| | | | What the night will be remembered for | | The first story about about Harvey Weinstein's misdeeds was published almost exactly six months ago. The Oscars are no longer his stage. Instead, several of his accusers spoke from the stage on Sunday night. Ashley Judd said "a mighty chorus" is saying "Time's Up." Annabella Sciorra, standing next to her, said, "The journey ahead is long, but slowly a new path has emerged." Chloe Melas has a full story about the remarks...
All evening long, "presenters and nominees brought up opportunity for women in Hollywood," as THR observed here. The award for most memorable speech belonged to best actress winner Frances McDormand, who asked all the women nominees in the room to stand. The NYT's Jodi Kantor tweeted: "The most striking thing, here in the room, about watching the female nominees stand? There were so few of them." | | "We all have stories to tell and projects we need financed," McDormand said. "Don't talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple days, or you can come to ours, whatever suits you best and we'll tell you all about them."
--> Per Lisa Respers France's story, McDormand concluded her speech with a reference to entertainment industry contract requirements to establish gender and racial diversity on projects. "I have two words to leave you with tonight. Inclusion rider..." | | "Shape of Water" wins best picture | | "Despite stiff competition in one of the most unpredictable best picture races of recent memory, Guillermo del Toro's 'The Shape of Water' took the top prize at Sunday's Academy Awards," Sandra Gonzalez wrote...
The film took home four awards total. The Academy "both spread the wealth among a number of films and mostly followed the anticipated script, with few major surprises among the highest-profile categories," Brian Lowry wrote in this recap. "The show also managed to deal with serious issues -- from Time's Up to diversity and inclusion -- without sacrificing a sense of fun and irreverence." Read more...
--> I think I agree with Benjy Sarlin, who tweeted, "'What movie won Best Picture the year Get Out was released' is going to be a spectacular bar trivia question someday..." | | "Shape of Water" – 4
"Dunkirk" – 3
"Darkest Hour" – 2
"Three Billboards" – 2
"Coco" – 2
"Blade Runner 2049" – 2
"Get Out" – 1
"Call Me By Your Name" – 1
"Phantom Thread" – 1
"I, Tonya" – 1 | | First nominations, first WINS for: | | | Gary Oldman, who won best actor for "Darkest Hour..." Allison Janney, who won best supporting actress for "I, Tonya..." and Kobe Bryant, who won for the short film "Dear Basketball..." | | A full show, but few surprises | | | I found myself flipping back and forth between the Oscars and a couple of movies on other channels. The show wasn't bad... it was fine... but it felt like it was missing something. A media exec emailed with this theory: "The problem is all these movies are small." | | --> Brian Lowry emails with his view: There's always a bit of hypocrisy baked into these ceremonies, in the sense that Jimmy Kimmel joked about how long the show is, and then of course the producers put together all sorts of business and lengthy clip packages that drags out the festivities. That said, offering a jet ski to the shortest speech was an inspired touch, and visiting the movie theater across the street gave the show a welcome jolt of energy, even if it was slightly repetitive to last year's stunt enlisting ordinary folks into the act...
--> JET SKI WINNER WAS: Costume design Oscar winner Mark Bridges | | Reflecting the world's diversity | | -- Jordan Peele became the first black screenwriter to win best original screenplay...
-- Kumail Nanjiani: "To all the DREAMERS out there, we stand with you..."
-- Rachel Shenton, accepting the Oscar for best short for "The Silent Film," delivered part of her speech in sign language...
-- Daniela Vega became "the first openly transgender person to present at the big ceremony..."
-- "Coco" co-director Adrian Molina: "Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters..." | | Via CNN's Deena Zaru, this is what Common said at the start of the performance: "Tell the NRA they in God's way and tell the people of Parkland we say àse (a West African philosophy about creating change). Sentiments of love for the people from Africa, Haiti, to Puerto Rico..."
And later: "These days we dance between love and hate... A president that trolls with hate, he don't control our fate, because God is great. When they go low, we stay in our heights. I stand for peace, love and women's rights." | | More fodder for the right | | I can practically hear the "Fox & Friends" segment already. The hosts might say that conservatives were left out of Hollywood's rainbow. After all, Kimmel jabbed Fox in the first few minutes, saying "Our friend Oscar is 90 years old tonight, which means he's probably at home watching Fox News." Later, Kobe Bryant mocked Laura Ingraham's "shut up and dribble" line...
