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Oscars Special Coverage; Guillermo del Toro Making his Oscar Winning Film; Sorvino and Judd on How #TimesUp is Helping Women; Film and Politics take Center Stage at the Oscars. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 05, 2018 - 01:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay. This is HOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST NIGHT.
VAUSE: Well, "The Shape of Water," the fish meets girl love story, capped an impressive awards season, netting four Oscars at Sunday night's Academy Awards, including the coveted Best Picture. The fantasy --
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VAUSE: Oh, it was awful.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: No, it was OK. I watched it at double speed so that probably didn't help. (INAUDIBLE) also won Best Director, Original Score and Production Design.
SESAY: (INAUDIBLE) Guillermo Del Toro dedicated his winning streak to --
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SESAY: -- saying this is a door to their dreams and it's time to kick it open and come in.
VAUSE: OK. (INAUDIBLE) is here TV and film journalist and (INAUDIBLE) also senior producer for -- reporter, rather, for the "Hollywood Reporter." That's Rebecca Sun (ph).
Also, we have actress Jessica Barth.
SESAY: Yes we do, indeed.
Jessica, welcome. Also with us here in the house we have (INAUDIBLE) journalist and host of Rotten Tomatoes --
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SESAY: -- and, of course, we also have in the house we also have (INAUDIBLE), comedian and actor and also fashion expert, George Kotsiopoulos.
And we'll also get Stephanie Elam in a the Governors' Ball.
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VAUSE: She will be joining us any moment.
But what we'd been actually managing to get is some sound (INAUDIBLE) the actors and everybody goes backstage once they get their awards and they say a few extra things.
And we heard from Frances McDormand, who won Best Actress -- gosh, knock me over with a sledgehammer on that one -- for "Three Billboards" and she gave a pretty good acceptance speech and that kind of continued when she spoke afterwards to the reporters backstage. Listen to this.
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FRANCES MCDORMAND, BEST ACTRESS: The whole idea of women trending, no. No trending. African Americans trending? No, no trending. It changes now.
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VAUSE: OK, Jessica, as someone who's known all about the #MeToo movement and someone who has spoken out against Harvey Weinstein, does it change now?
Is this that moment?
JESSICA BARTH, ACTOR: I think 100 percent it is more than any time ever. I think it's just important that we continue on and it is not just about right now. We need to talk about legislation. We need to talk about more women in power positions. We need to take conscious, effective steps to continue this movement on.
And I feel like it is happening.
SESAY: We do have Stephanie Elam. We're going to go to her at the Governors' Ball, with just a quick word from Rebecca, just because you covered #MeToo so extensively. I just want to pick up --
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SESAY: -- on this moment before we give Stephanie. You're speaking to the big voices in Hollywood, not just the actresses, the women speaking out, do the power players give you the sense that it's changing?
REBECCA SUN, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: I think the female power players do. You know I think that they are really fed up and you see powerful people like Ava DuVernay and Shonda Rhimes, Kathleen Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm; Nina Shaw, very powerful entertainment attorney, they're really investing their energies into this in a way that they haven't before because of the mobilization.
VAUSE: OK, let's go to Stephanie, who is at the Governors' Ball.
So, Stephanie, wrap all of this up for us because it was -- a lot of this was (INAUDIBLE). It played much as most people had expected.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're breaking up a bit for me right now, John, so I couldn't totally hear you. What I can tell you, though, is that here at the Governors' Ball, we're seeing -- for one thing, all (INAUDIBLE) have to come here because they have to get their statue actually engraved with their names.
So I've been able to see a few of the people coming in (INAUDIBLE) Guillermo Del Toro. And if you take a look at what he said on stage about "The Shape of Water" and about what the future of filmmaking, where it is and where it will go, take a listen to what he said on stage.
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GUILLERMO DEL TORO, DIRECTOR: I want to dedicated this to every young filmmaker that youth that is showing us how things are done, really they are, in every country in the world.
