The Oscar Project Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

In today's episode, I interview director Nick Russell and writer Nick Musgrove, about their short film "Favourites,"  about parents who are forced to make an impossible choice. The film has been showing at festivals including Australia's Flickerfest and the San Diego International Film Festival and will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this June.

Listen to hear Nick and Nick discuss his how they developed the story for the film together, their incredible crew that they worked with, and one of the craziest dinner parties ever put together on The Oscar Project Podcast.

Books recommended in this episode include:

• Against All Odds by Craig Challen and Richard Harris
• Any Ordinary Day: Blindsides, Resilience and What Happens After the Worst Day of Your Life by Leigh Sales

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Favourites” directed by Nick Russell
• Sophie's Choice directed by Alan J. Pakula
• Mr. Black (TV Series)
• Wake in Fright directed by Ted Kotcheff
• The Grand Budapest Hotel directed by Wes Anderson
• Sideways directed by Alexander Payne
• Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers directed by Peter Jackson
• Shaun of the Dead directed by Edgar Wright
• The Prestige directed by Christopher Nolan
• Fight Club directed by David Fincher
• The Sixth Sense directed by M. Night Shyamalan
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind directed by Michel Gondry
• Eat Pray Love directed by Ryan Murphy
• No Country for Old Men directed by The Coen Brothers
• Bridesmaids directed by Paul Feig
• Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg
• Aladdin directed by Ron Clements and John Musker
• Star Wars directed by George Lucas
• Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring directed by Peter Jackson
• Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Blades of Glory directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck
• Thirteen Lives directed by Ron Howard
• The Rescue directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Follow the film and Nick Russell on Instagram @favouritesfilm and @nickrussdog and follow Nick Musgrove on Twitter @Nickmusgrove

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In today's interview, I speak with Andrew Stanley Kiste, a campus life director and life long lover of all things Disney. He has written articles and books including Walt Disney and the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, and three volumes of A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World. He joins me today to talk about his new book, The Early Life of Walt Disney. 

Listen to hear how Walt Disney's father Elias impacted how Walt became the man we know, where Walt learned his storytelling and artistic abilities, and some of the early animated creations before Walt's famous mouse Mickey.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

•  The Early Life of Walt Disney by Andrew Stanley Kiste
• The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller
• Walt Disney: an American Original by Bob Thomas
• Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire by Bob Thomas
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler
• Walt Disney's Missouri: The Roots of a Creative Genius by Brian Burnes, Dan Viets, and Robert W. Butle
• Walt in Wonderland The Silent Films of Walt Disney by Russell Merritt and J. B. Kaufman
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by David A. Bossert
• Disney War by James B. Stewart
• The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age by Jake S. Friedman
• The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt
• How Walt Disney Changed Animation Forever by Andrew Stanley Kiste (forthcoming in 2025)

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Cinderella directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs directed by David Hand
• Alice in Wonderland directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
• "Der Fuehrer's Face" directed by Jack Kinney
• "The Thrifty Pig" directed by Ford Beebe
• "Alice's Wonderland" directed by Walt Disney
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit films
• Saving Mr. Banks directed by John Lee Hancock
• Napoleon Dynamite directed by Jared Hess
• Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis
• Toy Story directed by John Lasseter

Follow Andrew on Facebook (@Andrew Kiste-Author) and check out his website and Amazon Author Page for links to all of his books. Check out his articles in Walt Disney World Magazine.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In today's episode, I am joined by Kyle, the winner of the 2024 Oscar prediction contest on The Oscar Project. We talk about a little of everything including what we liked from the 96th Academy Awards, other movies from 2023 we enjoyed, and things we're looking forward to in 2024.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
• Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
• American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
• Erasure by Percival Everett
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard
• Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

The list of films we mentioned is too long to include in the show notes, but check out the full Letterboxd list for this episode. A few films mentioned in this episode include:

• Oppenheimer directed by Christopher Nolan
• Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• The Creator directed by Gareth Edwards
• Godzilla Minus One directed by Takashi Yamazaki
• The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer
• The Killer directed by David Fincher
• The Boy of the Heron directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson
• Maestro directed by Bradley Cooper
• Killers of the Flower Moon directed by Martin Scorsese
• 20 Days in Mariupol directed by Mstyslav Chernov
• The Holdovers directed by Alexander Payne
• "The Last Repair Shop" directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
• May December directed by Todd Haynes
• How to Blow Up a Pipeline directed by Daniel Goldhaber
• Godland directed by Hlynur Pálmason
• Anatomy of a Fall directed by Justine Triet
• Society of the Snow directed by J. A. Bayona
• Asteroid City directed by Wes Anderson
• "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" directed by Wes Anderson
• Origin directed by Ava DuVernay
• The Iron Claw directed by Sean Durkin

