't know, in addition to being like a basketball icon, and that was a great article that articulated everything. And I think for me, you know, the whole thing is that, you know, they have a lot of work to do, Mildred and Dixon. It's not like they are like all of a sudden redeemed at the end of the movie. They have, you know, a lot of work to do and maybe some therapy, you know. It's an ongoing thing, you know. So, and it's also it's a movie and it's a dark fairytale of some sorts. And so it's like, it's not necessarily -- in real life we probably would have gone to prison, both of our characters, so, you know. That's -- that's sort of how I see it.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Q. So winning an Oscar by yourself with no one's help, that's an awesome feat. So now that you've won this big honor on your own, how are you going to change on a day-to-day basis?

A. I have to be at a table read for Mom at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. So I am going right back to work, and I will ‑‑ I am so happy that I have a job to go to after something like this.  Because it could go to your head, and then tomorrow to wake up and feel ‑‑ and have nothing to do and have this whole journey be over. Starting in September when we premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and the whole journey we've been through is extraordinary. And it's going to be ‑‑ I'm going to have a big crash down after this.  So I'm happy that I have Mom ‑‑ the people at MOM to lift me up and keep me ‑‑ keep me going and keep me focused. And I'm just happy to have a job to go to tomorrow. But this is extraordinary. Thank you.

credit: Michael Yada / A.M.P.A.S.

Q. Hi.  So where did trophies ‑‑ I mean, you have a ton of Emmys. You've got every award leading up to this one this year. Now you have an Oscar. Was that ever part of your fantasy of what your acting career was going to be like? Or is this like this great side effect?

A. I certainly ‑‑ I kind of didn't dare to dream of things like this, because I didn't want to be disappointed. And I think at a certain point, I had given up thinking this would happen for me because I just wasn't getting the kind of roles in film that would give me attention like this, and that's what my very good friend Steven Rogers did for me. He says he did it ‑‑ wrote this for me to do just that, to show a different side of me and show that I could ‑‑ what I could do, and I will never be able to repay him. It's an extraordinary gift he gave me. It's kind of overwhelming.  I think I'm going to get him a Rolex. I don't know. What do you think? And engrave it on the back. I haven't figured out what, but I've got to get him a good present. That's a start at least.

Q. You've spoken about using your inner critic. But what is your inner voice saying right now?

A. "Bravo.  Good going, girl.  I'm proud of you."

Q. We're asking what makes a great story?

A. Oh, God. What makes a great story?  Fully realized characters, characters with ‑‑ who have big needs, wants, desires that butt up against people who don't want them to have them.  Definitely great characters and great writing.  Great writing is key. That's why I'm ‑‑ when I read a script as an actress that I get excited about like I, Tonya, American Beauty or Juno, things that ‑‑ or West Wing I've gotten to do. That just gets me so ‑‑ it makes me want to come alive, and I feel like I come alive when I do all different roles I've gotten to do.  And it's how I feel the most tethered to the earth, and I feel a communicator when I'm sit‑ ‑‑ telling others' stories. And great storytellers are great writers, and I like telling ‑‑ I like telling stories.

Q. Can you talk us through a little bit of what it was like working with Margot Robbie and director Craig Gillespie?

A. Craig Gillespie?  Yeah. I met them both ‑‑ well, I met Margot the day before I started shooting, and I really ‑‑ I only had eight days to shoot this role with them because I was doing Mom, and I was rehearsing for Six Degrees of Separation, the Broadway play I did last spring.  I've never been more busy as I was last year, so when this came together, I had no time to do it, and all of the producers made it happen, the producers of Mom and Six Degrees and Margot and Tom and Bryan, Bryan Unkeless and Tom Ackerley of LuckyChap.  They made it happen for me, and they're extraordinary.

Margot has ‑‑ she's kind of a phenomenon. Because I have no head for business whatsoever. All I know how to do was be emote [sic] and do my act. But she's got this great head for business and a beautiful heart and an artist's soul and a heart. And she's remarkable, and I cannot wait to see what she's going to accomplish in her career. She's, you know, 20‑nothing, and she's done this unbelievable performance in I, Tonya, and she's going to do extraordinary things. They're both ‑‑ and Craig's just ‑‑ he killed this movie. He just killed it.  And I mean killed in a good way. He just nailed it. He knew how to ‑‑ he knew how to get just ‑‑ was a running freight train. We had no time to shoot it, and he had the best sense of humor and best attitude, and knew how to grab things on the fly. And he's just ‑‑ remarkable man. They're both ‑‑ I've never even been to Australia, but I've got to go now.  Because, I ‑‑ yeah.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH:
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best Picture and Directing

Q. At the Golden Globes I asked you about how you balance the light and darkness and you said, "I met somebody."

A. Yes.

credit: Michael Baker / A.M.P.A.S.