And I was a kid enamored with movies and growing up in Mexico, I thought that this could never happen. It happens and I want to tell you everyone who is dreaming of a parable of using genre fantasy to tell the stories about the things that are real in the world today, you can do it. This is a door. Kick it open and come in.
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ELAM: "Kick it open and come in."
And then on the other side of that, you have Frances McDormand, who was the front-runner all awards season. She did win as lead actress for her role in "Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri."
And she took that platform of her win to talk about the women in the room who were nominated so that everyone could see them. She had them all stand up. Take a listen to what she did.
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MCDORMAND: If I may be so honored to have all the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight, the actors.
Meryl, if you do it, everybody else will. Come on. The filmmakers, the producers, the directors, the writers, the cinematographers, the composers, the songwriters, the designers, come on.
OK, look around, everybody. Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we have all have stories to tell and projects we need financed.
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ELAM: And from the excitement and the very clear point that she was making, to Gary Oldman, who was way more reserved and quiet in his remarks but noting his 99-year-old mother, who was back home watching. Take a listen.
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GARY OLDMAN, ACTOR: I would like to thank my mother, who is older than the Oscar. She is 99 years young next birthday.
(APPLAUSE).
OLDMAN: And she's watching the ceremony from the comfort of her sofa. I say to my mother, thank you for your love and support. Put the kettle on.
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ELAM: And, Isha and John, this why we watch awards shows, right, is for those spontaneous moments like what Frances gave. Everyone is going to remember that, those speeches that resonate with people.
That's why people watch these shows because they want to see be authentic and genuine. I think you saw a few of those moments tonight.
VAUSE: We saw a couple.
SESAY: Thank you, Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank you.
To bring you back here in the studio, I think that it's a good point Stephanie raises. People watch the Oscars because you never know what's going to happen. And I do think that moment with Frances McDormand resonated as a truly powerful, emotional moment.
Because a lot of women will get nominated during the course of an Oscars and you never see them because they don't win. So to see them acknowledged in the room I think was a big moment -- Rebecca.
SUN: Yes, I think that was nice because, again, she really called out -- it wasn't just the actresses and their -- this was a year where we had a cinematographer who is a woman be nominated for the first time.
She really spoke to the industry in the room, honestly, like that's why I though the speech was not pandering because it wasn't just a feel-good, like let's listen to women, rah-rah-rah. But she made some specific demands. She talked about how hard it is for women to get their projects financed. It's really hard to make a movie if you have people saying, I don't know if audiences will go see your chick flick, that sort of thing.
She talked about the inclusion rider. It's a line in the contract -- you can stipulate a lot of things. You can I want M&Ms that are only --
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SUN: -- green in my dressing room. Or you can say I want gender parity in the crew. I want to make sure that the people behind the camera, who are operating these things, I want half of them to be women.
If you're a talent and people want you and your film, you can say things like that.
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Can we love the message but not the messenger?
Because when you're married to a Cohen brother, I find the -- I'm with her message. Listen.
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ODUOLOWU: My point is this: Jessica Chastain wasn't going to do a movie until Octavia Spencer got the same type of money. That, to me, is making a difference and putting your money and your performance where the movement needs to go.
Standing up there after you've just won, when you're married to one of the best film writers and directors in Hollywood, I don't -- I do --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not going to consider a woman based on who she's married to. I would just say --
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SESAY: -- she doesn't have grounds to make this point?
I'm not sure.
ODUOLOWU: Yes, because --
SESAY: -- she has nothing to lose --
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ODUOLOWU: -- she has nothing to lose. I have seen her make statements about feminism and telling other actresses how that they should appear and dress and what they have to do to get roles. And she's married to a powerful filmmaker. I don't find that to be fair.
And the only reason I'm saying this, I love her message. I love the fact that she had other women from different technical aspects in films stand up. But I don't like the messenger is my point.
