Live Updates from the 2023 Oscars Press Room!

Hello, friends! I am so happy to be back at the the Academy Awards, representing Awards Daily in the Oscars Interview Room. Many thanks to the Awards Daily team for inviting me back again this year.

The red — er, champagne — carpet is open and your favorite nominees are making their way into the Dolby Theater where the show will begin at 5pm PDT. With highlights from the show, details from winner interviews and, of course, shrimp updates, I’ll be here all night, bringing all the fun from backstage.

At this point, the biggest thing everyone is talking about is the news that Tom Cruise will not, in fact, be attending tonight and Lady Gaga will be singing after all. There have also been a few nervous jokes about the power outage that struck the Ovation Hollywood venue yesterday. Will the power go out on the Oscars?

So keep refreshing your page, and checking in for the latest. And if you have questions, add them below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

10:06PT – And that’s it for Oscars 95. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show and we are so glad you followed us on this crazy journey. Thank you and good night!

9:56PT – The Sound team for Top Gun: Maverick (Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, and Mark Taylor) talk about working together on post-production during the lockdown. “It was all new, the days were shorter than normal and it was a safe environment so that we could mix the film and feel comfortable.”

Question: A lot of people credit the film with bringing people back to theaters. What is it like to have an Oscar now on top of that? Al Nelson says the entire process was about working to meet the expectations that Tom Cruise had set for the film. “We’re grateful that sound won an award, but so many of the crafts deserve amazing credit for making cinema people were willing to invest in again.”

Question: With the different types of military jets, did you face any challenges recording the sounds of the movie? Al Nelson talks about spending a week on an air craft carrier recording and filming the sounds of the jets. “We collected as much material as we could, and thanks to our amazing sound team, we were able to recreate that for audiences.” He also thanks Dolby for helping make this the best possible experience.

Weingarten adds that the jets are so loud that it sounds like a distortion. He thought there were errors at first but that was really what it sounded like.

On the rewatchability of the film: Mark Taylor talks about the immersive experience of the sound and that he hopes people keep coming back.

Final question: Do you hope the rules will change to allow more of the team to be recognized in this category? Answer: “I trust the academy to do the right thing… It’s all our responsibility to make sure everyone gets the right attention and the right credit.” Weingarten adds, “I’ve talked about this for years with the Academy.” He says he thinks things are changing and he’s hopeful that they will recognize more in the future.

9:46PT – Ke Huy Quan literally BOUNCES into the room. “You are the most beautiful people I have ever seen in my life!” and then “First off, can you BELIEVE I’m holding this thing??”

Question: After starting your career as ‘Jonathan Huy Quan,’ what does it mean to win an Oscar with your real name? Answer: He says his manager told him in the beginning that it would be easier with an American sounding name. “It can only show you how desperate I was to try to make things different.” He says when he returned to acting three years ago, his first decision was to go back to his birth name. Hearing Ariana DeBose read his name was so beautiful. “The first image I had was my mom, who’s the reason I am in America.” He says she had a great live and gave it up his all nine of her children.

Next question about family: He says a portion of his family flew in from Houston to be with him. During a commercial break he gave Steven Spielberg a big hug. “He said, ‘Ke, you are now an Oscar winning actor.’ Hearing him say that, I still cannot believe it.”

Question: If your younger self could be here now, what would they say? Answer: “My younger self would not know all the struggles I would have to be here. I was busy being a kid.” He says he got a call from Corey Feldman and that Jeff Cohen, his entertainment lawyer, was here tonight and he has talked with Sean Astin, Martha Plimpton and Josh Brolin. “We’re family forever. Goonies never say die!”

Question: “This is a very important moment. How do you stay humble?” Answer: “That’s how I was brought up. That’s why I say never forget where you came from.” He says it’s important to appreciate where you are. “I’m just so grateful. I didn’t think any of this would be possible.” He remembers the days losing his health insurance, not being able to get a job during the pandemic. “I don’t know what I’m doing next, but all I know is first thing tomorrow I’m going to call my agent.”

9:38PT – And now, the winners of Best Picture, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang are here for one question about Kwan’s mother. “The more I grow up, the more I realize she’s like me. She likes to change her passions every couple of years… She’s someone who sacrificed a lot for her kids… She never wanted to be a mother and she’s told me that because she’s very candid, but that’s a beautiful thing.” He also tells a story about his mother reading some of his stories and pulling him out of school to homeschool him and foster his creativity.

