The best company in town isn’t a WOMAN;
it’s a man, and his name is OSCAR.
- Robert Evans

Hi friends,

It’s Oscar weekend and it looks like Sunday will be big night for Oppenheimer.

Quick Programming Update: The next episode of You Had To Be There drops this Tuesday, March 12th! There’s just 3 episodes left in this season, which will be released every other Tuesday. We can’t wait for you to hear them! Last, if you attended one of the events we've covered on the show or know someone who did, I’d love to talk to you! Please shoot me an email at [email protected]!

In lieu of our normal format, I decided to write about how I’d improve the Oscars. I’ve put my Oscar picks at the bottom as well. Enjoy!

LISTEN TO YOU HAD TO BE THERE 
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE

The Oscars are my Super Bowl, but they can and should be so much more! In what should be the biggest night of the year for movies, the Oscars are treated like every other award show, just with a little more prestige and oomph. Rather than three hours of primetime network television, they should try elevating the show by making the entire day feel more like the actual Super Bowl. Picture an entire day full of original programming that bolsters the awards and get people excited about movies and the evening’s show. Sounds pretty sweet, right?

So, how’d we get here and why do I want to improve the Oscars? First, I want to acknowledge that macro issues from the last ten years like the deterioration of linear television and shrinking of the theatrical business have had major impacts on Oscar ratings. But that doesn’t mean the presentation of the Oscars can’t or shouldn’t improve. Some things were obviously out of their control like the slap, but they haven’t done themselves many favors either. Remember the envelope disaster, the loud train station, and going host-less? In their attempts to stop rapidly falling year-over-year ratings, they turned to gimmicks they hoped would stop the bleeding, rather than putting on great shows—rarely a winning strategy. By building the show around the idea that it should be more accessible and exciting for the widest audiences possible, they watered everything down—producing segments with YouTube, Facebook and TikTok audiences in mind (btw the Oscars still aren’t streamed live). These attempts to convince/attract viewers who almost certainly don’t watch movies (or television) to tune in caused the show to lose its way. It’s easy to picture network execs wishing the Oscars were more like the Grammys, which hand out most of their awards offscreen and then put on a glorified three-hour concert where a few notable awards are handed out. Basically, they lost sight of why the Oscars exist in the first place, which is to celebrate movies and the people who make them.

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan once said, “the worst TV show you’ve ever seen was miserably hard to make,” which undoubtedly applies to movies. Getting a movie made is damn near impossible. Hell, just having someone in development read your script is a huge accomplishment; so I’m not exaggerating when I say: all movies are miracles. The people who make movies for our entertainment—often dedicating years of their lives to one picture, in pursuit of the impossible—should be celebrated. So, I’ve decided to improve the Oscars! Many of my suggestions are things that they’ve at least tried at some point but have gotten away from for one reason or another. Of course, I understand the reasons why they don’t want to try some of them, but this is my newsletter and frankly, I’m sick of living in an analytics-first creative world where cherry-picked datapoints give bean counters an excuse not to try something. So…let’s have fun improving the Oscars!

Let’s Improve the Oscars!

IGNORE THE RATINGS. MAKE A GREAT SHOW THAT CELEBRATES MOVIES
The ratings are never going to be what they once were, so stop chasing that high. Instead, make an award show that celebrates movies for people that love movies. Sounds simple, right? Perhaps it’s recency bias or maybe it’s because a number of the films nominated this year actually hit the culture zeitgeist in a major way, but I expect the ratings to rise this year, but in order to improve the show and make it GREAT, they’ve got to get rid of the idea that ratings will ever be what they once were. That is, until ABC’s contract with the Academy ends and the Oscars shock the world by signing a mega deal with Netflix, in which case, all ratings bets are off.

Ok, now that ratings talk is out of the way, their job is to make an entertaining show for people who love movies and/or the movies they saw this year. Celebrate them! Don’t produce an awards show for people who might one day decide they like movies, but today only like Mr. Beast’s videos.

CREATE LONG-LASTING MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Make it a goal for each show to have at least one memorable, cool, earnest, emotional moment that doesn’t feel like it was reverse engineered for social media views.

Here’s one idea: This year, John Williams, GOAT composer retired at the age of 92 after six decades of making some of the most iconic movies scores in cinema history. Now imagine John Williams walking up to the stage to accept an accolade for having one of the greatest careers in Hollywood history—all to a long, powerful applause; only to then pull his baton out and compose an orchestra through a super-montage of Spielberg’s biggest hits. The emotions! The shock! The drama! NOW, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

And while something like this should absolutely happen, it probably won’t because ABC seems to think young viewers care about the Oscars. Nonetheless, we’ll likely get a perfectly fine performance from Billie Eilish and Finneas doing the same thing they did at the Golden Globes but with more theatrics. Anyways, I’m pumped for Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken.