I want a messenger not completely blameless but just not her when she's winning. Where was she when she was doing "Fargo"?
Where was she in her whole film career standing up for women?
Not now --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- one thing if she was married to -- it would be one thing if she was married to a Cohen brother and she didn't -- if she wasn't a phenomenal actress. She's a phenomenal actress. It doesn't matter who she's married to.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- now she has the platform and she is using it very graciously, giving very specific demands on how we progress in this movement. I don't think that there's anything wrong with that --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the reality is, you run into a situation where when you have a movement that's occurring in real time, where a genuine shift, both culturally and economically, is happening in an industry, you don't -- we're not in a position -- no one is ever in a position in those circumstances to pick the heroes that get to stand or win most of the time.
And you also -- there's ofttimes not time for the refinement of message even during that process. People are going to make awkward mistakes. They're going to say things they regret later. They're going to say things that are instantly and accidentally profound. And that's the nature of genuine change.
And Hollywood at its best is a -- both a provocateur of positive movement and a reflection of their failures. And all of this comes with a package. And I love Frances. I think what she says and how she says it is how she, as a human being, would and does say it.
We don't get to be another person when our time in front of the -- that camera comes and you can go, well, somebody will say this better than I. No, you never pass up the opportunity to say it as awkwardly and poorly -- just like I'm doing right now.
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VAUSE: I wonder if there's a bigger picture here. Hollywood is saying all the right things but the bigger picture is they're still not doing all of the -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's actions, not words; real change will come when there's more women in the boardrooms rather than in front of the screen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but that won't be instant and that does require a movement --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- McDormand, that was the signature moment of the awards show. Every awards show has the -- I think back to Oprah at the Golden Globes. It was Frances McDormand here and so, yes, we will see what happens now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking apples and oranges of a movement, though.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does require, though, that the words come first. The standing up and speaking out comes first. It always must.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- a wide berth. I think they genuinely do. They deserve a wide berth.
ODUOLOWU: How -- but the words don't -- Jessica Chastain, when she did what she did for Octavia Spencer --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but that's a different --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she doesn't have the same pull that Frances does or vice versa.
ODUOLOWU: When Steven Spielberg, when Steven Spielberg put Whoopi Goldberg in "The Color Purple" and there were people fighting for people of color to be in film, they weren't doing it for fanfare. They were doing it because they thought it was right.
I'm with the movement and I think it's --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but Oprah didn't need the money at the time and I'm sure there were other actors of color who would have loved to --
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ODUOLOWU: -- talk about money. Let's just get to the point that I just don't think people are angry enough right now with the rage that has gone on for too long. And standing there when millionaires are on stage in $1,000 dresses and tuxedos, telling people that are watching that now is the time -- when those people have been going through that their whole life and all of those things that they --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- if she'd had had the chance.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I'm saying. Here's the thing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- but she is a filmmaker of her own right. She as a filmmaker on her on right may have been light years ahead of even her husband had certain barriers not been presented to her over the course of her career when she was young pre-"Blood Simple," pre- meeting the Cohen brothers.
That's the whole point, is that opening up these doors now that she's far -- she's well ahead and in a secure position, she can safely say these things at the time when they need to be said.
ODUOLOWU: OK, but here's the thing. If you're not -- if there's nothing to lose then please don't expect me to think that you're doing something so --
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SESAY: I don't think she's asking you to think that.
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ODUOLOWU: No, I want -- when someone has something to lose and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But she doesn't have that something to lose --
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SESAY: -- the case and that's not always going to be the case and the team doesn't have to be comprised (sic) of people who all have something to lose. You need as many voices to stand up as possible.
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SESAY: -- you can take Frances McDormand's word and add it to a Tiffany Haddish or it's just as valid.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- we don't need a football line with any passers or quarterbacks, like there is no -- you know what I mean? You need everybody playing that role and she's in a unique position, having just won Best Actress, to stand up there and go, there are so many women equally talented to me with these opportunities they may have been getting a hand in their face this entire time.