Check out Kyle on the Picture Box Cinema Hour Podcast with Gavin.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Today I am discussing the 1928 film Sadie Thompson. The film tells the story of Sadie Thompson, a woman of questionable moral character, and Mr. Davidson, the devout missionary who makes it his mission to reform her while they are both forced to stay on a remote Pacific island. Listen now to hear about the troubles the film faced in being made, how Swanson's performance can be related to her later work in Sunset Boulevard, and as always, my own thoughts about the film.

Resources:

• Read the short story
• Read the play
• Watch the film

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In today's interview, I speak with Lisa Stein Haven, a Professor of English at Ohio University and expert in all things Charlie Chaplin. She has written extensively on the actor and director and hosted the first international Charlie Chaplin conference ever held on American soil in 2010, the 100th anniversary of Charlie's first trip to America. In addition to several works on Charlie Chaplin, she has published books about hi brother Syd Chaplin and Max Linder. She joins the show to talk about her latest book, The Early Years of Charlie Chaplin: Final Shorts and First Features. 

Listen to hear how Chaplin dealt with the media when he was making movies, what type of person Chaplin truly was, and why Chaplin has been such an inspiration to actors over the last century.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Early Years of Charlie Chaplin: Final Shorts and First Features by Lisa Stein Haven
• My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin
• Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Forthcoming book about Buster Keaton by Lisa Stein Haven
• Forthcoming book about Monty Banks by Lisa Stein Haven

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• The Gold Rush directed by Charlie Chaplin
• City Lights directed by Charlie Chaplin
• The Great Dictator directed by Charlie Chaplin
• Sunrise directed by Andrew Baird
• The Manchurian Candidate directed by John Frankenheimer
• Ed Wood directed by Tim Burton
• Raiders of the Lost Ark directed by Steven Spielberg
• North by Northwest directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Monty Banks Kickstarter

Follow Lisa on Instagram (@lisasteinhaven) and check out her Amazon Author Page for links to all of her books.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

As I announced in my spring preview episode earlier this week, today I am discussing the 1928 film The Crowd. The film focuses on the story of John and Mary Sims as they build a family together and face life's challenges in early 1900s New York City. Listen now to hear about the creative people behind the film, and as always, my own thoughts about the film.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

On today's episode, I give a quick preview of some of the things I'm working on for the podcast in the coming weeks a months. Be sure to subscribe to the show in your podcast player and follow The Oscar Project for all the updates.

• Facebook-facebook.com/TheOscarProject
• Instagram-@the_oscar_project
• X (Twitter)-@jytreberg
• Substack-theoscarproject.substack.com

I'm appearing on the next episode of The Playlist Project podcast with my friend Stacy. Check out her podcast all about the music people love at the link above.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

With the 96th Academy Awards in the book, I am joined today by Luis Mendez to discuss all the happenings at the Oscars on Sunday night.

Check out Luis at The Mendez Report and follow him on Instagram, Twitter, Threads, and Letterboxd.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

It's time for me to break down who I think will win at the Oscars this weekend. In this episode I go over all 23 categories, letting you know who I think will win the Oscar and who I think should win. They don't always match, so listen in to win your Oscar prediction pool!

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In today's episode, I interview Vincent René-lortie, the director of "Invincible",  an ode to the memory of Marc-Antoine Bernier and the tale of a young man yearning for his freedom. The film is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 96th Academy® Awards after winning Best Live Action Short Film at Chicago Children’s Film Festival in 2022 and Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma in 2023 .

Listen to hear Vincent discuss his personal connection to the story, how he got to work with some tremendous young actors and how he has dealt with being an Oscar nominee.

Books recommended by Vincent include:

• Les villes de papier by Dominique Fortier

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Invincible” directed by Vincent René-lortie
• Past Lives directed by Celine Song
• Anatomy of a Fall directed by Justine Triet
• Incendies directed by Denis Villenueve
• Crazy directed by Jean Marc Vallée
• Lost in Translation directed by Sophia Coppolla
• Amelie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• Harry Potter

Follow Vincent on Instagram @vincentrenelortie and the film Invincble @invincibleshortfilm

Support the show