Jonathan Wang talks about the Racacoonie joke being an homage to his dad who always got movie titles wrong. “It’s to Taiwanese parents, but also Southern parents because it’s universal.”

Question: The Special Effects team learned on the go. How did they work together not knowing if they’d be able to do everything they envisioned. Scheinert says they used the same crew that made music videos with them. They don’t use storyboards. “We know what tools we have, what tools we want to learn. There’s something so inspired about working on a movie where you want to learn something along the way.” They talk about test shoots with black bagels.

Final Question: When you accepted the award there was a common theme about mental health. Why did you choose to address such heavy subjects in such a lavish way? Answer from Kwan: “We’re in a mental health crisis right now… One of the best super powers I have is to be able to talk about my experience.” He talks about the “radical absurdity of joy and bringing bliss… It’s a shotgun blast of joy and absurdity and bliss.”

Wang adds, “The reason we ended up making it was because we wanted to end in a warm embrace… In this room, we all do things that draw eyes to a thing. Sometimes we do that nefariously, sometimes we do that with beauty. I encourage us all in this room, at the end of this road, someone reads that. We have committed to making movies that are good. Thank you for what you do.”

9:29PT – We have back to back standing ovations as Best Actress Michelle Yeoh steps into the room. “Tonight we friggin broke that ceiling!” (cheers) “For anyone who is a minority, we deserve to be seen, we deserve to have equal opportunities so we can have a seat at the table.”

Question: Being a woman of color in any space but particularly in Hollywood, you can be made to feel othered. Have you ever felt like taking a step back from acting? And because you stayed, what advice would you give to those who are afraid to take up space? Answer: “You should never be afraid…I’m finally here after 40 years. Don’t give up. Never give up. Once you give up, it’s a loss… Don’t let anybody put you in a box, don’t let anybody say you’re past your prime… Dare to dream.”

Question: Yesterday was exactly a year since the premiere at SXSW. Can you take us back to that day? Answer: “It’s been quite a marathon, hasn’t it?.. Why do we make movies? To share together. That is the magic of being at the movies.” She says SXSW last year was the first actual festival after virtual fests. “I swear to god it’s you, all of you because you made it interesting. You made it wild and wacky to all the people who hadn’t had the chance to watch it. You made it interesting… Thank you to all of you, you propelled our little gem of a film. You propelled us to the skies and embraced us… This movie has helped to open hearts between families.”

Q: What is something your mother gave you that you carried through this journey? Answer: “My mother has always instilled confidence… Kindness and compassion.” She says, “Actually the recent thing she asked me to do was not wear pants to the Oscars.” (laughs) “Ultimately mothers want us to be better.”

9:21PT – It’s a big standing ovation for our Best Actor, Brendan Fraser.

First question: How do you feel in this moment? Answer: “I feel light in the head. This is very heavy. One arm might be longer than the other by the end of the night. I guess this means I have to find another job.” He shouts out the cast and crew for the difficult nature of filming during Covid. “We all lived under and existential threat… It was important to perform like it was the first and last time every time.”

Question: What drew you to the role and how fulfilling is this win? Answer: “Darren Aronofsky was going to make a film and it was like a moth to a flame.” He says he was intensely moved by the script the same way the director had been when he first saw the play. He also mentions the difficulty of the transformation. “Luckily he had, now Oscar winner Adrian Morot to do my makeup.” He also says, “Samantha Morton. I’m actually kind of sad that our marriage didn’t work out.” He says he thinks the film is going to change some hearts and minds.

Question: Queer storytelling has come a long way since Gods and Monsters. “You have a lot of fans. The gays love you!” (Cheers) someone else shouts “It’s true!” Answer: “Charlie is so much more than a gay man. He’s a father, an educator, a truth seeker. He’s someone who found love, lost it, and found it again. I think that’s something we can all take a page from… Like Charlie did, go to the light. If I can do it, you can do it. Believe me.”

Final question: This past year has been a huge comeback. What has this past year meant to you and what was the first thought in your head when you heard your name called? Answer: “This has given me a lessen in humility and gratitude.” And “When I first heard my name, I thought, ‘That can be right. But I guess it is, so I better get up there and say something.'”

9:08PT – Paul Rogers, editor for Everything Everywhere talks about his insecurity as an editor. “I felt an enormous responsibility to Michelle and Ke especially because they had been treated so wrong by all of us for so long… That’s what I meant onstage when I said, ‘I hope I did right by you both.'”