And they need the doors open and they need the barriers removed so that one day, if all -- everything gets to some level of normalcy, we find that people can rise and fall on their own talent and their own merit and not having to run this gantlet of Harvey Weinstein every time they want to get a project greenlighted.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- talking about and that's what needs to be said.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) take a short break. Good point to finish on. Everyone stay with us because as I said, a short break now. When we come back, we'll take a closer look at "The Shape of Water," which is now --
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VAUSE: -- the way for sea creatures and women everywhere to live together happily, at least they've opened the door for that possibility.
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VAUSE: But it's the first time a sci-fi movie I guess to have won an Oscar, Best Picture. And we'll look at why, why people are going to this gem (ph).
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OLDMAN: I think for this role, it's got a sort of special -- this -- it feels like it has a special significance. I can't say what it would be like to win an Oscar in any other year. But winning an Oscar for playing arguably one of the greatest --
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OLDMAN: -- Britons who ever lived, to win it for playing Winston, makes it doubly special.
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SESAY: That was Gary Oldman there, winner of the Best Actor award for this year's Oscars. Hardly a surprise. Everyone knew he was going to pick it up for the "Darkest Hour."
Welcome back, everyone.
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VAUSE: "Dunkirk" was the highest grossing out of all of the Oscar movies this year. It came in 15th for the year. And the "Darkest Hour" came in 16th. No one goes to see these movies.
So --
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VAUSE: They do now? Really?
SESAY: It's a validation by the Oscar win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- productions, a lot of movies like these get an Oscar bump after the fact. They mostly nowadays it's in downloads and sales online. They get purchased so this is -- there is a reason why there's such a big push by studios to pick up the cost of some of these films by getting them an Oscar through really rallying the troops around voting for them and pushing a big nomination movement for certain films, because these are the films that pay -- the ones with the big explosions and the shields and the laser beams, those are going to sell themselves.
The laser beams for these films are the Oscar win post-season because this is the movie, then you'll buy it again. And then next year, the director wins an Oscar again or five years from now. The people go back and buy this one as well.
So there's a strategy that's been in place around Oscar for about 25 years now, especially around that.
SESAY: Really interesting perspective how that you're giving us with the studio from the filmmakers.
Segun, you do a fan-based show. Talk to us about the discrepancy, the gap, if you will, between what, week to week, you see fans are loving and what the Academy ends up picking.
ODUOLOWU: Well, it's becoming -- the Oscars are in danger of becoming irrelevant because that disconnect is ever widening. If I am a fan and I pay my money to watch a movie and then I don't see that movie then represented by quote-unquote "the hierarchy of film," then it's almost telling me that my point of view is invalid, that I don't know good movies or I don't know good cinema.
And for me, it's show business. That's what they call it. So with those movies, those laser beam movies that Hal is talking about are basically what's driving the industry, then why not?
To the fans' point, there has to be some good film -- (CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- I remember watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and going, I feel bad because nobody recognized it . Like it's --
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ODUOLOWU: OK, I saw "The Artist" win for Best Picture and it was the greatest silent made that year. It's -- or "La La Land" was a tragic musical, where I'm watching Ryan Gosling dance by number.
So I like I -- we're nominating movies that the rest of the world -- or the rest of the people that are watching don't feel a connection to. And there has to be some gap breaking because --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about "Spotlight"?
There's a bunch of movies that have actually both resonated both politically and emotionally with audiences in the past 10 years, especially that it won for different categories, that have done precisely that and revolved around an issue that was both political at the time and drove people to think more deeply about it.
There is a value to doing that with the Oscars, that is a tool of filmmakers to deliver a different perspective than just box office alone with you because we can't be so Machiavellian that the only films that matter are the ones that --
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VAUSE: -- the Academy is changing. The makeup of the Academy, the voting members of the Academy is changing. In theory, at least, it's getting younger. It's getting more diverse.
