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Women in Hollywood are closing the showbiz gender gap and this weekend’s Oscars ceremony proves that.
Nine female movie producers are among the nominees for the best picture Oscar – which is the most ever.
Among them are two who have won the category before, Dede Gardner for “12 Years a Slave” and Donna Gigliotti for “Shakespeare in Love.”
If either Dede wins for “Moonlight” or Donna for “Hidden Figures,” she will become the first woman ever to win two best picture Oscars, the award which goes to the producers of the best film.
Gigliotti spotted the movie potential in Margot Lee Shetterley’s book that “Hidden Figures” is based on and optioned the film rights. Gardner supervised the adaptation of her film from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.”
Also in the running for the same category is “Manchester by the Sea” producer Kimberly Steward, who launched her production company, K Period Media, with no major movie credits behind her but an ambition to make quality films. It’s an ambition which has paid off with her movie winning wide acclaim and now a best picture nomination. Steward is African American and becomes only the second black woman ever nominated for a producing Oscar.
But there are a whole series of firsts at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony …
“La La Land” – which has 14 nominations – could be the first film to land 12 or more Oscars. The record for most wins is 11 and is currently shared by “Titanic,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “Ben-Hur.”
Amazon has become the first streaming service ever to land a best picture nomination. The company is the distributor behind “Manchester by the Sea.”
Tech giant Google is in the Oscar race for the first time with best animated short film nominee, “Pearl.”
Meanwhile “Pearl” is also the first virtual reality film ever to be nominated in any category.
If “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle, who is 32, wins best director, he will become the youngest ever winner in that category.
If “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda wins best original song for “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” he would become the youngest person, at 37, to have won all four of the biggest showbiz awards, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony – a rare achievement known as the EGOT.
The Oscars can be seen live from Hollywood on ABC at 5.30pm Pacific Time on Sunday.
