The Oscar Project Podcast

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In today's episode, I interview Kat Butterfield and Daniel Audritt, directors of the short film “Life Goes On,” a darkly humorous take on a man in hospice who is forced to relive the same day over and over.

Listen to hear about the story that was ten years in the making, some time loop films that inspired this film, and the challenges of keeping a time loop film straight when it comes time to edit all the footage together.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The works of Simon Rich
• Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan
• I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
• The works of Fran Lebowitz
• You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• “Life Goes On” directed by Kat Butterfield and Daniel Audritt
• Palm Springs directed by Max Barbakow
• Groundhog Day directed by Harold Ramis
• Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
• When Harry Met Sally directed by Rob Reiner
• About Time directed by Richard Curtis
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind directed by Michel Gondry
• School of Rock directed by Richard Linklater
• Bridesmaids directed by Paul Feig
• Chef directed by Jon Favreau
• The Big Lebowski directed by Joel Coen

Follow the film on Instagram @lifegoesonfilm and Kat and Daniel @audrittbutterfield.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1931 film Tabu: A Story of the South Seas. I'm joined by James Kreul from the Moving Image Madison newsletter and we talk about how the film's pacing suffers due to trying to blend documentary filmmaking with a loose narrative structure, the film's influence on modern films set in the same region like Moana, and the sad passing of the film's director just a week before it debuted.

You can watch Tabu on Amazon Prime or YouTube or purchase a copy for yourself and be sure to check out James's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone
• Dracula directed by Tod Browning
• Nanook of the North directed by Robert J. Flaherty
• Moana directed by Robert J. Flaherty and Frances Hubbard Flaherty
• White Shadows of the South Seas directed by W.S. Van Dyke
• Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg
• Sunrise directed by F. W. Murnau
• Nosferatu directed by F. W. Murnau
• City Girl directed by F. W. Murnau
• With Byrd at the South Pole directed by Julian Johnson
• Black Pearl directed by Michał Waszyński
• The Hurricane directed by John Ford
• Mutiny on the Bounty directed by Frank Lloyd
• The Last Laugh directed by F. W. Murnau
• Trader Horn directed by W.S. Van Dyke
• Morocco directed by Josef von Sternberg
• Cimarron directed by Wesley Ruggles
• The Right to Love directed by Richard Wallace
• Svengali directed by Archie Mayo

Other referenced topics:

• B.C. (comic)
• Wizard of Id (comic)
• Zog I of Albania
• "The Star Spangled Banner"
• "The Academy and the Cameramen" from Experimental Cinema
• lantern digital library
• "Reri's Real Name is Anna" from Movie Classic
• Morduant Hall in The New York Times
• Andréas Giannopoulos on Senses of Cinema
• "Photoplayfare" by Roy W. Winton in Movie Makers
• Information on the San Francisco Film Preserve's new restoration of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

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With today's episode, The Oscar Project has official hit a huge milestone, 250 episodes! That includes over 100 interviews with authors, filmmakers, and more as well as over 80 episodes focusing on specific Oscar nominated films from the first four years of the Academy Awards.

This special episode is a bit of a history of the show, a chance to recognize everyone who has helped me turn it into what it is today, and a chance to publicly thank those closest to me without whom the show would not be possible.

Here's to 250 more episodes and thank you for listening. Please share your favorite episode of the podcast with a friend and if you'd like to drop me a message to be featured on a future episode, go to www.speakpipe.com/TheOscarProject.

Thank you for listening and I'll see you at the movies!

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In today's episode, I interview Ingrid Runde Saxegaard, director of the short film “Sandy Fannies,” a deeply personal film about the conversations we often don't have with those we love the most.

Listen to hear about the challenges of filming on a remote beach on the Norwegian coast, how the story went through many iterations before landing on its final structure, and the lengthy process of finding the two actors to play the mother and daughter featured in the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Blood Awful in Different Ways by Andrev Walden

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• “Sandy Fannies” directed by Ingrid Runde Saxegaard
• “A Mash Moss Story” directed by Ingrid Runde Saxegaard
• The Sound of Music directed by Robert Wise
• My First Love (Min første kjærlighet) directed by Mari Storstein
• Pippi Longstocking directed by Olle Hellbom
• The Florida Project directed by Sean Baker
• Mamma Mia! directed by Phyllida Lloyd
• Dreams (Sex Love) directed by Dag Johan Haugerud
• Pride and Prejudice directed by Joe Wright
• One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Follow the film on Instagram @sandyfannies_short and Ingrid @ingridsaxegaard. And if you've seen the film, don't forget to log and rate it on Letterboxd.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1931 film Cimarron. I'm joined by Kevin Pettit from the See You At the Movies newsletter and we talk about the unbelievable scale of the world created for this film, the absolute character that is Yancey Cravat, and several excellent double features that you can pair with this film.

