The AwardsWatch Podcast
Podcasts from AwardsWatch on the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG and more.

This 70th AwardsWatch Oscar podcast I am joined by someone I've followed and enjoyed listening to for a long time, Isabel Custodio. You may know her better as be kind rewind from her fantastic YouTube videos that deconstruct the Best Actress Oscar races over the last 90 years. Always succinct and thoughtful; thorough and completely engaging, Isabel's passion for the Oscars, and especially, the history of actresses, is a natural fit for the AW podcast and I am so happy she was able to come aboard in a year with such a bandwidth of roles, performances and women heading up female-fronted films and controlling the narrative in them. 

The podcast opens with Isabel talking a bit about why she loves the Oscars and actresses so much and how it got her into creating her wonderful videos. 

As we start to dig into this year's race we quickly settle on the prevailing belief that the top 3 of Glenn Close (The Wife), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite) are as closed to locked in as can be and that it's nearly a dozen others fighting for the 4-5 spots. 

While we both think those two spots look the most likely for Viola Davis (Widows), Yalitza Aparicio (ROMA) and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), each also comes with enough drawbacks that make room for a Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex), Nicole Kidman (Destroyer), Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns) or KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk), just to name a few. 

We also dive into actress wins of the past and and offer some thoughts on the concept of a musical biopic vs a musical with regards to the Golden Globes.

Isabel and I offer our predictions as well as our hopefuls to get in in such a competitive year.

This podcast runs 1h 49m 30s.

Opening: "Look at me" clip from The Favourite, The Wife clip, "One Reason" clip from A Star Is Born

Closing: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_70.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 9:37pm PDT

In this titillating 69th Oscar podcast, I am joined once again by returning guest Kyle Buchanan, newly of The New York Times where he has his own column called The Carpetbagger

Kyle and I kick the tires on all four acting categories, taking a closer look at co-leads running in Supporting (like Best Supporting Actor frontrunner Mahershala Ali for Green Book) to a seemingly barren Best Actor season (with only two 'locks' in the form of Bradley Cooper for A Star Is Born and Christian Bale for Vice) and the overflow of great contenders in this year's Best Actress race that includes locked and loaded Glenn Close in The Wife, Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. and Olivia Colman in The Favourite.

Category placement has been a jumble this last week with two studios walking back previously announced pushes: Paramount with Emily Blunt for A Quiet Place (going from Lead last week to Supporting this week) and Sony Classics, doing the same with Jonathan Pryce for The Wife.

We also take some time to talk about Black Panther as an across the board contender (including Michael B. Jordan in Supporting Actor) and why some pundits shouldn't dismiss it and Widows (from Viola Davis to Daniel Kaluuya to the film' technical mastery) as major Oscar player. 

With music Oscar Podcast #69 runs an 1h 19m.

Opening: Trailer clips from If Beale Street Could Talk and A Star Is Born.

Closing: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_69.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 2:16pm PDT

On the 68th AwardsWatch Oscar podcast I am joined by Kristy Puchko, Managing Editor of Pajiba and we dig into what we saw at the fall festivals, what we liked and didn't like with Kristy talking a bit about her recent trip to Fantastic Fest.

We land on a long conversation about A Star Is Born, talking about elements both good and bad and the differences between festival audiences and audiences at large. 

Then we move into talk about the year of 'skater' movies including Skate Kitchen, Mid90s and how much we both love Minding the Gap, how great Hereditary is (and what it's like to sit next to Kristy at a movie) and that Toni Collette should be a real Oscar contender. 

We also talk at length about stories with female and queer perspective including Eighth Grade and the upcoming Can You Ever Forgive Me? and the fantastic performances from Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. 

Kristy gets super excited to talk about The Favourite, most especially the costumes (which makes sense comes from a fashion maven such as herself).

Making sure we get some Oscar talk in there, we talk about the now defunct Popular Oscar category and why it was a bad idea. 

This podcast runs 1h 50m with music.

Opening music: "Sulk" by TR/ST

Closing music: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

 

 

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_68.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 10:41pm PDT

Since graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Brian A. Kates has edited many acclaimed films, with 14 films selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and 5 films in Cannes.

He has been honored with an Emmy Award for his work on Taking Chance, and an Emmy nomination for editing the pilot episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He also won two ACE Eddie Awards for his work on Bessie and Lackawanna Blues, in addition to two other Eddie Award nominations.

