Now that the Academy Awards are behind us, how did Hollywood assess itself and what lessons will the industry learn going into 2016?; the executive producer of Samantha Bee's TBS show, "Full Frontal," on the 'unfiltered' and fearless tone of that late night show
Oscars 2016: Social issues were in the spotlight, but diversity loomed above all
Headed into Sunday’s Academy Awards, the debate was which movie would prevail at the 88th annual Oscars: “The Revenant,” “The Big Short,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” or “Spotlight.” But when the evening was over, another Hollywood drama ended up dominating the show: the entertainment industry’s lack of diversity.
From host Chris Rock’s opening joke — "I’m here at the Oscars, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards” — to the acceptance by best director winner Alejandro González Iñárritu about racial tolerance, the Academy Awards confronted head-on the growing crisis of inclusion in show business.
Even the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, used almost all of her usually pro forma remarks during the telecast to address the issue, saying, “Everyone in the Hollywood community has a role to play in bringing about the vital changes the industry needs so that we can accurately reflect the world today.”
For the second consecutive year, not a single one of the 20 nominees in the four Oscar acting categories was a person of color. And only two women — the filmmakers behind the foreign-language movie, “Mustang,” and the documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone?” — directed feature-length films that earned nominations.
It wasn’t just comments about diversity that made this year’s ceremony probably the most political in modern Oscar history. There were remarks about the environment by best actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio and “Mad Max” costume designer Jenny Beavan; the potential corruption of political candidates by financial contributions from bankers (delivered by “Big Short” director Adam McKay, who shared the adapted screenplay Oscar); and the Vatican’s need to address more fully the conduct of pedophile priests in the Catholic Church (by “Spotlight” producer Michael Sugar, who said: “Pope Francis, it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith”).
If the constant commentary was a surprise, so, too, were some of the night’s winners, including “Spotlight,” which took the top prize as best picture. That film prevailed over “The Big Short” and “The Revenant” in what had been a particularly see-saw year for the big prize.
"The Revenant," an epic tale of frontier survival, won for director, actor and cinematography. Emmanuel Lubezki, who shot the film using only natural light, became the first cinematographer to ever win three consecutive Oscars. Two years ago he won for “Gravity,” and last year for “Birdman.” And Iñárritu is only the third director to ever win in consecutive years. (He won last year for "Birdman.")
“Mad Max” took home the most Oscars, with six total wins, all in technical categories that included two wins for sound.
“Spotlight,” an account of the Boston Globe’s tenacious reporting into how the local Roman Catholic diocese protected pedophile priests, won only two trophies, but one statuette mattered the most: best picture. The film’s other triumph was for original screenplay.
“I think we are all genuinely thrilled to the core," producer Sugar said backstage. "And not just because it's a great personal accomplishment for us and for our companies, but it's really an opportunity to bring this conversation to a world stage. And for that, we're really grateful.”
If “Spotlight’s” best picture victory was mildly unexpected, several other winners were far more surprising. Mark Rylance won for best supporting actor for “Bridge of Spies,” beating favored Sylvester Stallone from “Creed.” And the team behind “Ex Machina” won the visual effects Oscar, even though they only had an effects budget of about $4 million — or about a tenth of what was spent for effects on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
And when the last trophy was handed out, and Rock had told his last pointed joke about diversity, one reality remained: the Motion Picture Academy can do all it wants to become more inclusive, but it's up to the studios to change what we see on the big screen.
'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' showrunner: 'It’s us doing the fantasy show in our heads'
When Samantha Bee left "The Daily Show" to start her own late-night show on TBS, little did she know the amount of comedic material this presidential election would lay at her feet. Now that she's on the air, Bee and her "Full Frontal" writers are taking full advantage of the bounty.
Her tone is a take-no-prisoners approach which she cultivated over the years as a correspondent on "The Daily Show." Her showrunner and former "Daily Show" staff writer Jo Miller describes "Full Frontal" this way:
"We are kind of unfiltered. Sam goes out there and has a very short time to lay out what's in her heart and what's eating at her gut this week. And not to sugarcoat it or pull back or over-explain it."
But there's a lot more working in Samantha Bee's favor than timeliness. Bee is a seasoned comedian-qua-journalist — having started with "The Daily Show" in 1996, she was the longest-serving regular correspondent when she left the show in 2015. And she didn't leave empty-handed: Bee tapped Miller as her "Full Frontal" executive producer.
Together, Samantha Bee and Jo Miller have crafted a show geared towards Bee's voice. As Miller told The Frame:
"It’s us doing the fantasy show in our heads, the, Oh My Gosh if we had our own show wouldn’t it be fun if we did this? And now we can. Now we’re doing it."
