#IndustrySoWhite: On Hollywood, diversity, and the Oscars

Sal's Famous Pizzeria burns in writer-director Spike Lee's masterpiece Do the Right Thing.

Ordinarily, I would not jump into the fray on an issue such as this. People a lot smarter than I and better attuned to the discussion have written about the now infamous #OscarsSoWhite hashtag and its many implications. It just seems for an issue this important, though, that more discussion is always better than less. The more we talk about race, identity, diversity, and equality, the better we can understand these topics and address problems, while the people who shut their eyes and cover their ears will be left behind.

Most of you know the facts: In the last two years, not one black, Asian, or Hispanic actor has been nominated for an Academy Award. That covers 40 nominations, and all of them have gone to white actors. I would argue history shows the Best Director category is even worse for black filmmakers. The last three Best Director winners have been either Hispanic (Alfonso Caurón for Gravity and Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman) or Asian (Ang Lee for Life of Pi), which equals the number of black directors ever nominated for an Oscar for directing.

Now, we can sit and discuss merit all day – nominations are subjective; there are only five slots per category; etc., etc. – but that misses the point. Spike Lee, a recent honorary Oscar winner who somehow has never been nominated for Best Director, shined a light on the real issue this week in announcing his boycott of this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. He said:

“As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The ‘Real’ Battle Is. It's In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To ‘Turnaround’ Or Scrap Heap. This Is What's Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With ‘The Green Light’ Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON, ‘I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS’. People, The Truth Is We Ain't In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White.”

The statement echoed the sentiment Lee expressed in his honorary Oscar acceptance speech, and he is right. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is about 6,000 people. Its president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, has made great strides in the last couple years to open the doors to a more diverse and inclusive membership, and she has announced initiatives to do even more toward those ends. Lee and others have applauded her efforts, but it is an uphill battle.

Writer-director Ryan Coogler on the set of Creed.

When it comes to diversity in Hollywood, the Academy is not the disease but a symptom. As Lee identified, the disease exists in the board rooms and executive offices of the studios. These are the places where movies with all-white casts and all-white filmmakers are greenlit and where “black movies” are represented by an incredibly narrow and stereotyped view of the world. The Academy can only choose from films that get made, and if studios do not want to make movies with black actors and filmmakers, well, the choice is already made.

However, the Academy is not blameless. When presented with great films, no matter who made them or stars in them, it is incumbent upon the Academy to recognize that greatness. Last year, Selma was unjustly ignored by the Academy everywhere but in Best Picture and Best Original Song. It is objectively wrong that Ava DuVernay was not nominated for Best Director and David Oyelowo was left out of Best Actor. Merit may be subjective, but there is no legitimate argument to be made against Selma.

This year, there were perhaps no snubs as egregious as those, but the Academy still willfully ignored the best young filmmaker in the game (Ryan Coogler and his excellent Creed) and two of the most interesting performances of the year (Abraham Attah and Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation). At the same time, a token nomination here or there is not going to change the culture. The problem is systemic, and it is the system that must be broken down and built again.

The studios must change, and the Academy must change because the audience has damn sure changed. In Lee’s independent masterpiece Do the Right Thing, they burned Sal’s Famous Pizzeria to the ground because he refused to put any black people on the wall of fame, despite his almost exclusively black clientele. The studios could learn a thing or two from that scenario if they bothered to pay attention – but then again, they didn’t make that movie, and they still don’t make movies like that. Some folks never learn, but they need to, and they need to pay attention to the lessons the audience is teaching.

#OscarsSoWhite... Again. I Would Like To Thank President Cheryl Boone Isaacs And The Board Of Governors Of The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences For Awarding Me an Honorary Oscar This Past November. I Am Most Appreciative. However My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let's Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can't Act?! WTF!! It's No Coincidence I'm Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday. Dr. King Said "There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It's Right". For Too Many Years When The Oscars Nominations Are Revealed, My Office Phone Rings Off The Hook With The Media Asking Me My Opinion About The Lack Of African-Americans And This Year Was No Different. For Once, (Maybe) I Would Like The Media To Ask All The White Nominees And Studio Heads How They Feel About Another All White Ballot. If Someone Has Addressed This And I Missed It Then I Stand Mistaken. As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The "Real" Battle Is. It's In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To "Turnaround" Or Scrap Heap. This Is What's Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With "The Green Light" Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON, "I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS". People, The Truth Is We Ain't In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White. (Cont'd)

A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Jan 18, 2016 at 5:03am PST

Spirit Awards: Where indie still means indie

What a difference a year makes. On Tuesday, Film Independent announced its nominees for the annual Independent Spirit Awards. Last year in this space, I wrote about the general trend of the Independent Spirits toward more Oscar-friendly films, but this year, the nominated films and performances are nothing if not fiercely independent. That is not to say there are no likely awards heavies in the lineup, but there is more than a fair share of movies that probably will not get anywhere near the Academy Awards.