His collaborators have included Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly), Dee Rees (Bessie), Joseph Cedar (Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer), Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger), Tamara Jenkins (Private Life and The Savages), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jack Goes Boating), John Cameron Mitchell (How to Talk to Girls at Parties and Shortbus), Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer and The Butler), Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman), George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues and Nights in Rodanthe), Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project), Ross Katz (Taking Chance), John Krokidas (Kill Your Darlings), and Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals).

In addition to his work in fiction, he was Jonathan Caouette's co-editor on the groundbreaking documentary Tarnation.

His television work has included collaborations with Alfonso Cuarón (Believe), Bill Condon (The Big C), David Simon and Eric Overmeyer (Treme), and Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).

He is currently finishing his third collaboration with John Cameron Mitchell, a 10-episode original audio musical, featuring the music of Bryan Weller and Mr. Mitchell, and a cast including Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Foster, Nakhane, Bridget Everett, Justin Vivian Bond, and Laurie Anderson, entitled Homunculus.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Brian this week about his Emmy nomination for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, his summer camp background that got him into film and his collaborations with Lee Daniels and John Cameron Mitchell.

By the end it turns a bit into an impromptu gushing about his work on NBC's Kings and a promo for his new film We the Animals, which is in theaters now. GO SEE IT.

You can see Brian's work next in the upcoming Tamara Jenkins film Private Life, which will world premiere at the New York Film Festival next month.

There also might be a bit of tea spilled on an upcoming sequel to a gay classic. 

This interview runs just shy of 37m with music.

Opening: "A Wonderful Day Like Today" from The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd (Original 1965 Broadway Cast) 

Closing: "Girls Talk" by Dave Edmonds

Direct download: Brian_A_Kates_interview_.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 10:24am PDT

Christopher Scott never wanted to dance. Now he's a three-time Emmy nominee for Outstanding Choreography. 

After his mother packed him and his sister from Maryland to Hollywood to give them better opportunities, Scott defied having to enter a dance class, opting for track and field instead. "If you had told me I was going to be a dancer I would have laughed in your face," he says.

He entered Hollywood High School in the 9th grade, and applied and was accepted into the performing arts magnet program. It was in his very first semester that he checked out the school's production of West Side Story (his sister was in it and dating the "coolest guy in school") and out of sheer boredom learned the songs and the dance moves and landed a part in the production. During his four years in the program, he had leading roles in several stage productions and studied various styles of dance, particularly excelling in tap. To hone his tap dancing skills, he spent many weekends as a street performer on the Venice Beach boardwalk and the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California.

In 11th grade, three-time Emmy winning actress and choreographer Debbie Allen (and future So You Think You Can Dance judge) came to the school to audition dancers for the opening of the American Music Awards with Mariah Carey. "I feel like the luckiest kid in America," he says. It was his first paying job and when he got his paycheck (about $650) he thought 'I think I'm gonna go with this,' and his dancing career began.

Since then Chris has worked with renowned artists such as Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons, Khalid, and Gloria Estefan, and has worked on a variety of film and TV projects including the Emmy-nominated 82nd Academy Awards, Step Up 4: Revolution, Step Up 5: All InDancing with the Stars, and America’s Best Dance Crew.

In 2009, Scott teamed up with Harry Shum, Jr. to choreograph the super hero inspired web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, aka The LXD. An experiment in storytelling through dance, the series is the brainchild of writer/director/producer Jon Chu. 

In 2011, Scott made his So You Think You Can Dance debut and thereafter made frequent visits choreographing contestants' duets and group routines. He received Outstanding Choreography Emmy nominations for his work on the show in 2012 and 2014.

In my interview with the three-time Emmy nominee and Scott talks about his leap from dancer to choreographer, his love of props in routines, reveals his advice for new dancers and the song that got away - the only tune he hasn't been able to snag the rights to (yet).

Christopher Scott is nominated for Outstanding Choreography for So You Think You Can Dance.

The Emmy voting period ends August 27th at 10pm PST.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be a two-night affair on Saturday, September 8th and Sunday, September 9th.

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Monday, September 17th.

This interview runs 25m.

Opening: So You Think You Can Dance theme

Closing "Say You Won't Let Go" cover by Boyce Avenue (used by Christopher Scott in one of his nominated dance routines featuring Allison and Logan)

Direct download: Christopher_Scott_interview_.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 10:18am PDT

 
Costume designer Meghan Kasperlik has made a name for herself in the world of feature films after first cutting her teeth in the fashion industry and then television.
 
