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In today's episode, I interview Nazrin Choudhury, the director of "Red, White and Blue",  the story of a single mother in Arkansas who must cross state lines in search of an abortion. After winning the Grand Jury Award for Best Live Action Short at the Edmonton International Film Festival, the film is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 96th Academy® Awards.

Listen to hear Nazrin discuss how she decided to make this impactful film, what she was able to bring from working in television to making a short film, and her experience of being announced as an Oscar nominee.

Books recommended by Nazrin include:

• The Godfather Notebook by Francis Ford Coppola
• The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Red, White and Blue” directed by Nazrin Choudhury
• Punch Drunk Love directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Uncut Gems directed by Josh and Benny Safdie
• The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir
• War Horse directed by Steven Spielberg
• Fear the Walking Dead
• The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• The Godfather Part II directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Infernal Affairs directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak
• Infernal Affairs Part 2 directed by  Andrew Lau and Alan Mak
• The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese
• Incendies directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder
• Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig

Follow Nazrin on Instagram @nazrin.choudhury and the film Red, White and Blue @redwhiteandbluefilm

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In today's interview, I speak with Ryan Britt, a fiction and non-fiction author who has written for Inverse, Esquire, The New York Times, and StarTrek.com, among others. His first two books were Luke Skywalker Can’t Read and Other Geeky Truths and PHASERS ON STUN! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World. He joins me to talk about his latest book, The Spice Must Flow: The Story of Dune, from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies.

Listen to hear how Dune might have been different if it was published today, the genesis of Dune in the coastal seagrass of Oregon, and how the various film versions of Dune have had success or failure.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Dune by Frank Herbert
• New World Or No World by Frank Herbert
• A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch's Dune. An Oral History. by Max Evry
• Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert by Brian Herbert
• Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon
• The Three-Body Problem Series by Cixin Liu
• The Winner by Teddy Wayne
• The Great Man Theory by Teddy Wayne 
• Double or Nothing by Kim Sherwood 
• A Spy Like Me by Kim Sherwood 

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Star Wars directed by George Lucas
• Alien directed by Ridley Scott
• Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott
• Dune directed by David Lynch
• Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn
• Black Mirror
• Foundation
• For All Mankind
• Blade Runner 2049 directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Dune: Part 2 directed by Denis Villeneuve
• The Life Aquatic directed by Wes Anderson
• Adaptation directed by Spike Jonze
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn directed by Nicholas Meyer
• James Bond
• Star Trek First Contact directed by Jonathan Frakes

Follow Ryan on Twitter (@RyancBritt) or Instagram (@ryan.britt) and check him out at the Tucson Book Festival on March 9th.

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In this week's episode, I interview Misan Harriman, the director of "The After", a powerful and affecting story that follows a man who has to reconnect with himself and society after witnessing a devastating random attack. After its world premier at the Oscar®-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, where it won Best Live Action Short, this incredibly thought-provoking short film is officially nominated for the 96th Academy Awards and Misan is kind enough to join me today and talk about the film. 

Listen to hear Misan discuss his inspiration for the film, what he experienced being a first time filmmaker, and how he felt at being nominated for an Oscar.

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “The After” directed by Misan Harriman
• The Book of Clarence directed by Jeymes Samuel
• Timbuktu directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
• Barry Lyndon directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Cinema Paradiso directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
• Boyz in the Hood directed by John Singleton
• Scarface directed by Brian Di Palma

Follow Misan on Instagram @misanharriman

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In this week's episode, I interview Jean Chapiro, recipient of the Bronze Medal in the Documentary category at the 2023 Student Academy Awards. She was recognized for her film "Till We Find Them" which looks at the families of missing persons in Mexico as they look for their loved ones.

Listen to hear Jean discuss what drew her to documentary film, the dangers of documenting the missing persons crisis in Mexico, and what her favorite documentary film is.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Poeta Chileno by Alejandro Zambra

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Till We Find Them” directed by Jean Chapiro
• Pan's Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
• E.T. The Extraterrestrial directed by Steven Spielberg
• Edward Scissorhands directed  by Tim Burton
• The Act of Killing directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
• Four Daughters directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
• Dick Johnson is Dead directed by Kirsten Johnson
• Harry Potter
• Beetlejuice directed by Tim Burton
• Game of Thrones

Follow Jean on Instagram @jean.chap

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As we near the end of January, I'm looking back at 2023. I interviewed 10 amazing authors about their books and spoke with six filmmakers as well. There was so much new content on The Oscar Project Podcast, it was hard to pick the best bits, but here are some of my favorite parts of the interviews from 2023.

Be sure to pick up the books from all these guests and support their work.

• Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western by Mia Mask
• The Movie Lover’s Guide to London by Charlotte Booth and Brian Billington
• Lost in Translation (BFI Film Classics) by Suzanne Ferriss
• But Have You Read the Book?: 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films by Kristen Lopez
• Clint Eastwood: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work by Ian Nathan
• David Lynch: A Retrospective by Ian Nathan
• Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula by Koren Shadmi
• Horror Unmasked: The History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope by Brad Weismann
• Say Hello to My Little Friend: A Century of Scarface by Nat Segaloff
• Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by Andrew DeGraff
• The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies from Rock 'n' Roll to Synthwave by Nate Patrin

And of course, check out the work of my filmmaker interviewees

• Boom (follow boom_shortfilm on Instagram)
• Wings of Dust (follow Giorgio Ghiotto and Wings of Dust on Instagram)
• Revisited (follow Iain Forbes on Instagram)

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The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards were announced early this morning. The nominees come from 53 films across 23 categories and cover all sorts of films from dramas to comedies, blockbusters to indie darlings. There will be plenty more to come from The Oscar Project in the next month and a half, but for today, let’s just get straight to the nominees!

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In today's interview, I speak with Katie Gee Salisbury, a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Believer, and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. She also writes the newsletter Half-Caste Woman. She has spoken about her work at the Museum of Chinese in America, Barnard College, New York University, and gave a TED Talk entitled “As American as Chop Suey.” She joins me today to talk about her first book, Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong. 

Listen to hear how Anna May Wong reinvented herself and took control of her career when Hollywood wouldn't cast her in leading roles and how she changed her approach to portraying Asian characters after visiting China.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Ghosts Of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad by Gordon H. Chang
• River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit
• Swanson on Swanson by Gloria Swanson
• Anna May Wong: From Laundryman’s Daughter to Hollywood Legend by Russell Gao Hodges
• Anna May Wong: Performing the Modern by Shirley J. Lim
• Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
• How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
• Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• The Good Earth directed by Sidney Franklin
• King of Chinatown directed by Nick Grinde
• Crazy Rich Asians directed by Jon M. Chu
• The Empire Strikes Back directed by Irvin Kershner
• Swingers directed by Doug Liman
• Vertigo directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Raiders of the Lost Ark directed by Steven Spielberg
• The Little Mermaid directed by John Musker and Ron Clements

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Happy New Year! It's my first interview author of 2024, and today I speak with Saul Austerlitz, a freelance writer whose work has been published in the New York Times, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone. He is an adjunct professor of writing and comedy history at New York University, and the author of Generation Friends, Just a Shot Away, Sitcom, Another Fine Mess, and Money for Nothing. He joins me today to talk about his new book, Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century.

Listen to hear the how Adam McKay and Will Farrell created some of the most memorable scenes in the film, how the film uses the character of Veronica to comment on the male dominated newsroom culture, and why the early 2000s spawned so many great comedy films. Follow Saul's Substack called Hope in the Dark.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever by Nick de Semlyen
• Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television by Thea Glassman
• The Deluge by Stephen Markley
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy directed by Adam McKay
• Monty Python directed by Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
• Don't Look Up directed by Adam McKay
• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues directed by Adam McKay
• Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie directed by Adam McKay
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin directed by Judd Apatow
• Superbad directed by Greg Mottola
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Star Wars Franchise
• Bridesmaids directed by Paul Feig
• Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman
• Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig
• City Lights directed by Charlie Chaplin
• The Shop Around the Corner directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• Wes Anderson Netflix shorts
• Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson
• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby directed by Adam McKay

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In my third and final part of the Thanksgiving special, I interview four of the five creators of the animated short film "Boom," which won the Gold Medal in animation at the 2023 Student Academy Awards.

Listen to hear the team discuss the process for developing the story, what they enjoyed about visiting Los Angeles, and some of the movies that have inspired them.

Follow them on Instagram:

• Boom Short Film – @boom_shortfilm
• Gabriel Augerai – @gabima_ru
• Romain Augier – @romainaugierr
• Charles Di Cicco – @karlbad_art
• Laurie Pereira – @laurie.pikamin
• Yannick Jacquin – @yayajcqn

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Works of Marcel Proust
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) by Stendhal
• Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) by Erich Maria Remarque

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Boom” directed by Gabriel Augerai, Romain Augier, Laurie Pereira de Figueiredo, Charles Di Cicco, and Yannick Jacquin
• Treasure Planet directed by John Musker, Ron Clements
• Pirates of the Caribbean directed by Gore Verbinski
• Paprika directed by Satoshi Kon
• Chungking Express directed by Wong Kar-wai
• Iron Man directed by Jon Favreau
• Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis

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In the my second of the three part Thanksgiving special, I interview Iain Forbes, recent recipient of the Silver Medal in the Narrative category at the 2023 Student Academy Awards. He was recognized for his film "Revisited" which explores how a family reacts when the father they thought was dead for 20 years suddenly returns to their home.

Listen to hear Iain discuss the inspiration for the film, how he went about casting this film and one of the most interesting dinner parties we've come up with on the podcast.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven by Karl Ove Knausgård 

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• “Revisited” directed by Iain Forbes
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring directed by Peter Jackson
• It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra
• The Matrix directed by The Wachowskis
• Harry Potter series

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