Question: Will you reflect on your journey with the Daniels? Answer: “They’re my friends first… Dan and Daniel are two people I care deeply about. They allowed us to make this movie in a humane way.” He calls out the “bullshit” of being expected to kill ourselves over movies and praises Dan and Daniel for allowing his crew to live their lives and be home with their families while making the movie.

Question: It’s incredibly rare for a comedy to win this category. Can you talk about the pride you feel about that? And how important is it in your job to make sure the comedic beats land? Answer: The key with this film is what Dan and Daniel are really good at is taking something very silly and treating it seriously… I never thought of this as a comedy.” He says they treated it as a story about a mother and daughter and the humor flowed from those moments. “Even when things are tough, sometimes the humor is what brings us together.”

Question: Can you talk about the alternate ending? Answer: It’s not really an alternate ending, it’s a moment where everyone comes together in song. He says the team used all of their extra tickets to bring as many of the crew as they could so that everyone could celebrate together.

Rogers: “This kind of thing does happen to guys like me too much. Too often. Dan and Daniel really pay attention to who they are mentoring and what attention they pay to what stories to tell.” He says, “It’s a combination of good people making good films with other good people.”

8:58PT – Edward Berger, director of International Feature All Quiet on the Western Front has made his way to the press room. The first question: How important is it that this is a German language film?

Berger: “That is a really big question.” He wants everyone to support each other. “I think we do have a little bit of an inferiority complex as German filmmakers, as a smaller country, smaller film industry. I hope this gives us greater confidence to tell our stories.”

The question is about why the academy embraced the film, and about the ribbon they’ve been wearing. They wear the UN ribbon in support of displaced citizens and refugees. “I don’t know why [the Academy] has embraced it, but we’re very grateful they did.” He says they tried to make a film about their past in Germany, their guilt and shame, and by the end it became about our present.

Question about beating Argentina. Answer: “It feels better to beat Argentina in the World Cup. Which we don’t.” He talks about sitting in a room with the other international filmmakers and describes it as a brotherhood.

Question about how it feels to win and are you going to party? Answer: “It might feel incredible but I don’t know yet, because I haven’t processed.” And yes, he’s going to party. “Now I can get in!”

Question: What did you want to bring that other war films didn’t? Answer: “Whenever I watch American and British war films, they’re allowed to have a different perspective. They’re allowed to have pride because in the first war they were fighting fascism. In the second, they were fighting a war they didn’t want to fight… In this film, there’s no hero. No one can survive. We know what happened in history… That makes a very different movie than an American movie.”

8:37PT – The show is over but the press room is still open. We’ll stick around for awhile and see which of our winners make their way over here. It’s probably going to be a grand celebration with the Everything Everywhere team since the only one who has stopped by was Jamie Lee Curtis hours ago.

8:34PT – Producer Jonathan Wang tells his wife he would love to do laundry and taxes. He talks about his dad, who passed away young. Daniel Kwan says, “The world is changing rapidly and I’m afraid our stories aren’t keeping pace…But I have great faith in our stories. These stories have changed my life.”

8:32PT – BEST PICTURE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

8:30PT – Academy Award Nominee Harrison Ford presents the award for Best Picture. The orchestra plays a bit of the Indiana Jones score to the delight of Ke Huy Quan. “Movies can transform our lives. The movies we honor tonight have real power.”

8:27PT – The shrieks of delight that just erupted in the press room at the announcement of ACADEMY AWARD WINNER MICHELLE YEOH. “To every boy and girl watching, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities… Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re past your prime.” She dedicates the award, “to my mom, to all the moms. They are the real superheroes. Without them, none of us would be here tonight.”

8:26PT – Jessica Chastain and Halle Berry are now presenting Best Actress…

8:23PT – Inside the theater, Brendan Fraser is accepting his award for Best Actor. “I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement because it couldn’t be done without my cast.”

8:19PT – MM Keeravaani and Chandrabose are in the press room for “Naatu Naatu.” They are full of joy and talk about creating a quintessential song for the film RRR.

Question: What does it mean to you personally to represent your country? Answer: “I feel very honored for my country, for my culture, for my movie industry, for the Tegulu language.”

Question about paving the way for others: “I think this is just the beginning of everything.” Keeravaani talks about opening doors for the world to embrace their culture and music.

Final question: What was the inspiration behind “Naatu Naatu?” Answer: He talks about the texture of the words mixed with Chandrabose’s lyrics.

8:10PT – It seems like half the room leapt to their feet when Sarah Polley entered the press room. She says, “I’m just thrilled our whole team is being recognized… This feels like it’s a recognition of our whole collective team.”