Out of college she jumped at the opportunity to work with the legendary Patricia Field (Emmy winner for Sex and the City, Oscar nominee for The Devil Wears Prada). Building her resume on shows like Hope & Faith, Cashmere Mafia and Royal Pains, Meghan made the jump to feature films, working as an assistant costume designer on The Dark Knight Rises, American Hustle, The Amazing Spider-Man 2Noah and Joy before being the head costume designer on Little Accidents, Crown Heights and It Comes at Night.
 
 
Her work on Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes brought her to the HBO movie that would earn her her first Emmy nomination, Bahrani's update of Fahrenheit 451 which made its world premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival and stars Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. 
 
In my interview with Meghan the Emmy-nominee talks about her approach to color and texture when she designs, how she's an expert second-hand shopper and some of her costume design inspirations and favorites of all time (including Keira Knightley's iconic green gown from Atonement).
 
You can see some of Meghan's most recent work on the upcoming second season of Netflix's The OA.

The Emmy voting period ends August 27th at 10pm PST.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be a two-night affair on Saturday, September 8th and Sunday, September 9th.

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Monday, September 17th.

This interview runs 23m

Opening: "Fahrenheit 451" from Fahrenheit 451 music byMatteo Zingales and Antony Partos (Milan Music)

Closing: "Resurrection" from Fahrenheit 451 music by Matteo Zingales and Antony Partos (Milan Music)

Direct download: Meghan_Kasperlik_Emmy_interview_Fahrenheit_451.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 3:35pm PDT

There are some major changes coming to the very next Oscars ceremony...and they're not good.

Yesterday, the Academy, in a bombshell announcement, revealed that they would be creating a new category: Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. 

After yet another year of dropping ratings, this attempt to secure viewership from audiences that have shelled out their money to the year’s blockbusters like Black PantherMission: Impossible Fallout and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, can be assured that ‘popular’ will now equal ‘best.’ 

The Board of Governors have also committed to a 3-hour telecast. Even though ad rates for the Oscars are still among the highest in television, the length of the Academy Awards has always been the butt of jokes, often by the host themselves. One of the ways the show intends to shorten the running time won’t be asking winners to make quicker speeches but to move some categories to commercial breaks. Other awards shows implement this already, like the Tonys or the the MTV Movie Awards, and it’s likely that categories such as Live Action Short (and its kind) will be moved there. 

The third big change won’t involve next year’s Oscars but the 92nd Academy Awards. They’re moving up from their previously announced date of February 23rd to February 9th. That is going to result in a seismic shift in every other awards show, nomination date and give pause for every studio in how they dole out their fall and winter releases. 

In this podcast, I am joined by returning guest Daniel Joyaux, freelance film writer (The Verge, Vanity Fair, Moviemaker magazine and more) and publications editor for the Sundance Film Festival.

We discuss in enraged detail each of these changes (and the real reason behind them), whether they'll be able to withstand the barrage of hate they received on social media and I posit a way that maybe, just maybe this new category nonsense might actually work the way they want it to. 

This podcast runs 1h 29m

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_67.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 10:00am PDT

Bill Groom is no stranger to the Emmys, he's a four-time winner for HBO's Boardwalk Empire. With its expansive sets and designs of Atlantic City, both the boardwalk and interiors, Groom was more than ready to take on the mid-century look of New York City for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which earned 14 Emmy nominations for its freshman season, including one for Groom's meticulously detailed production design. 

In my interview with Groom we discuss his incredible body of work which includes HBO's Vinyl, ABC's miniseries When We Rise and the feature films Eat Pray Love and Milk, the process of location vs sets and the leg work involved in recreating the period with accuracy and detail. 

Bill Groom is nominated in Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel episode "Ya Shivu v Bolshom Dome Na Kholme."

The next season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will hit Amazon in late 2018 or early 2019.

This interview runs 34m with opening and closing music.

Opening music: "Egh-choh-choh" by The Barry Sisters

Closing song: "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie

The Emmy voting period ends August 27th at 10pm PST.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be a two-night affair on Saturday, September 8th and Sunday, September 9th.

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Monday, September 17th.

Direct download: Bill_Groom_Emmy_interview_Marvelous_Mrs_Maisel.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 9:40am PDT

Cort L. Hessler, with his 2014 Emmy for Stunt Coordination on 'The Blacklist'

Cort L. Hessler lll, with his 2014 Emmy for Stunt Coordination on 'The Blacklist'

Emmy-winning stunt coordinator Cort L. Hessler lll got his start in Florida, where he grew up, at Disney when the theme park came to his high school scouting for talent. He water skied, did live shows, anything and everything that was available to him.