--> During Common and Andra Day's performance of "Stand Up For Something," ten activists stood on stage, representing groups like Sandy Hook Promise (but not the NRA), Planned Parenthood (but not NRLC), etc. Per Variety, Other activists included Dolores Huerta, José Andrés and Syrian refugee Bana Alabed... | | All the political moments | | | Remember, Harvey Weinstein walked the Oscars red carpet last year just like his fellow movie moguls. But this year, he was a punchline in Kimmel's opening monologue. If you missed it, here's my recap of the opener... Kimmel called the reckoning "long overdue" and said that "things are changing for the better..." | | The NYT reporters were there | | | The title of Margaret Sullivan's latest column: "Don't forget how the movement that changed Hollywood started: With great reporting." To that point, the NYT's Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were at the Dolby on Sunday night... Here they are with Ashley Judd, photographed by Sam Dolnick... | | | Megan Thomas emails: Tiffany Haddish may have won the night. She brought great energy and trademark humor to the stage to present the Oscars for best documentary short and best live-action short. ...AND she wore the same $4,000 Alexander McQueen dress she wore to the "Girls Trip" premiere. She also wore it on "SNL" in November, when she joked, "I feel like I should be able to wear what I want, when I want, however many times I want, as long as I Febreze it." | | -- ABC ran lots and lots of "American Idol" and "Roseanne" promos... I thought the "Idol" promos were much more effective...
-- Twitter's minute-long ad was moving -- it was a poem all about supporting women's' voices -- but many commenters said the social network is falling short on that front, pointing to rampant harassment and abuse problems...
-- Ads for Absolut and Indeed won me over by using "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb... | | ABC announces Comey interview air date | | | Toward the end of the Oscars, ABC used some promo time to announce that George Stephanopoulos's interview with James Comey will air in prime time on Sunday, April 15. The graphic called it "the interview America's been waiting for..." | | | The Russian Olympics doping documentary "Icarus" took home best documentary feature... On stage, Bryan Fogel thanked Ted Sarandos and "our incredible partners at Netflix..." And by midnight ET, there was a Netflix push alert on my phone, inviting me to stream the film... | | ABC's "meh" red carpet show | | | Brian Lowry felt the same way I did about ABC's pre-show: The presentation was all over the place, with a peculiar mix of talent. Given the amount of time ABC invested in the pre-coverage -- which they practically turned into a Super Bowl-like affair -- one would think they'd put more effort and thought into the production, and enlist more of the network's frontline news talent to take part... | | Chloe Melas emails: Ryan Seacrest managed to avoid any awkward encounters at the Oscars red carpet. But the E! red carpet show felt awkward anyway... in part because it felt like Seacrest spoke with fewer celebs than he normally does. With a harassment allegation against Seacrest very much in the news, E! seemed to rely heavily on Giuliana Rancic and Kristin dos Santos, who were across the street from the Dolby Theatre.
Here's Chloe's full story... Let's see if Seacrest addresses this on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" Monday morning... | | | I'll see you on CNN's "New Day" starting in the 6am hour on Monday... | | PACIFIC launches on Monday! | | | Are you on the list for PACIFIC yet? If not, sign up here. PACIFIC is Dylan Byers' brand new morning newsletter about the tech companies that are changing the world. The name says it all: He's documenting the power players of Silicon Valley, Seattle and Hollywood, explaining what's happening in tech, media and innovation. The newsletter has been in beta for a few weeks... It will officially launch on Monday... So get on the list here... | | -- "Robin Wright is at the helm when House of Cards returns for its sixth and final season in Fall 2018." Netflix dropped a new spot for the series during the Oscars... (YouTube)
-- Important NYT story by Gardiner Harris: "State Dept. Was Granted $120 Million to Fight Russian Meddling. It Has Spent $0."
-- Also in Monday's Times: Kellyanne Conway, the W.H. survivor... (NYT)
-- Another black mark for YouTube? Advertisers are now fleeing InfoWars founder Alex Jones' YouTube channel... (CNNMoney) | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday through Wednesday: The Deutsche Bank media conference in Palm Beach...
-- Tuesday: LATimes reporter Amy Kaufman's book "Bachelor Nation" comes out...
-- Thursday: International Women's Day...
-- Friday: "A Wrinkle In Time" arrives in theaters...
-- Friday: SXSW gets underway in Austin. I'll be on this 5pm panel about Facebook and publishers if you're in town... | | NewsGuard launching Monday | | Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz's new start-up, NewsGuard, will be unveiled on Monday... Over the weekend, the WashPost's Paul Farhi peeked behind the curtain and Brill gave me a preview on "Reliable Sources..."
WHAT IT IS: Backed by $6 million in funding, NewsGuard is rating the reliability of thousands of news sources. It wants to help consumers distinguish between sites that are trying to get it right and sites that are trying to trick people...
WHY IT'S APPEALING: Brill is saying algorithms aren't cutting it. Real-life reviewers are needed to judge reliability. Several dozen journalists will be hired to produce the reviews...
WHAT IT'S BANKING ON: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and/or other tech platforms licensing its ratings. No commitments yet, but Brill says he's confident...
BRILL'S PITCH TO THE PLATFORMS: "We're asking them to pay a fraction of what they pay their P.R. people and their lobbyists to talk about the problem..." | | "Nutrition labels" for news? | | | Through NewsGuard, websites will receive green, yellow, or red ratings. There will also be "nutrition labels" with more detailed info. The labels "are intended to let readers know if they need to take particular brands they see online with a grain of salt -- or with an entire shaker," Crovitz told me via email. "These write-ups will describe the mission, history and any viewpoints of the sites relevant to readers." Brill added: "Imagine coming to a National Review story about affirmative action versus one from the Nation. Both totally legit publications, but unlike the old days when you knew what brands were, on a feed or in a search they both just look like headlines." He's right, that's a real problem... | | "In this White House especially, the silly stuff turns out to be very serious, very often."