MAKE THE OSCARS AN ALL DAY EVENT! PLAY UP THE OSCARS’ GREATEST HITS!
The Academy Awards are a 96-year-old institution and yet, they rarely mention previous their history of winners and nominees on air. I’d play up the history of the Academy Awards a lot more! Give us more statistics. Why not air old Oscars ceremonies or speeches or montages throughout the day of the show? Disney has a number of general interest cable networks and two streaming services, why not air older awards ceremonies or best skits compilations or the best speeches? On Sunday, I know I’ll be on YouTube watching moments like Robin Williams thanking his father after winning his Oscar and young Ben Affleck and Matt Damon bringing their mom’s to the show then winning Best Original Screenplay with a speech of incredible, youthful enthusiasm. I want to see more speeches like Big Jim’s “King of the World” speech where everyone collectively rolls their eyes (note: those three moments each took place at the 1998 Academy Awards). Sadly, we’ll be lucky if we get more than a reference to Emma Stone’s bid to become a two-time Best Actress winner at the age of 35. These things matter! Sure, it’s just an award, but as William Goldman noted, it’s the lead phrase in every winner’s obituary.

PLAY MORE MOVIE CLIPS!
Always show movie clips for each nominee. Clips give context to performances, movies, and crafts, while giving viewers someone to root for. Plus, they’re mini ads for each movie. Sure, people will always complain about the length of the show, with movie clips bearing the brunt of that criticism. However, it’s unfair considering ABC will almost certainly air a 10-minute video package about the Academy Museum. Remember: Disney pays tens of million dollars to the Academy for what is and has always been an advertisement for the movie industry! Do the studios actually want people who haven’t seen these movies yet to ever see them after the awards? [pause]……SHOW THE CLIPS!

LET US KNOW THE VOTE COUNTS
It’s 2024 and we know the vote counts in real-time for literally everything except for how the Academy voted for the Oscars! Over the last 15 years, we’ve become an analytics and data-first culture, and yet we know nothing about how close the Oscar results actually were. If the Academy wants more audience engagement and bigger ratings, this is it! Tell us how close the voting was. I’m not advocating knowing who voted for what; it’s totally fine if it’s anonymous, but I guarantee interest around the show will skyrocket. If Steve Kornacki can prove that district-by-district votes on each election night are interesting to millions, imagine the Best Picture race!

An even bolder move that would inevitably boost interest and ratings throughout the show would be to eliminate the worst-performing Best Picture vote-getter one by one throughout the show until they get to 5 final nominees to announce at the end. Give us bigger stakes, and we’ll give you our attention!

MOVIE STARS IN ATTENDANCE!
After last year’s Oscars, the big question was: Where were the stars? It’s become a trend for Hollywood's biggest stars, who aren’t nominated, to skip the awards and show up at the Vanity Fair afterparty. Many are wondering: Will Leo be there on Sunday, even though he’s not nominated? We’ll see! For the biggest night in movies, YOU’VE GOT TO BE THERE! Why does the Oscars accept this lack of star power? It wasn’t always this way. For decades, you could always count on Jack Nicholson being in the first few rows. Why? Because HE LOVES MOVIES! It’s a part of why you become a movie star! So, they’ve got to up their game. Like Dune needs spice, Hollywood needs stars at its biggest award show. And I’m not just talking about Leo or Tom Hanks, but also Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Austin Butler. When you’re on the rise, it’s SHOWING UP that keeps you going higher and higher…that is, if they really want to be MOVIE STARS.

RUN UPCOMING MOVIE TRAILERS DURING COMMERCIALS
Studios should use commercial breaks to play trailers for upcoming movies! Presumably, people watching the Oscars love movies, right? Then buy ad time and run your movie trailers during the commercials. It’s a no brainer.

Side note: I can’t believe I’m giving out all of these ideas FOR FREE!

SHOW, DON’T TELL!
Instead of just reading names off cards, why not show audiences how below-the-line categories like Best Sound or Best Production Design actually work. Showing how the sound was created for The Zone of Interest or lifting the veil on the production design of Oppenheimer would be great but you’ve got to do it in a compelling way. Make these shorts cool! It’s interesting stuff!

INTRODUCE NEW AWARDS
Much has been said about introducing new awards, and I'm excited about the new casting award, but why stop there? Let’s introduce a “Best Film Debut” (hello, Dominic Sessa) and while we're at it, let's draw inspiration from the MTV Movie Awards by introducing new categories like Best Action Sequence and Best On-Screen Duo.

Boom. Done.

LONGER SPEECHES THAT DON’T ARBITRARILY CUT OFF WINNER’S SPEECHES
I share William Goldman’s decades-old opinion that the Oscars shouldn’t be shorter, but longer!

Also, please don’t have one of Jimmy Kimmel’s friends or relatives do it either. Remember, for winners, these speeches are often once-in-a-lifetime moments.

MORE MONTAGES!