When Universal Studios opened in 1990 he auditioned for, and got, a Miami Vice-style show in the park's lagoon and that kicked off his film and television stunt career. With live shows and film and television being shot for onlookers and tourists to see, Hessler jumped in head first, filming stunts in the park. That led his first big break, the NBC primetime show SeaQuest 2032 starring Roy Scheider and Jonathan Brandis. Hessler doubled for Brandis and he became a go-to for water and underwater stunt work.

On The Blacklist, a job he got over Facebook while working on Blue Bloods, Hessler is proud of the level of practical stunts he employs (including more than one character on fire, CGI-free) and the safety he demands on his set.

In our chat we talk about his directorial debut on the show last season (he'll have another one next season), his favorite types of stunts, his favorite sequences from this last season, his advice for those interested in this (sometimes literally) backbreaking work, and if the Oscars will catch up to the Emmys and Screen Actors Guild in recognizing stunt work.

Season 6 of The Blacklist will return this September on NBC.

The Emmy voting period ends August 27th at 10pm PST.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be a two-night affair on Saturday, September 8th (where Hessler’s category is slotted) and Sunday, September 9th.

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Monday, September 17th.

Direct download: Cort_Hessler_The_Blacklist_interview.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 12:10pm PDT

For Ben Kutchins, his love of film and filmmaking started out the way it did for a lot of kids; finding an old 35mm camera in a parent's drawer, dusting it off and giving it a go. Looking at life through a lens became a hobby, then a passion and during college he interned, as many people who are interested in film and live in Northern California do, at Lucasfilm. That internship turned into a job but he saw the tides turning from film to digital and that he was on track to a working at a desk, which he didn't want.

Pushing back, he left a job offer from Lucasfilm and entered NYU's film program. It was everything he wanted; shooting over 60 short films, learning the language of film and learning from and with Reed Morano (Emmy-winning director of The Handmaid's Tale) and Rachel Morrison (Mudbound, and the first ever female director of photography nominated for the Cinematography Oscar).

Throughout his career Kutchins has been inspired by cinematographers like Oscar-winner Emmanuel Lubezki ("He moves the camera in the most naturalistic way that I've seen of any modern cinematographer"), Roger Deakins ("The best lighting cameraman I've ever seen), Gordon Willis ("He knows how to give each location its own beating heart") and more.

For his work on Netflix's Ozark, Kutchins earned the first Emmy nomination of his career in the category of Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour). But he'll tell you he didn't get there alone ("I take every day as a gift, I don't take that lightly"). He had been the cinematographer on a film starring Jason Bateman (The Longest Week) and that relationship earned him a spot on Bateman's team for the Emmy-nominated Netflix hit ("We get excited about the same things, we're real film nerds"). Working with Stephani Lewis (costume designer) and Derek Hill (production designer, who's also Emmy-nominated) on finding the look of Ozark, Kutchins calls it a "melding of minds" and "gearing towards the same aesthetic."

Ozark returns to Netflix for its second season on August 31st. You can watch the trailer here.

The Emmy voting period ends August 27th at 10pm PST.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be a two-night affair on Saturday, September 8th (where Kutchin's category is slotted) and Sunday, September 9th.

The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Monday, September 17th.

Direct download: Ben_Kutchins_Ozark_interview.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 8:22am PDT

This week gave us the lineups of two of the fall's biggest festivals, Venice and Toronto

On this 66th Oscar podcast, I am joined by freelance film writer (you can find his work at Vanity Fair, Moviemaker magazine and more) and publications editor for the Sundance Film Festival, Daniel Joyaux

While these festival announcements always give us great intel on how studios are positioning their fall and winter awards releases, it's often the films that are missing that give us even bigger clues. Where are Bohemian RhapsodyBoy Erased, Destroyer and Mary Queen of Scots? Some may show up at Telluride, others may be added to Toronto's lineup next month (there are still three Gala spots and 30 Special Presentation slots open).

Venice will give us premieres of Damien Chazelle's First Man, while Toronto will world premiere Steve McQueen's Widows and If Beale Street Could Talk from Barry Jenkins. Alfonso Cuarón's Roma looks set to hit every major festival - Venice, Toronto, NYFF and Telluride. All eyes will be on the follow-ups of these Oscar-winning directors.