Shouldn't that then become more reflective of the greater audience?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You change the numbers, you change the game and we were kind of back on the Academy tonight but one reason we should give them praise is taking action and changing of the membership, making it younger, making it more diverse.
When I was on this program two years ago, the average age of an Oscar voter was 64 and movies are largely made for teenagers. They are the ones who go over the weekend. That is the disconnect we are talking about.
Everything in Hollywood is driven by money. If you want things to change, you've got to show that you can make money. We've taken steps over the last year, "Wonder Woman." Fantastic. There hadn't been a female superhero movie for 14 years because no one thought they could make money. "Wonder Woman" proved it could. It's changed. We finally have an African American superhero movie, "Black Panther," diversity, superheroes, box office. And so things are changing and the Academy has played a great part in making those changes.
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ODUOLOWU: -- and Tyler Perry has shown for years that people of color can make movies that people will go and watch and will make money.
But now "Black Panther" is supposed to change the game?
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ODUOLOWU: To your point, you said this me in the green room, it's almost like Will Smith, nobody knew that black actors were box office draws?
But now, after "Black Panther" --
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SESAY: Let's let Jessica --
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SESAY: -- Jessica, please weigh in.
BARTH: I was just going to say that you're talking about this disconnect, what people are going to the theaters to see, they're going to see what the theaters put out. The distribution goes to these big movies, these big superhero movies. That's why they're getting seats.
The distribution is not favorable to "Lady Bird." So that's what -- the Oscars, that's what they do. That's why they do get the Oscar bump. And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- there's a value in drawing attention --
BARTH: -- I personally don't want to see movies, just superhero movies getting the box office and the awards. I just don't.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- I stand by what I said, that there are some performances in superhero films that don't get credit simply for the fact that they are in a superhero film and it is way harder to interact --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But not a lot.
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SESAY: That's some real honesty there.
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VAUSE: -- take a break on --
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SESAY: We're going to hit pause. We're going to come back because it was the first Academy Awards since the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Next, we'll discuss what else must be done to continue empowering the #MeToo movement.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: --those are our top stories, I'm Natalie Allen, in Atlanta. Special coverage of our biggest night for Hollywood continues right now.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody, thanks for staying with us I'm John Vause.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay and this is Hollywood's Biggest Night.
VAUSE: Well the 90th Academy Awards would not shy away from some of the big issues dominating the award season this year. From the top of the show, host Jimmy Kimmel called out Hollywood's history of sexual harassment and inequality.
But along with other presenters, he kept the tone optimistic, maybe hopeful. He offered a future of inclusion and diversity where everyone hugged and loved. They also handed put a few awards.
SESAY: Yes, they did do that too. The biggest winner again, del Toro's The Shape of Water swept up best picture and best director and two other awards, much to John's delight. Frances McDormand, she grabbed the Golden Statue as the best actress and Gary Old --
VAUSE: Maybe (INAUDIBLE) of the night.
SESAY: Best actor in his role in the Darkest Hour.
VAUSE: Yey. Let's go, Stephanie Elam is at the Governor's Ball. So, OK, Stephanie, Stephanie, what's going on? What have you got?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just see Frances McDormand was just here, she's still there. I think you might be able to see her, she's just come back out from the Governor's Ball, she was there. Doug Jones who is the man who plays the creature in The Shape of Water was also just getting here for a second too. But people really taking a look at Frances McDormand because she seems to be emotional right now, she's in tears as she walks away. But obviously a big night for her. And a big night as well as she took the time to speak about her win, she didn't really talk about herself, she talked about all the women there and how they needed to make deals with these women, come to them, create with these women, look to them as the future of Hollywood. She really took that moment. So she's just now leaving from the Governor's Ball.
But another person who was -- had a history win tonight was Guillermo del Toro. I actually managed to catch up with the winner, the director of Shape of Water and I asked him a bit about this man -- he always has these fantastic movies in Dreamscape and I asked him what it's like for him to have one of his dreams realized, take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly not one like this.
