The Oscar Project Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Madison Hatfield, the director and star of the short film "I Could Dom," a laugh a minute sex comedy about a young woman trying to figure out what exactly she wants in a relationship. Listen to hear about how the film was a bit of self discovery for Madison when it came to her people-pleasing personality, the importance of getting her...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film White Shadows in the South Seas . My friend Matthew Brady from the Warren Peace newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about why this film was almost a shoe in for winning Best Cinematography at the 2nd Academy Awards, how interesting it was to be able to see some aspects of indigenous life on the South Pacif...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Allison Moy Hayhurst and Mike Hayhurst, the producer and director of the film And Through the Portal We Go . The film is a genre-bending time loop story that takes an earnest look at faith, friendship, and the search for belonging. Listen to hear about the some of the research that was required for the film (and the dubious online searches that...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film Our Dancing Daughters . My friend Vicki Lesly from the Meandering Over the Pebbles newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about some incredible cinematography choices that absolutely merited a nomination in that category at the 2nd Academy Awards, how this film began Joan Crawford's rise to stardom, and...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Lauren Melinda, the director of the short film "Before You." The film tells the story of a young couple dealing with the loss of a pregnancy while simultaneously expressing joy about an upcoming birth. Listen to hear about the film's basis in Lauren's own experience of loss, the importance of looking back on difficult memori...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film Glorious Betsy . My friend Enrico Banson from the Director's Notes newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about how the viewing experience would be substantially different with the partial talkie segments that are now missing, Conrad Nagle's involvement in the creation of the Academy Awards, and whe...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Emily Sheskin, the director of the short documentary "Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles." The film focuses on the unlikely pairing of Twitch with jigsaw puzzles and premiered at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival last fall. Listen to hear about the incredible community around jigsaw puzzling that continues to grow around the worl...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 films Street Angel and Skyscraper . My friend Beth Lisogorsky from Beth's TV & Film Recommendations joins me to discuss the films and we talk about some of the visual touches in Street Angel , how vertigo inducing some of the images in Skyscraper are, and a wonderful relationship between to two leads in Skyscraper . C...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I am joined by Chris Etrata, the winner of the 2025 Oscar prediction contest on The Oscar Project. We talk about our reactions to the 97th Academy Awards, some movies from 2025 so far, and what we're looking forward to in the rest of 2025.   Books mentioned in this episode include: Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton Films mentioned in this episode include: Wic...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is the beginning of my conversations about the films nominated at the 2nd Academy Awards. I'm joined by Lewis Beer who writes the Slow Moving Pictures newsletter and we break down some of the history of the 2nd Academy Awards, all of the nominees, and take some time to discuss some of the missing or hard to find films that won't be covered in individ...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview John Kelly, the director of the short film "Retirement Plan," an animated short that follows a man as he dreams about what he will do in his retirement years. The film won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at SXSW . Listen to hear about the inspiration for the story, the importance being nimble with style when creating over 100 anima...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Paul Kowalski, the director of the short film "Sardinia," a dark look at what a world without humor could be like. The film screened at IndieShorts and won the Best Director Grand Prize at Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2024. Listen to hear about the real world inspiration for the film, casting a group of strong...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Jonathan Hammond, the director of the short film "Fireflies in the Dusk," a clever genre bending comedy that brings the Victorian Age into the present day with hilarious results. Listen to hear about some of the films that inspired Jonathan's concept for the film, how he got his actors to buy into the absurd situations their char...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I am joined by Luis Mendez, the winner of the 2025 Oscar prediction contest on The Oscar Project. We talk about our reactions to the 97th Academy Awards, some movies from 2025 so far, and what we're looking forward to in the rest of 2025.   Books mentioned in this episode include: Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Chan...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Lucy Davidson, the director of the short film "Baggage," a touching look at the weight we all carry with us in our day to day lives. Listen to hear about the inspiration for the film, the importance of creating a sonic landscape that felt believable, and some of the fun little details you can look for as you watch the film. Books ment...

Send us Fan Mail The 97th Academy Awards are over and today I'm joined by Shawna Carroll from the Notes from Post newsletter to recap everything that happened at last night's ceremony. Listen to hear us talk about the biggest winners and losers of the evening, some of the beautiful style we got to see, and anything that caught us by surprise. Other topics mentioned: Art of the Cut podcas...

Send us Fan Mail Today is the final episode in my preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will have broken down every category over the course of this week. Today I am joined by Maria Banson from the Brunello Bombshell newsletter to break down all ten films nominated for Best Picture . I've listed the nominees below along with a few other films mentioned throughout the episode. Be sure to...

Send us Fan Mail Today is the third of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Kevin Pettit from the See You at the Movies newsletter to break down all four acting categories, both screenplay categories, and Best Director . I've listed the nominees below along with a few other films menti...

Send us Fan Mail Today is the third of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Brandon MacMurray from the Short Stick Films website to break down Best Animated Short Film , Best Live Action Short Film , and Best Documentary Short Film . I've listed the nominees below along with a few othe...

Send us Fan Mail Today is the second of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Enrico Banson from the Director's Notes newsletter to break down Best Animated Feature , Best International Feature , Best Documentary Feature , Best Original Score , and Best Original Song . I've listed...

Send us Fan Mail Today's is the first of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Joanne Thornborough from the Pop! Goes My Brain newsletter to break down all of the technical categories. I've listed the nominees below along with a few other films mentioned throughout the episode. Be...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my recap of everything from the very first Academy Awards back in 1929. Listen as I walk through the nominees and winners of every category and give a final ranking of all 17 films I was able to watch from this first year of the Oscars. If you missed any of the episodes discussing specific films, you can go back in this feed or just tap on the links below....

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my conversation about the 1927 film Wings . My friend Kevin Pettit from the See You At The Movies newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about some of the most impressive special effects in early films, the various aspects of love between many of the characters in the film, and someone who has way too much fun with bubbles! You can watch Wings...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is my 100th episode(!) and my conversation about the 1927 film 7th Heaven . My friend Maria Banson from the Brunello Bombshell newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about the connection between Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell that began with this film, the religious undertones that keep cropping up throughout the film, and some stunning cinemato...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, I interview Victoria Warmerdam and Trent, the director and producer of the short film "I'm Not a Robot," a story of a woman who discovers that she might just be a robot and how she deals with that realization. Listen to hear about the inspiration for the film straight from Victoria's own experience, the wonderful music and sound design...