The Cannes/Netflix kerfuffle earlier this summer proved to be the gain of both Venice and Toronto as each festival is flush with debuts from the streaming service. The Coen brothers' anthology series (which will apparently compete as a feature film for the Oscars) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Paul Greengrass's 22 July and the final film from Orson Welles, The Other Side of the Wind are all set to kick off at Venice.

I will be at the Toronto International Film Festival this year for the first time. Keep your eyes and ears open for more podcasts leading up to, at, and after TIFF.

With music this podcast runs 1h 27m.

Opening song: "Sulk" by TR/ST

Closing song: "New York City by Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_66.mp3
Category:Film Festivals -- posted at: 11:14am PDT

From left: Melissa Sweeney, Ted Sarandos, Sean Callery (photo: Image24 PR)

From left: 'Jessica Jones' creator Melissa Rosenberg, Netflix's Ted Sarandos with Sean Callery with Emmy win for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Netflix's Jessica Jones (photo: Image24 PR)

It doesn't get more Emmy-tastic in the Music Composition categories than Sean Callery.

Callery has received 17 Emmy nominations and 4 wins, making him one of the most nominated composers of all time. 10 of his Emmy nominations are for the hit Fox drama 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, where Callery composed all nine seasons and is the only composer to have been nominated every year for a series that ran more than three seasons. Altogether, Callery won three Emmys for Outstanding Music Composition for his work on 24

His fourth, and most recent win, came in 2016 for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Netflix's Jessica Jones, starring Krysten Ritter.

He also composes the music for hit series such as Showtime’s Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin, ABC’s Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland, and CBS’s Sherlock Holmes-inspired drama series Elementary, starring Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller.

I had the pleasure to chat with Sean about his prolific composing career, the intricacies of being a Television Academy judge in the Limited Series music sections, and how music is a primal form of human communication.

In our conversation, Sean talks about his first major moviegoing experiences that helped shape his own likes and inspirations with composing, including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jaws

Describing creating the Emmy-winning theme for Jessica Jones, Sean found the voice of Jones through film noir but with an original spin, playing with the playful and hardened elements of the character.  

Sean also reveals the golden piece of advice that every composer wants to hear before creating a score. 

Sean resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie.

This interview opens with his Emmy-winning main title theme from Jessica Jones and closes with music from Homeland's 7th season and sixth episode, "Species Jump."

Direct download: Sean_Callery_interview_Jul_26_2018.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 1:11pm PDT

Composer Nathan Barr has received critical acclaim for his unmatched versatility, incorporating eclectic instruments from musical cultures across the world. Nathan recently completed construction on his new 8,000 square foot personal studio in Tarzana, California that can house 50-60 musicians. The studio, Bandrika (named after the fictional country in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, which I had forgotten!), houses the original Wurlitzer pipe organ that was installed at Fox studios in 1928 that recently went through a four-year restoration. With 1,500 pipes, able to mirror hundreds of different instruments ("It's like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for music," he says.), its music can be heard in iconic films including Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Sound of Music, and Patton. Barr and his team are currently compiling a list of composers that have used the organ including Oscar winners John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann.

I chatted with the two-time Emmy-nominated composer about his work on The Americans, how his pianist mother and banjo-playing father introduced him to music in Japan at five years of age and becoming a collector of rare and unusual instruments from around the world such as a human bone trumpet from Tibet, dismantled pianos, a rare Glass Armonica, gourd cellos, many of which you can hear on any number of his original compositions. We also talk about some of his favorite composers and film scores including The Third Man and its classic zither.

Since the end of The Americans, Nathan scored the dystopian action thriller, The Domestics, starring Kate Bosworth and Tyler Hoechlin, which hit theaters June 29th and is currently scoring season two of AMC’s multi-generational western epic, The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan. He's also putting the finishing touches on his next collaboration with director Eli Roth, the upcoming adventure film The House with a Clock in Its Walls (see trailer below) starring Jack Black and two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.  The film's release on September 21 will mark the Wurlitzer's 21st-century debut for movie audiences. 2019 will find Nathan scoring Amazon’s upcoming fantasy, period drama, Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and produced by Guillermo del Toro.

Nathan Barr currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Direct download: Nathan_Barr_interview.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 7:48pm PDT

Before earning an Emmy nomination last week for her work on the series finale of Once Upon a Time, Cindy O'Connor began her career as a musical theater composer...well, actually it goes back further than that. Her parents love to regale their friends with stories of Cindy composing at the age of 5, writing song on her keyboard called "The Aku-Aku Foot Disease" while her family was living in Japan. It all began there. Flash forward to 1993, writing the music for All That He Was in collaboration with Larry Todd Johnson where she won the National Playwright Award and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for New Play. The darkly comic musical, about one man’s struggle with AIDS where the deceased functions as host and narrator, invisible among the friends and family assemble to pay him final respects, has since been produced in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and several theaters across the US.