Watch this montage: if you don’t get chills or goosebumps, then you’re not human. Now tell me: who doesn’t love a great montage? Exactly! Make them and then make more of them!

HAVE A CONSISTENT HOST + PRODUCER
Remember when the Oscars didn’t have a host? What in the hell were they thinking!? Ask anyone older than 35 about Dave Letterman’s Uma / Oprah or Billy Crystal’s musical performances and skits and we’re all like…where did all of this go? They were FUN! They put a lot of time, effort, and production value into his skits, but in the last 10 years, it feels like the show’s producers wanted to emulate the quick cutting, no context vibe of TikTok videos on the show. Shockingly, it didn’t work. Fortunately, things actually seem to be improving. Why? Well, first, they hired Jimmy Kimmel to host this year’s show, which is a smart, easy win. He’s a pro’s pro.

Longer term, having a consistent host and producer committed to the show for multiple years would be amazing but it’s more complicated than it seems because no one who’s big enough to host wants to commit for multiple years. It’s a lot of work! Rather than having a different producer and/or host come in each year with the feeling that they need to put their own stamp on the show, making the movies the focus should be paramount.

CAST REUNIONS 
Award show reunions can be great, but if you’re going to have a cast reunion to celebrate the anniversary of an important movie, under no circumstances can you do it halfway! For example: The 50th-anniversary reunion of The Godfather in 2022 didn’t include many of the still-living cast and crew, such as Oscar winners Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall, and Oscar nominee Talia Shire (Coppola’s sister!). Maybe they were invited and couldn’t attend, I don’t know; but it’s definitely strange that Robert De Niro was on stage despite not being in the original Godfather. Remember, we’re trying to make memories here, so if you’re going to do it, do it right!

A POST-SHOW SHOW
There’s no reason the Oscars shouldn’t have a post-awards show to break down the night’s events and awards. Every sport has done this for years, and today, many podcasts do it. A live-streamed version of this would add more weight to what millions of people just watched. I’d suggest hiring The Big Picture’s Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins to do it on set at the actual Oscars. I’d add interviews with a few of the evening’s winners, along with commentary and analysis from esteemed cinephiles and critics like Quentin Tarantino and Wesley Morris.

See…those weren’t such crazy ideas. I’m not suggesting we build a time machine to go back to 1998’s Academy Awards—although the older studio execs wouldn’t hate that. Honestly, I'm much more encouraged by the state of movies today than I was a few years ago. 2023 was a strong year for movies in terms of quality and blockbusters, as well as star power and I can’t wait to see what the post-Dune 2 2024 brings us!

On that note, my picks for the 2024 Academy Awards are below, including who I think will win and who I think should win. Last, I’ll quote William Goldman once more about the Oscars in 1995:

1. The Oscars are an industry award.
2. There is no “best.” Tolstoy never won the Nobel Prize. Bach was ignored and unknown for a century after his death. And when movie critics give their ten-best lists, they may cite historical precedent, they may pretend erudition—all b.s. They just liked one movie better than another.
3. Let us know how the Academy voted.

Hi Barr’s 2024 Academy Award Picks

• Best Original Screenplay

  • Should Win: David Hemingson, The Holdovers

  • Will Win: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall

• Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Should Win: Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, Barbie

  • Will Win: Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, Barbie

• Best Animated Feature

  • Should Win: The Boy and the Heron

  • Will Win: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse

• Best Documentary Feature

  • Should Win: 20 Days in Mariupol

  • Will Win: 20 Days in Mariupol

• Best International Feature Film

  • Should Win: The Zone of Interest

  • Will Win: The Zone of Interest

• Best Original Score

  • Should Win: Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

  • Will Win: Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

• Best Original Song

  • Should Win: I’m Just Ken - Barbie: Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

  • Will Win: What Was I Made For? Barbie: Music & Lyric by Billie Eilish & Finneas O'Connell

• Best Cinematography

  • Should Win: Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Will Win: Oppenheimer

• Best Film Editing

  • Should Win: Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

  • Will Win: Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

• Best Production Design

  • Should Win: Barbie

  • Will Win: Oppenheimer

• Best Costume Design

  • Should Win: Barbie

  • Will Win: Barbie

• Best Makeup and Hairstyling

  • Should Win: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, Poor Things

  • Will Win: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, Poor Things

• Best Sound

  • Should Win: The Zone of Interest

  • Will Win: Oppenheimer

• Best Visual Effects

  • Should Win: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

  • Will Win: Godzilla Minus One

• Best Supporting Actor

  • Should Win: Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer

  • Will Win: Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer

• Best Supporting Actress

  • Should Win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

  • Will Win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

• Best Actor

  • Should Win: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

  • Will Win: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

• Best Actress

  • Should Win: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Will Win: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

• Best Director

  • Should Win: Christopher Nolan

  • Will Win: Christopher Nolan

• Best Picture

  • Should Win: Oppenheimer

  • Will Win: Oppenheimer