The nominees for best feature are Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion Anomalisa, Cary Fukunaga’s African war story Beasts of No Nation, Todd Haynes’ beautiful tale of forbidden romance Carol, Tom McCarthy’s masterpiece Spotlight, and Sean Baker’s experimental Tangerine. All six of those directors also were cited in the best director category and are joined by David Roger Mitchell for the retro-horror It Follows.

Last year, four of the five best feature nominees ended up nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (Birdman; Boyhood; Selma; and Whiplash), a feat that is unlikely to be repeated this year. Of these, Spotlight is rightfully among the frontrunners for the Academy Awards, but only Carol among the others has a realistic shot at Oscar glory. Let’s take a look at each of these films and break down their merits and possible awards futures.

Anomalisa – Kaufman, an Academy Award winner for co-writing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is the marquee name here for cinephiles, but Johnson has the animation chops likely to make this film memorable. For Community fans out there, Johnson directed the magnificent “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” episode.

This is the only film in the lineup I have yet to see – hopefully that will be rectified next week, though the film does not hit theaters until the end of December – but with these two attached, it is highly anticipated, which I wrote about here. As for the Academy, this might be a little too out there for any of the top categories, but a Best Animated Feature nomination is not out of the question.

Beasts of No Nation – A harrowing tale of child soldiers in war-torn Africa, Fukunaga’s film might be most notable for its unusual release strategy. A Netflix Original film, Beasts of No Nation was released to theaters and on the movie streaming site on the same day, alienating a number of larger theater chains. As a result, the movie was locked out of theaters in most of the country, screening only in independent cinemas. The film, which likely works better on the big screen, deserved a better fate, but its quality will carry it through the awards season.

It is a fair question to ask whether filmmakers will embrace this new distribution model or reject it and hold it against the film. The Independent Spirit nominations, however, bode well for its chances, including in the technical categories, where it would not be out of place. Fukunaga also adapted the film from its source novel and served as the director of photography, and he would make for a handsome nominee in either category at the Oscars.

Carol – I wrote at length about Haynes’ exquisite film here, and it is not surprising to see a film this well acted and this superbly crafted lead the nominations list with six, including notices for both its lead actresses, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. If the independent film community rallies around Carol, which it seems like it will, the film could be a threat in a number of top categories at the Oscars.

Spotlight – As I said in my review, McCarthy’s exploration of the investigation into the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is hands down the best American film of the year (so far) and an undeniable masterpiece. Carol is definitely the flashier film, but Spotlight is an unimpeachable achievement in filmmaking. A number of pundits have it down as the Best Picture frontrunner, and it deserves to be. As for its independent bona fides, McCarthy is a hero of the independent film community after his fantastic The Station Agent, The Visitor, and Win Win showed the best of what the community can accomplish.

Tangerine – Every year, there is a film firmly in the awards discussion that just passes me by, and it seems Baker’s sordid story of transgender prostitutes in L.A. is the one this year. I do not see what others see in this highly regarded and critically acclaimed film. Tangerine is a testament to the democratization of filmmaking in its low-budget, low-fi origins, but I simply found nothing to like in its story or craft. It would be one of the biggest shocks of the year for me if it were read out in any category on Academy Awards nominations morning.

Jacob Tremblay and nominee Brie Larson in Room.

Regarding the rest of the Spirit Awards nominees, there are a number of pleasant surprises and less pleasant omissions. First, the gripes: The excellent 99 Homes, Room, Love and Mercy being left out of the best feature and best director categories is an unfortunate oversight, though each picked up a single acting nomination; about those single acting nominations, though, Jacob Tremblay belongs in the supporting actor category for his great work next to nominee Brie Larson in Room, and I would have liked to see Elizabeth Banks in supporting actress for Love and Mercy.

For the good, I was happy to see Michael Shannon recognized in supporting actor for 99 Homes, and the best international film list includes two of my favorite films this year, Mustang and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Spotlight deservedly will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to the best ensemble cast of the year, an inarguable distinction for a film built on the strengths of its remarkable actors.

Overall, it is an exciting and eclectic list that reflects the best intentions of the nominating organization. Per tradition, the Independent Spirit Awards ceremony will take place the night before the Oscars, Feb. 27, 2016. Check out the full list of nominees here.