You can watch Cimarron online or purchase a copy for yourself and be sure to check out Kevin's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Men in Black directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
• Dodgeball directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Cross Creek directed by Martin Ritt
• Rebel Without a Cause directed by Nicholas Ray
• Predator directed by John McTiernan
• Mad Max: Fury Road directed by George Miller
• Jackass: The Movie directed by Jeff Tremaine
• Killers of a Flower Moon directed by Martin Scorsese
• The Three Amigos directed by John Landis
• There Will Be Blood directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• A Few Good Men directed by Rob Reiner
• Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis
• To Kill a Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance directed by John Ford
• My Darling Clementine directed by John Ford
• The Searchers directed by John Ford
• How Green is My Valley directed by John Ford
• Stagecoach directed by John Ford
• The Ten Commandments (1923) directed by Cecil B. DeMille
• North by Northwest directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• All the President's Men directed by Alan J. Pakula
• The Addams Family (1991) directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
• Thief directed by Michael Mann
• King Kong directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
• The Broadway Melody directed by Harry Beaumont
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson

Other referenced topics:

• Full House (series)
• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (book) by David Grann
• Cimarron (book) by Edna Ferber
• Little House on the Prairie (series)
• Our Gang (series)
• Film Daily review
• Variety review
• Pauline Kael in The New Yorker
• Christopher Lloyd on Film Yap
• The Hollywood Reporter review

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In today's episode, I interview Ran Jing, director of the short film “Imprint,” a look at how topics like immigration, class, and advancing technology can all be intertwined.

Listen to hear about the genesis for the story out of a conversation she had with a friend, how the film addresses the common fear of falling behind in our society, and the challenge of casting a young actor who needed to cover a wide array of talents in the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
• The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
• A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• “Imprint” directed by Ran Jing
• The Matrix directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Gone with the Wind directed by Victor Fleming
• The Nightmare Before Christmas directed by Henry Selick
• Lust, Caution directed by Ang Lee
• Amélie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• My Neighbor Totoro directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Follow Ran on Instagram @ranjing0108.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1931 film Trader Horn. I'm joined by Rob Thomas from the Not That Rob Thomas newsletter and we talk about how the film is at times an adventure story and at others a nature documentary, the sometimes surprising amount of violence on display in the film , and the most obnoxious pith helmet this side of the Sahara.

You can watch Trader Horn online or purchase a copy for yourself and be sure to check out Rob's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• City Lights directed by Charlie Chaplin
• White Shadows in the South Seas directed by W. S. Van Dyke
• The Thin Man directed by W. S. Van Dyke
• The Great Gatsby (1949) directed by Elliott Nugent
• Forbidden Planet (1956) directed by Fred M. Wilcox
• Hallelujah! directed by King Vidor
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington directed by Frank Capra
• Mission: Impossible directed by Brian De Palma
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey (lost film) directed by Charles Brabin
• Trader Horn (1973) directed by Lewis J. Rachmil
• Trader Hornee directed by Jonathan Lucas
• Trader Horn: The Journey Back directed by Clyde Lucas
• Space Balls directed by Mel Brooks
• Cimarron directed by Wesley Ruggles
• East Lynne directed by Frank Lloyd
• The Front Page directed by Lewis Milestone
• Skippy directed by Norman Taurog

Other referenced topics:

• Trader Horn (book) by Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn and Ethelreda Lewis
• Doom Patrol (comic)
• Doom Patrol (series)
• The Cisco Kid (series)
• New York Times review
• Time Magazine review
• Variety review
• Rip Jagger on Rip Jagger’s Dojo

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In today's episode, I interview Misha Calvert, director of the short film “Fault,” an exploration of buried trauma that threatens the career of a star tennis player on the eve of the U.S. Open.

Listen to hear about the story that was adapted from the personal story of the film's star, the potential alternate setting for the film that still comes through in the final product, and how they found the fantastic home that the film uses as its main setting.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• “Fault” directed by Misha Calvert
• Raiders of the Lost Ark directed by Steven Spielberg
• Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg
• Willow directed by Ron Howard
• The Passion of Joan of Arc directed by Carl Th. Dreyer
• The NeverEnding Story directed by Wolfgang Petersen
• "Pink Flags" directed by Misha Calvert (forthcoming)
• "The F*ckboy Diaries" directed by Misha Calvert (forthcoming)

Follow Misha on Instagram @mishacalvert and follow the film @faultfilmofficial.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1931 film Little Caesar. I'm joined by Charlotte Simmons from The Treatment newsletter and we talk about the array of differences between the novel and the film, the film's place as a foundation for many of the mob movies that have followed, and 

You can watch Little Caesar online for or purchase a copy for yourself and be sure to check out Charlotte's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Wizard of Oz directed by Victor Fleming
• Quo Vadis directed by Mervyn LeRoy
• Frankenstein directed by James Whale
• Street of Chance directed by John Cromwell
• 42nd Street directed by Lloyd Bacon
• The Irishman directed by Martin Scorsese

Other referenced topics:

• Ragtime (novel) by E. L. Doctorow
• Little Caesar (novel) by W. R. Burnett
• Law & Order (series)
• Erik Lundegaard writing on eriklundegaard.com
• New York Times review
• Variety review
• Richard Brody writing in The New Yorker

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In today's episode, I interview Guy Trevellyan, director of the short film “Plastic Surgery,” a unique take on the body horror genre mixed with awareness of a crisis with global impact.

Listen to hear about how he re-wrote a character based on his lead actress being six months pregnant, getting connected with one of the actors from the Narnia films, and the importance of sound and practical visual effects in pulling off the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• “Plastic Surgery” directed by Guy Trevellyan
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• mother! directed by Darren Aronofsky
• The Nun II directed by Michael Chaves
• The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World directed by Peter Weir
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King directed by Peter Jackson
• Seven directed by David Fincher
• Prisoners directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl directed by Gore Verbinski

Follow Guy on Instagram @GuyTrev and follow the film @plasticsurgery_film. You can also follow his company @niceguy_pictures.

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