The Big Short’s Dede Gardner Would be First Female Producer in Oscar History to Win Twice

Women producers nominated in the Oscar race have seen their numbers steadily increase since the beginning, but not many have won. The first woman to be honored by the Academy as a producer was Julia Phillips, who won for The Sting in 1973. It wouldn’t be until 1989 that another woman won, Lili Fini Zanuck, for Driving Miss Daisy, 16 years later. Since then, only six other women have won an Oscar for producing a Best Picture winner. Dede Gardner won in 2012 for co-producing 12 Years a Slave. If The Big Short wins this year, she would be the first two-time winner in Oscar history.

1989 – Lili Fini Zanuck for DRIVING MISS DAISY
1994 – Wendy Finerman for FORREST GUMP
1998 — Donna Gigliotti for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
2003 – Fran Walsh for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
2005 — Cathy Schulman for CRASH
2009 — Kathryn Bigelow for THE HURT LOCKER
2013 – Dede Gardner for 12 YEARS A SLAVE

This is Gardner’s astonishing third nomination in a row as a producer: in addition to 12 Years a Slave, Gardner co-produced Ava DuVernay’s Selma last year. Gardner is not a producer who chases awards but instead is committed to bringing daring works with a strong social conscience to the screen. With all of the hubbub this year about Alejandro G. Iñárritu and his string of recent successes, there’s not a lot of talk about Gardner. We offer her a crisp salute here at AwardsDaily.