O'Connor worked from the ground up in television and film, with Emmy-winning Oscar-nominated composer Mark Isham taking her under his wing. The two have collaborated for over a decade and share that 2018 Emmy nomination with Michael D. Simon. Throughout her musical career she's worked on the Oscar-winning film Crash, Blade, The Conjuring 2The Black Dahlia and as the composer for shows like The Black Donnellys and the television adaptation of Crash

I chatted with Cindy about her first Emmy nomination (and being the only female nominated in the Music Composition categories), jamming with Pat Benatar and the importance of advocacy for women composers and in the film and television industry. She's also a member of the Alliance of Female Composers. On September 4th she'll be a part of KCRW Presents The Future is Female: A Concert Celebrating Female Composers at The Wiltern in Los Angeles that will also include Tamar Kali (Mudbound) and Ronit Kirchman (The Sinner), both featured in 5 Female Composer You Should Know. Tickets are available here

Here is my interview with Emmy nominee Cindy O'Connor. 

Direct download: Cindy_OConnor_-_Once_Upon_a_Time_-_Interview.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 2:30pm PDT

Buckle in, kids, this is a doozy. 

On this FINAL Emmy nominations prediction podcast, I am joined by Awardsdaily TV's Joey Moser. The shade will be deep and the tea is steeped.

Starting off with the Drama categories, working our way up from Guest to Lead to Supporting and Drama Series itself, Joey and I debate if Westworld can hold its own against the return of Game of Thrones and how both will do in the face of The Handmaid's Tale's second season after a first season domination at last year's Emmys. 

Comedy gets into how the absence of Veep could find its replacement with up to three freshman shows (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, GLOW and Barry) looking for a spot in Comedy Series against the reboot of Will & Grace, Silicon Valley and frontrunner Atlanta

Limited Series and TV Movie closes the podcast and, as is often the case, we find it the most difficult to predict. 

Watch for my full list of final Emmy predictions today.

This epic podcast run 2h and 30m with music and is worth every moment. 

Opening music: Theme from Black Mirror

Closing music: Theme from Will & Grace

Direct download: Emmy_Podcast_23.mp3
Category:Emmys -- posted at: 9:23am PDT

It's Emmy season and in podcast #22 I am joined by GoldDerby contributing editor and Emmy super sleuth Riley Chow.

The Emmy nominating ballots were revealed yesterday and Riley and I begin the podcast by discussing any anomalies in the submission list and the Guest vs Supporting categories and new(ish) 50% rule.

Westworld and The Handmaid's Tale will likely make up a large portion of guest and supporting acting nominations and Riley and reveal our thoughts on where we think each show will land now that they both will face Game of Thrones

We venture into the writing and directing categories of drama, talking at length about The Americans, Game of Thrones, The Handmaid's Tale, The Crown, Stranger Things and This Is Us. I also try and make the case for Killing Eve.

In comedy we focus on Atlanta, GLOW, Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Silicon Valley and how the absence of Veep and Master of None opens the door for an interesting lineup. 

We close on the Limited Series and TV Movie categories, as bleak as they are this year, finding similar predictions with The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, The Tale, Twin Peaks: The Return and Godless and more. 

Stay tuned for more podcasts before the July 12th announcement of the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards and check in with my 2018 Emmy write-ups here.

This podcast runs 1h 14m with music.

Opening: Theme to Mindhunter

Closing: Theme to Twin Peaks: The Return

 

Direct download: Emmy_Podcast_22.mp3
Category:Emmys -- posted at: 12:21pm PDT

cannes-logo

It's one week after the close of the 71st Cannes Film Festival and guest Aaron Locke, who guested on the first Cannes podcast, returns to chat with me about it. 

We talk about Aaron's impressions as a first-time visitor of the fest, those early pieces about the lack of prestige and importance of Cannes and then move into our favorites like Burning, Shoplifters and Lazzaro Felice and least favorites (sorry, Godard) of the two week extravaganza. 

We close revealing our picks for dream jury members for the future. 

With music this podcast runs 1h 5m. 