--Olivia Nuzzi on "Reliable Sources," justifying the stories about W.H. infighting and palace intrigue... | | My question on Sunday's "Reliable Sources:" President Trump is now being described -- by his allies -- as unglued, unraveling, uncontrollable. Where are reporters getting these quotes from?
Josh Dawsey's answer: "We speak to, you know, dozens of people in and around the White House for our stories." Sometimes, he said, "when we're pursuing stories about problems in the White House -- personnel churn, chaos, not following policy procedures -- folks in the White House say to us, you know, 'You're being a little hyperbolic, it's not that bad, don't be overdramatic.' In this story, my colleagues and I, none of us could find folks in the White House who were really saying things were going well..." | | -- Jeff Greenfield's concern: "In this avalanche" of news, "what's being crowded out?"
-- With Hope Hicks on the way out, will relations between the press and the president deteriorate even further? It's possible, Olivia Nuzzi said...
-- Nuzzi added: "I see these reports that he's become 'unglued.' If he's been glued until now, I think that's a pretty remarkable fact for us to consider..."
-- Natasha Bertrand: "We learned a lot this week about the scope of Mueller's investigation and how it's actually expanding, even as many of Trump's defenders say that it's just a 'witch hunt' and that nothing has been found..." | | Four ways to catch up on the show | | Trump's cracks about the media | | A sampling of Trump's laugh lines about the fourth estate:
-- "You, The New York Times, are an icon. I'm a New York icon, you're a New York icon, and the only difference is, I still my own my buildings."
-- "I have a lot of respect for the branches of government. The executive, legislative, judicial, and last Fox News."
-- "We're going to reduce the carbon footprint by shrinking the press pool so that we only have room for Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs and Judge Jeanine."
-- "I better wrap it up, I have to be up early tomorrow morning, 6 o'clock, to be listening to 'Fox and Friends.'"
-- "This is one of the best times I've had with the media. This might be the best time I've had since watching your faces on election night."
And a sincere comment:
-- "Television is so easy compared to this." | | | Trump concluded his remarks this way: "I have a lot of respect for the people in this room." He thanked the foundation and the speakers and said, "And finally I want to thank the press for all you do to support and sustain our democracy. I mean that. Some incredible people. We have some incredible, brilliant, powerful, smart and fair people in the press, and I want to thank you." | | | Does Trump's 👏😂👏 performance at the dinner make it more likely that he'll attend the White House Correspondents Association dinner on April 28? I think so... | | -- Chuck Leavell's annual White House Correspondents' Jam (on April 27) will feature Lester Holt and his band the Rough Cuts... Plus Steve Liesman, Kevin O'Leary, Michael Siconolfi, Tom Toles, and the Bacon Brothers... (WashPost)
-- In an interview on Fox, Devin Nunes "called Stephen Colbert's jokes about him on a sketch for The Late Show a 'danger.'" How will Colbert respond on Monday? (The Daily Beast)
-- John Wagner and Seung Min Kim's latest in the WashPost: "'Like a pinball machine': Lawmakers struggle to negotiate with an erratic Trump"
-- It's not just LittleThings: Other "viral publishers" are seeing "sharp engagement drops on Facebook..." (Digiday) | | Crowdfunding for the MSD High students | | | Julia Waldow emails: Since publishing our story on Friday about the GoFundMe set up to benefit the self-funded newspaper and yearbook programs of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, the campaign has more than surpassed its original $30k goal. The advisers of the publications have since sat down to reevaluate their financial needs and decided to extend the goal to $50k. Right now it's at $38k... | | | --> Comedy Central's Jordan Klepper joined me on Sunday's show... He said the students from MSD have been able "to own the media narrative in a way that I haven't seen since Donald Trump's become president." Here's the video of our conversation... | | "Black Panther" inches closer to $1 billion | | | Frank Pallotta emails: Disney's blockbuster hit, "Black Panther," is still racking up big bucks at the box office, taking the #1 spot for the third week in a row. The film made $65.7 million this weekend, crossing $500 million in the U.S... and it will cross $900 million globally soon, according to Disney. Next stop: a billion dollars globally... | | Last but not least... The RAZZIES | | | Lisa Respers France writes: "The Golden Raspberry Awards, known as the Razzies, celebrate the best in the worst of what Hollywood has to offer, and 'The Emoji Movie' swept this year's awards for worst picture, screen combo, director and screenplay. 'Fifty Shades Darker' won (lost?) with two awards: worst supporting actress for Kim Basinger and worst remake, rip-off or sequel. Tyler Perry scored the worst actress award for his turn as Madea in 'Boo! 2: A Medea Halloween,' and Tom Cruise won worst actor for 'The Mummy...'" | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
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