Bee has jettisoned the traditional desk; instead, she walks in front of a wall of screens, sort of like CNN's Situation Room. And she doesn't have guests. Rather, Bee makes use of her experience doing field pieces, traveling to places as far away as Jordan to do a piece on Syrian refugees.
Miller talks about leaving "The Daily Show" to launch "Full Frontal," why a weekly broadcast is a good idea for their in-depth production and how they decided on their catchy theme song.
Interview highlights
Your theme song is "Boys Want To Be Her" by the musician Peaches. This is the first impression viewers get of the show. Why did you pick this song, and what does it say about the tone and style of what you're up to?
"Sam picked that song, and that was the only song we ever considered. It's just perfect. We love the audacity of it and the forward-thrusting energy, and we love Peaches. We're so grateful to her for letting us use it, and also for writing some musical bumpers for us to use during the rest of the show. It sets the perfect mood."
How would you define that mood that you're trying to set?
"We are kind of unfiltered. Sam goes out there and has a very short time to lay out what's in her heart and what's eating at her gut this week. And not to sugarcoat it or pull back or over-explain it."
You're only a couple of shows in, but I think a lot of people, including me, would say the same thing, and that is: why just once a week? Can't we have more?
"It's funny — I'm a big fan of a lot of TV shows like 'Better Call Saul' and 'Fargo.' And I never hear anyone saying, 'Why isn't 'Fargo' on every night? Why isn't 'Better Call Saul' on every night? They're so good!'
"One reason that we're able to do the show we do is we're able to craft it a little longer, dig deeper into the stories we're interested in. Last week we had a piece on sexual harassment in the workplace and we didn't have material on women who worked on cruise ships — we didn't have video on it — because, understandably, these women don't want to come forward and identify themselves on TV. So we went and found them and talked to them ourselves, and disguised their voices. We would not have time to do that in a day. So it lets us do what we want to do, and give people the show that they're enjoying so much."
But obviously the main difference between a show like "Better Call Saul" and "Full Frontal" is you guys are commenting on what's happening almost in real time.
"Well, if something happens on Monday night, then we're not going to be able to put it on television until the next week. But we do try to cover those things on our social media feeds. That allows us to respond in real time. And not everything we do on our show is of the moment. The top of the show is generally the most topical section, which right now is all election stuff for the foreseeable future. And the second act is called the Deep Dive, where we go into something that is current, but not from the last 24 hours."
Was there any indecision on your part about going with Sam, or staying at "The Daily Show?" What was the thought process like?
"Well, the first thought process was kind of a blank mind. It was such a surprise that she would want me to run her show. I was kind of speechless. There was no real hesitation. It was such an honor. My only hesitation was, am I going to be able to justify her faith in me? And I have that every day still. But it was such a great opportunity. And I love Sam and I love working with her. It's just been the most fantastic working experience of my life. And it was of course hard to leave 'The Daily Show' and all my friends there, and Trevor, whom I love. But everyone there was really generous and supportive about the transition."
What was your role at "The Daily Show?" Were you working closely with Samantha there?
"I was a staff writer. So I was one of the writers in the writers' wing. I did spend more time over in the field department where Sam works, because I enjoyed working over there. I enjoyed helping on field pieces and seeing them come together. I was very interested in field. So that's probably why Sam knew me better and wanted to keep working with me. So, coming over here, it's us doing the fantasy show in our heads, the Oh my gosh, if we had our own show, wouldn't it be fun if we did this? And now we can, now we're doing it."
What is the tone you're looking for in the writers' room? It's a little bit fearless — that you're free to say what you want to say, even if that means the language is going to be a little bit raw?
"A lot of times that language isn't written into the script, but it'll come out in rehearsal or in rewrite. It'll just be Sam's genuine emotion and her reaction. At that point, in rewrite, we'll decide, let's keep that because that's the genuine emotion of this. But I will say that we didn't write a single potty word into the last episode and we had no bleeps at all. I try not to, but sometimes it does seem to come out. When it's genuine and appropriate, we'll leave it."
What has given you the most satisfaction? Even though you've only been on the air for a couple of weeks, what are you guys excited about? Where do you think the show is working best?
"It's so hard to pick. We come in Monday morning, and Sam and I are kind of giggly and dancey because we're so excited about show day and doing another show. I don't know if that's going to wear off. But we really get excited about watching the audience react to things we've done. When you've looked at a field piece 400 times, or you've redrafted a script six times, sometimes you're not sure if it works, or if it's funny. So that moment of seeing, Oh right! That was funny the first time and the audience likes it! — that's probably the best part."
"Full Frontal" airs every Monday night on TBS.