Opening music: Cannes Film Festival opening theme

Closing music: “New York City By Day” by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Cannes_Podcast_2.mp3
Category:Cannes -- posted at: 12:37pm PDT

In this very first AwardsWatch Cannes Podcast, I am joined by Aaron Locke, who will be attending the festival for the first time. This will be my third but first as press under my own moniker. We both of a slew of films we're looking forward to and why.

A truly international festival, Aaron and I chat about the new Lee Chang-Dong (Burning), Kore-eda (Shoplifters) and Knife + Heart from Yann Gonzalez. On the American side, two films are represented - Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman with John David Washington, Adam Driver and a very buzzed about Topher Grace and Under the Silver Lake from David Robert Mitchell starring Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough and again, Topher Grace. 

We also talk the interesting choice of Cannes and Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows as the festival opener and about potential controversies with the new Lars von Trier (The House That Jack Built) and Terry Gilliam (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote) in the age of #MeToo. Both films, and their directors, are likely to be under tremendous scrutiny this year, especially during the press conferences.

This is a brisk podcast, coming in at just over 45m with music. Keep your ears open for a mid-festival podcast too. 

Opening music: Cannes Film Festival opening theme

Closing music: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Cannes_Podcast_1.mp3
Category:Cannes -- posted at: 2:56pm PDT

I chatted with Screen Actors Guild nominee Leonardo Nam, star of HBO's Emmy-winning sci-fi series Westworld, which just had its second season premiere last night. We talked at length about the importance of visibility, opportunity and representation in films and television and his early role models and acting idols, Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington. 

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Korean parents and then raised in Australia, Nam knows a little something about cultural diversity. TheLA-based actor constantly defies stereotype with his versatility and is actively making sure other Asian-Pacific and Asian-American actors and filmmakers get noticed, including his ambassadorship with the Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film competition sponsored by HBO and his support of multi-cultural designers in what he wears on the red carpet. 

Nam broke big with the 2004 Paramount Pictures film The Perfect Score, playing a lead role opposite Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson but is beloved for his role of Brian McBrian in 2005's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the film's sequel (for which he was almost replaced). He talks fondly of his mentor on that film, Debra Martin Chase, who really went to bat for him for a role that was written as a blond-haired, blue-eyed guy. We might fan out over the movies juuust a little bit. Nam also reveals a touching story of a young female fan of the book who was not happy when she found out he was cast but had a change of heart once she saw him in the film.  

Talking Westworld, Nam teases a bit of what's in store for Felix's hero status after helping Maeve escape last season and what Westworld, and television like it, has to say about the state of the world today. 

Westworld season 2 airs every Sunday on HBO. Listen to the full interview below. 

Direct download: Leonardo_Nam_interview_Apr_23_2018.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 2:40pm PDT

In the first Emmy podcast of the 2017-2018 television season I am joined by a familiar voice - Vox.com's critic-at-large Todd VanDerWerff.

The first hour of this 90-minute podcast focuses heavily on the Outstanding Drama race which sees the return of Game of Thrones after taking a year off and now going up against last year's winner The Handmaid's Tale. How will that affect the return of Westworld? Its 22 nominations last year are likely to take a hit with Game of Thrones competing directly with it in multiple categories. 

Delving into comedy finds a lot of talk about Roseanne's ratings-bonanza return, the chances for One Day at a Time to stake its Emmy claim and whether or not reboot fever (that also includes Will & Grace) will find its way to nominations. With Veep out of contention this year, the door opens for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (and Amy Sherman-Palladino into the Emmy conversation) as well as HBO still having four comedies to choose from in Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Insecure and their freshman show Barry. We also talk about how FX could position Pamela Adlon and Better Things to have a much-needed conversation about Louis C.K. from one of the people closest to him. 

Finally, Todd makes a desperate plea for...well, I'll just let you listen and hear for yourself. 

This podcast runs 1h 32m with opening and closing music. 

Opening music: Westworld theme by Ramin Djawadi

Closing music: "This Is It," by Gloria Estefan - theme song for One Day at a Time


It's all down to this. 

Oscar voting is now over and the big show is on Sunday. In this 65th podcast I am thrilled to be joined by Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson

READ: Why Should I Care About the Oscars?

This podcast focuses quite a bit on the race itself, how this season has gotten us to three possible Best Picture winners, the obstacles it took to get there and how our predictions were led by passion and gut versus simple statistics. 

Will it be Three Billboards? The Shape of Water? Get Out? Or possibly something else?