Q. And you created a meme that's gone all around the world and affected millions of people. So the question is how do we keep that ‑‑ how do we help you keep that going? How do we stop the scapegoating of Mexico and really reaffirm your unique and magnificent culture?

A. I think every time we can demonstrate in any forum, be it sports, science, art, culture, anywhere, what we have to bring to the world discourse, to the world conversation, is extremely important, and it's extremely important when we do it to remember where we're from, because it's honoring your roots, honoring your country. Now I'm going ‑‑ my next stop is I'm going to see my mom and my dad this week.  I'm going back home with these two ‑‑ with these two babies.

Q. Congratulations. You spoke fondly about Fox Searchlight on stage, and I wonder if you know anything about the studio's future? Have you talked to anybody at Disney about it? Have they reached out to you? What can you say about that?

A. As they say here, it's above my pay rate. Way above my pay rate. But what I know is I'm continuing conversations with them about future projects, you know, and you form bonds with a studio, but you form bonds with individuals, with people that support you. And whatever that I ask for, it goes or stays, you continue creating.

Q. How is this a victory for Hollywood North and the production going on in Canada?  So much of this was done in Toronto.

A. What I will say when we started this, Miles [J. Miles Dale] and I, we talked very, very seriously about creating this movie with heads of departments from Canada. We wanted to ‑‑ you know, I've been there working for more than half a decade continuously, and I wanted to ‑‑ we wanted to show the talent and showcase the talent of the HODs in Canada and make it something where you don't go and use a rebate and escape. You know, you go to use the talent, you go to have the artistry, you go to have the complicit creation with everybody there.

Q. Before the movie was released, you said that you didn't dare to dream about the Oscar, but if you had the chance you wouldn't dare to write a speech and prepare that.  So my question is: Did you do it? Did you write it? Did you think about doing it? And what did you have left to say?

A. The only time I wrote a speech was on the beginning, and I pulled out the paper and I couldn't read it and, you know, I was sweating into my eyes, and I started just speaking from the heart. So, what I wanted to do ‑‑ what I did here is the same.  I thought, you know, I'm going to get there, and if I have a little piece of paper and I count down, it's horrible because you see the numbers.  So just talk about what you're feeling at that moment.

Q. I'm wondering why it is ‑‑ why did you choose Baltimore?

A. You know, I fell in love ‑‑ when I was a kid I fell in love with one of the primal trilogies in cinema for me, Barry Levinson's Baltimore trilogy, you know, and I loved the setting. And I know we screwed up with the accent.  I'm very, very, very aware with that, but what I wanted was to capture that flavor.  You know, it's such an interesting mixture, the Catholic, the industrial, how near is to the ocean, all those things, and for me it was mythical.  Levinson invented so many things in those films, and particularly important for The Shape of Water was the Tin Men and the Cadillacs in Tin Men and how they represent America, and that isn't there.  You know, I think that those three films, Avalon, Diner and Tin Men are fabulous landmarks of American cinema. And then the John Waters, man.

NOTES ON THE SCORECARD:

Past Media Guy Oscars Backstage Columns: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012

The Big Four -- Oscar-winners Sam Rockwell, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney and Gary Oldman pose backstage with their Oscar for Achievement in acting:

credit: Michael Yada / A.M.P.A.S.

Emma Stone checking out her phone, or lines, or her massive bank account:

The rare double: Kobe Bryant (with director Glen Keane) now has an Academy Award and an NBA MVP for Dear Basketball as Best Animated Short Film:

credit: Matt Sayles / A.M.P.A.S.

Jordan Peele and Nicole Kidman share a winners' chat backstage:

There was extra attention on the Envelopes this year:

Helen Mirren -- in her fourth dress -- falls in love with Uncle Oscar all over again:

Finally, my favorites from the red carpet:

The installation..

JLaw, I can't quit you...

Daniel Kaluuya staying Get Out character the entire time...

As I did in 2017, I sneaked across the red carpet to the Oscars' step and repeat… What a rush… I feel like I robbed a bank, again!:

Allison Williams being interviews with cue cards behind her...

Jordan Peele's smile...

Emma Stone's Laugh...

Armie Hammer going out of his way to prove he was acting in Call Me By Your Name during the entire red carpet experience...

Margot Robbie's Greetings...

The happiest couple I saw -- Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb...

With these captures from a special night, I hope to see you for my eighth straight year with an update from my new agent -- because my new agent went silent for the last 25 months. Poor me!