Question: Expand on the contributions from the whole crew. “How did those help your written work come alive?” She says she appreciates the question and shares the draft of the script with many people from the very beginning. “I have a lot of people weighing in very, very early in the process.” She shouts out her producers, editors, etc. “The screenplay was an ever evolving thing… It was a very alive, active document that was constantly being built.”

8:01PT – Production design winners Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper are here. First question: “You looked very surprised when your name was called. The movie has won 4 Oscars tonight. How do you feel?” She asks for the answer in German, so I don’t know what he says. But he seems to make a joke about how heavy the Oscar is?

The moderator asks for the answer in English. Goldbeck says, “After your name is called, those 25 or 30 steps on stage, you basically forget everything that was in your head. The moment you hit the microphone, you just don’t know anything, but suddenly you remember it was a team effort. You could not have done it without all those beautiful people.”

Hipper says her first call will be to her father who is about to turn 90. “Parents are the start of this.” She also wants to thank her team for supporting her and helping get here. “Our department are hard workers.”

One reporter gives a shoutout to the Czech Republic and Hipper raises her Oscar. Goldbeck says they wanted to move away from propaganda. “To beautify war is to support propaganda.”

Final question: What is the secret of your success? Goldbeck says, “Edward Berger took us at the beginning of the movie and said, ‘Let’s not fight.’ There was no fighting allowed.” And he says, “All Quiet became the movie it is now because of an immense team effort.”

7:53PT – Avatar: The Way of Water Visual Effects artists are entering the room: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett.

We have a question about the actors doing motion capture in the water. “The actors themselves actually moved through the water… We captured every minute detail of those performances.” Letteri says they did capture performances, it was not photography. They then translated it to the images we see.

Question about the risk of technology becoming outdated over the course of the long filmmaking process. Letteri says, “We’re the ones writing the technology.”

Motion and facial capture: “Technology for technology sake is not empowering the art. It is about emoting properly and connecting with our audience.”

Final question is about sustainability and the environmental efforts of the film. “We shoot on a stage where we have a net zero footprint… Our stages are completely covered in solar. We generate enough energy to sustain not only our own production but the whole lot.” They also had vegan catering on set, not to convert anyone but because it’s more sustainable.

7:50PT – Janelle Monae and Kate Hudson are presenting the Oscar for Best Sound to the team at Top Gun: Maverick!

7:42PT – Volker Bertelmann is here for Original Score/All Quiet on the Western Front. The first question is in German and not translated. I don’t speak German, so sorry!

For the second question, he talks about including the sounds of breathing and other noises through the instruments.

Next question is about how this film is very different from his last nomination, Lion. “Making a war movie is very different because when you cross the line just a little too much, you incorporate a different pathos in a war movie… I wanted to find a way to let the people judge how they felt about the acting. Luckily the acting was fantastic.” He says he wanted to be delicate with the music.

Last question: Can you explain the success of the movie? Answer: “Because it’s a great film.” (Applause) “You need a long path. When it’s a good film, you don’t have to push so hard.”

7:36PT – Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga for The Elephant Whisperers are in the press room. The first Indian film to win an Oscar. “This is for all of India, and especially women.”

Question: What kind of advice would you give to women filmmakers? Monga says this is Kartiki’s first film. “The reason I am answering this is because I’m sharing the anecdote that she picked up the camera, found the story, started shooting the subjects, and did it.” Then she says, “Don’t wait for anyone. Just start it.”

Q: How important was it to bring this story out, and talk about working with indigenous communities. Gonsalves: “They have such important messages with us to go back in history to teach us about our planet.” She talks about learning ancient wisdom from older communities. “I wanted to give indigenous people a voice.”

Q: Documentaries are never talked about in India. Do you think this will pave the wave for aspiring documentary filmmakers in Indian. Gonsalves: “Largely for Indian cinema, I think we just got started.” Monga: “We share this with many who want to tell their stories.”

7:28PT – Back inside the theater, Danai Gurira introduces Rihanna, performing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

7:20PT – And now the winners for The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse are here, Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud. The first question is to Charlie, about adapting his book to screen. Matthew Freud jumps in and says they first met 30 years ago and bonded over This Is Spinal Tap and that the years of friendship have been a piece of “cultural glue.”

Charlie says, “A greater reward has been the reaction of people to the film.” He tells the story about a grandmother sharing how much the film meant to her five-year old grandson who told her, “Gran, you’re enough as you are.”

7:11PT – While the Original Score is being presented to Volker Bertelmann for All Quiet on the Western Front, the team from Navalny has entered the room: Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, and Shane Boris.