With the acting categories seemingly locked up, we talk about the divergence of early critics wins versus the televised awards, the possible importance of Original Screenplay telling us something early in the show and close with the categories that always end up making or breaking your Oscar pool predictions: the shorts. 

Take a peek at the Gold Rush Gang's Final Oscar predictions here before tomorrow's publication.

This podcast runs 1h 13m with music

Intro: "And the Oscar goes to..."

Outro: "New York City by Day," by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_65.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 12:00pm PDT

In this 64th Oscar podcast, I am joined by Gold Rush Gang member Matt Dinn the day after the BAFTA awards where Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri won Best Film and the four acting frontrunners - Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) all repeated their wins from the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards in an historic sweep. 

But, is Three Billboards actually the frontrunner to win the Best Picture Oscar? Over the course of just over an hour, Matt and I make the cases for why it can and why it won't. Same for The Shape of Water. The Critics' Choice, DGA and PGA winner seems like a good bet. Or is it? Digging deeper, we discuss the path for a Get Out win in the face of seemingly insurmountable statistical odds. How much will the preferential ballot impact these three films and which stands the best odds with it? Will Original Screenplay be a deciding factor?

2018 Oscars: The State of the Race the Day Before Voting Starts and Why Get Out Can Win

With every Best Picture nominee facing one obstacle or another, stats and history start to fall by the wayside and let gut feeling and instinct and the impact of social relevance to take over. 

This podcast runs 1h 16m with music. 

Outro music: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan.

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_64.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 5:18pm PDT

It's Oscar nomination day and I have Awardsdaily's first lady of Oscar talk Sasha Stone with me to discuss and break down this morning's Oscar nominations and what the state of the race looks like now.

2018 Oscars: 90th Academy Awards Oscar Nominations

Sasha and I dig deep into where Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Shape of Water are after their SAG and PGA wins, what that Martin McDonagh director snub means and how the current brewing backlash of his film could stop it dead in Oscar's tracks. 

2018 Oscars: Who Are the Frontrunners Now?

Get Out and Lady Bird feature heavily as contenders that could find themselves with less baggage than the two guild beasts and the Academy showed this morning that they're diverging on a different path than those guilds with over-performers like Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread and under-performers like I, Tonya and Molly's Game

This podcast runs 1h 9m with music.

Intro: Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish announce the 2018 Best Picture Oscar nominees (via the Oscars' YouTube page)

Outro: "New York City By Day," by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_63.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 2:06pm PDT

It's Wednesday, January 17th and this is the FINAL Oscar nomination predictions podcast of the 2017-2018 awards season. 

Through the roller-coaster of this awards season we found ourselves without a true frontrunner until really just this month in Three Billboards but, is it? Can Get Out, Lady Bird or The Shape of Water turn the tide? How did critical frontrunners like Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) and Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) stumble once the televised awards started?

Gold Rush Gang member Bryan Bonafede and I explore this season's Oscar race in great detail: from missed opportunities, to why studios keep putting prestige releases at the end of December (and when it sometimes works like I, Tonya) and the possible look of this year's nominees through the optics of a new Academy. 

There's a handful of Producers Guild (PGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) talk as both groups announce their winners this weekend, just days before Oscar nominations. 

We break down top categories and analyze chances of outliers, discuss if Netflix will finally break through this year with Mudbound and where and finally, reveal our one nomination wish for Tuesday. 

Sit back, this podcast runs 2h 10m with music. 

Intro: Oscar nominations introduction

Outro: “New York City By Day, ” from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_62.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 1:15pm PDT

This 61st podcast is focused on the Golden Globe Awards this Sunday, January 7th and our winner predictions. 

I am joined by Gold Rush Gang member Matt Dinn and we break down what is one of the most competitive, up in the air awards seasons in years, in almost every category. 

Will there be a sweep like La La Land last year or will the HFPA want to stay away from that backlash? Will that Globes-only screening pay off in more than just nominations?

75th Golden Globe Awards Winner Predictions (Motion Picture)

Is is Ronan or Robbie? Metcalf or Janney? McDormand, Streep or Hawkins? Can Timothée Chalamet upset Gary Oldman?

With nearly every category having two and sometimes three viable contenders it's going to make for a very fun show. We think we have some good ideas on who will actually triumph in the end. 

This podcast runs 1h 11m 45s with music

Note: Between 26:20-26:30 Matt's mic dropped out

Intro: "Waiting for the Globes," from the 59th Golden Globe Awards

Outro: "New York City By Day, " from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_61.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 9:09pm PDT

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