Roher starts with reminding everyone that Navalny is still in solitary confinement because of his opposition to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Question about the moment when they got the poisoner on the phone. He was speaking in Russian, which Roher doesn’t speak. He just knew something was different this time, even though he had no idea he was about to capture a full confession. “It was stunning and surreal. Kind of like this moment now.”

The team wants to call attention to Navalny’s condition in prison. “I classify his prison conditions as torture. There isn’t another word.”

The next question is about political prisoners. “We made our film about the political opposition and his quest…but this film is not just for Russians. It is for people all over the world where the ties of authoritarianism are present.” He says, “This film is in solidarity and support not just of Alexei Navalny, but political prisoners around the world.”

7:04PT – The winners are stacking up at the press room now. James Friend, cinematographer for All Quiet on the Western Front is up next.

Q: “Our species never runs out of wars and they are increasingly documented on phones, etc. What did you use as your source for World War I?” A: We built it on the way war makes you feel. It should not feel beautiful or intelligible. It should feel horrific. This is the closest thing to a horror film that I’ve ever made.” He repeats, “Really, it’s a horror movie.” About the photography, “We dug up some WWI photographs, but the one thing we took was not the photochemical aspects, but the horror aspects.”

I missed the next question, but he encourages people to seek mentorship. “When the day is dark, don’t give up.”

The final questioner just informed James that All Quiet on the Western Front is winning another Oscar right now, for Production Design. He tries to answer the question, but Friend apologizes and says he’s so overwhelmed.

6:59PT – While Lady Gaga is in the theater singing “Hold My Hand,” Tom Berkley and Ross White are in the press room to talk An Irish Goodbye. White talks about his pride of making this such a collaborative effort across Ireland. ”

Next question about the Irish wave this year, with Paul Mescal, the Banshees crew, etc. “It’s made the journey extra special. We’re really honored to be a small part of that.”

Q: “You made a beautiful film about human connections. What has been your most beautiful moment in this process?” Answer from Berkeley, “What this experience has given us is an extended life on this film…. We’re now the best of friends and that is something that will endure forever.”

6:51PT – THEE Ruth Carter has arrived in the press room and the crowd is delighted. Carter, “I’m really happy for my colleagues too because they deserved the nomination and they deserved the win.”

The first answer, “I enjoy supporting actors. I enjoy shepherding them to the set in a costume they feel good in… I’m here to support. It’s a collaborative medium.”

For her second question, Carter goes into great detail specifically about the design of Queen Ramonda’s costumes. She talks about incorporating more vibranium into her costumes. She also wanted to show off Angela Bassett’s incredible arms.

Third question about making history, “I hope I’ve opened the door and that others will see what I’ve done and know that they can do this too.”

Question about her mom, who passed away last week: “She always wanted me to follow my dreams… I know she’s proud of me. I know she wanted this for me as much as I wanted it for myself.”

Final question: She did a design challenge for HBCU students, but the dress she is wearing tonight is her own design.

6:50PT – Elizabeth Olsen and Pedro Pascal present the Documentary Short Film award to The Elephant Whisperers.

6:44PT – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Annemarie Bradley from The Whale have arrived in the press room.

First question: What is the difference between you and the other nominees. In French, Adrien Morot talks about the technology of transforming Brendan Fraser. They didn’t translate so I couldn’t catch it all, apologies!

Second question is about the difficult parts of the work behind the scenes. Morot says the job was extra challenging because it was during Covid and they couldn’t do live casts of Brendan Fraser in the studio. They had been looking at creating prosthetics through digital workflow. “When Darren [Aronofsky] called, we thought this is the time to do it.”

Third question is about how Brendan handled the makeup. Judy Chin said, “He’s a champ.” The makeup took about 4 hours, Adrien created a cooling suit for him and “He’s so patient and willing to do anything for the role.”

6:40PT – Salma Hayek Pinault and Antonio Banderas present the next award, for International Feature. The winner is All Quiet on the Western Front. It is the eighth non-English language film nominated for both International Feature and Best Picture in the same year.

6:37PT – Eva Longoria, fresh off a plane from her movie’s premiere at SXSW is here with Academy President Janet Yang. They talk about the Academy Museum and invite movie lovers to visit and learn more about the entire art of making movies.

6:30PT – It’s time, folks. We’re about to see the live performance of “Naatu Naatu,” the first ever Oscar-nominated song in the Telugu language. The press room is loving this!

6:26PT – Paul Dano and Julia Louis-Dreyfus present Best Costume Design. Ruth Carter wins her second Oscar for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “Nice to see you again! Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is that Black woman.” She says this past week, her mother “became an ancestor. Chadwick, please take care of Mom.”

6:19PT –  Academy Award Winner Jamie Lee Curtis has entered the room to a standing ovation. First question: “There are 65 women nominated for Academy Awards this year. How does it feel to be among that number?” Curtis: “Surreal. And I would like to see a lot more women nominated.” She also says they need to find ways to include all identities too. “Just fucking MORE women anytime, anywhere ALL AT ONCE.”

Second Q: “You’re everyone’s favorite nepo baby. Do you think your mom and dad are looking down on you and smiling?” Curtis: “I don’t believe there are people up ‘there’ looking down on us. I believe we are them… I believe they are incredibly proud of me, thank you.”

JLC makes comments about the folks in the virtual press room not getting the perks like the food. “They’re at home, their kids are screaming…” She has the room cracking up. The question comes from a reporter in Hungary: “How much Hungarian are you?” Curtis: “I can’t show you on national television.” She also says, “I love my Hungarian heritage.”

“I love you, this is the thrill of my life.”

6:15PT – Jennifer Connelly and Samuel L. Jackson present the next award for Makeup and Hairstyling. Team Pinocchio are still the only winners to make it to the press room so far and they left 15 minutes ago, so I’m sure someone will be arriving any moment.

6:07PT – Donnie Yen introduces “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once performed by David Byrne and Stephanie Hsu.

6:06PT – And James Friend wins the Oscar for Best Cinematography for All Quiet on the Western Front.

6:01PT – While that’s been going on, apparently Navalny just won Best Documentary Feature and An Irish Goodbye wins Live Action Short.

5:46PT – Team Pinocchio has arrived! Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, and Alex Bulkley are in the press room. The first question is from a Mexican journalist who asks about producing the first Oscar-winning animated feature in Mexico.

Del Toro says he has launched a scholarship and will be introducing a program for students who want to learn stop motion animation.

The second question and answer were entirely in Spanish and not translated. But it sounded fun.

Mark Gustafson talks about the animators working as actors, getting deep into the characters and what they were thinking and feeling. “It wasn’t just motion, it was emotion.” Del Toro adds, “The animation is done by people who were given license to be the artists that they are. They were credited before the voice actors.”

What is the message of the story? Del Toro: “Disobedience is not only necessary, it is a virtue in the world today.” He adds that it’s a story about an imperfect father and imperfect son. Gustafson says, “Ultimately, even though it’s a film about sorrow, it’s a film about hope.”

Next question: what do you think this win will do? Del Toro, “This is an art form that has been kept industrially and commercially at the kid’s table for so long. A win helps, but it is about going forward as a community, making it strong, making it known what we need… Young animators are coming in all the time and don’t want to conform to the rules that are demanded of them.”

Del Toro: “Everything we do in animation is as complex or more complex than live action.” He really wants to push for more stop motion animation specifically, because it is the most accessible form of animation. “All the other forms are too expensive, but a kid in a room in South America can make a movie.”

5:39PT – Cara Delevingne introduces Diane Warren and Sofia Carson singing “Applause” from Tell it Like a Woman.

5:33PT – And now Kotsur and DeBose move on to Supporting Actress. Jamie Lee Curtis joins her co-star for Everything Everywhere All at Once. The reaction in the press room is a little more muted. “I am hundreds of people… We just won an Oscar.” and “To all of the people who have supported genre movies, the hundreds and thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together.”

5:26PT – Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose are presenting the Supporting Acting categories together. First up, Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan receives a loud round of applause in the theater and the press room. “My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage.”

5:21PT – We’re on our first commercial break. Let’s see how long it takes for our first winners to make it to the press room.

5:15PT – And now we’re on to Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt presenting the award for Best Animated Feature to Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio! “Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre.”

5:08PT – There was a big “oooooo” when Kimmel jokes about movies losing a hundred million dollars and asking if the Babylon team is here.

5:05PT – Applause and laughs from the press room for Ke Huy Quan.

5:03PT – Jimmy Kimmel has parachuted onto the Dolby stage. The 95th Oscars are officially underway.

5:00PT – And here we go! Loving this montage that includes the actual making of the movies we’re celebrating tonight. Respect the artists.

4:30PT – The shrimp is out, the programs are being handed out, and we’ve already been gently reminded twice not to post the run of show. So you definitely will not be getting that from me.