ELAM: Right. But don't you think it's part of (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's because you love -- you find love in the Shape when it comes, you know, so that's the beauty of it.
GUILLERMO DEL TORO, MOVIE DIRCTOR: It's a letter of love to cinema and it's over (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And so you could see his excitement there talking about this. But, you know, also on the red carpet here -- or I should say, outside the Governor's Ball, we talked to Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd and speaking to them about TimesUp and the MeToo Movement that we have seen dominate the entertainment industry over the last year.
And I asked them, is this the change that we are seeing? Is this permanent or is this just a moment in time? Take a listen to what they said.
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MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS: They're making changes to the union, they're trying to beef up protection for performers, they're trying to make an accountability that is accessible to young people and educate crews so that they can fought harassment or misconduct and help that individual rather than them feeling like they have to navigate in their own because all of my career as a young woman, I always felt I have to navigate the shoals of sexual harassment and misconduct on my own. It was up to me to deal with it and that is changing.
ASHLEY JUDD, ACTRESS: The legal defense fund has already been able to help 1,500 folks who contacted us through the TimesUp website in order to obtain pro bono lawyer help and we know that 20,000 people have donated over $21 million. People care greatly now about sexual misconduct and sexual harassment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELMA: Passionate about it enough to stand here and talk to everyone after they were on stage and really committed to this change that we're seeing here in Hollywood. And one change for someone who may not have been somebody who was thought of an actor before this, past year was (INAUDIBLE)
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MARY J. BLIGE, SINGER AND ACTRESS: She would be nervous. She would like, "No, I'm not ready for this, I'm scared. She wouldn't have been ready for this. I have to be this married in this age and have (INAUDIBLE) never understood it, ever.
ELAM: And so what is the stage Mary wants to do next? What -- now that you are here, what do you want next?
BLIGE: I definitely want to keep acting and do more about playing important roles. And, of course, I'm going to keep singing and (INAUDIBLE) hopefully maybe one day if I tried it and it works, direct.
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ELAM: And I think she should probably definitely keep acting if this is where acting got here right here to the Oscars in 2018, John and Isha.
VAUSE: Very good career advice there from Stephanie Elam. I'm sure she'll take it to heart. Thank you Stephanie, really appreciate.
SESAY: Stephanie, thank you. Very much appreciated.
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I mean, let's talk about that. I mean, it was a big first for May J. Blige not only nominated for best supporting but also the song as well, so the first time we've had those two nominations with one person. But also talking about first in MeToo and Change, can we talk about Jordan Peele and also the fact that he won the Oscar for the screenplay, the first African-America, I believe to do so.
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Yes. Were you looking at me as the only other African-America on?
SESAY: Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm not African-America.
ODUOLOWU: Because I call it (INAUDIBLE)
SESAY: I'm not African-America, so I'm calling on you. Let's call the black call a friend. No, can we -- I mean, just your take on movie Get Out and the fact that he won for it.
ODUOLOWU: I'm happy that he won for it. I watched the movie with my wife who's black, our friend who has mixed kids. And we were sitting there watching it and it spoke to us very different I think to the other audience because to me I'm like (INAUDIBLE) this is like -- this is like Thursday. Like, I've had this happened before, like this is nothing new, people say this kind of stuff.
SESAY: So maybe give our viewers a little bit of a sense of what the film's about for those who haven't seen it.
ODUOLOWU: So if you haven't seen Get Out, get with it. But if you haven't seen Get Out, it's not even a horror or a comedy, for me it's a real life tale of a black gentleman marry -- dating a white woman going to meet her parents in the country for the first time and finding out that these weird experiments where they -- well -- first you tell me to tell them about then --
JESSICA BARTH, ACTRESS: (INAUDIBLE) like a Thursday for you, come on.
ODUOLOWU: No, the reason -- the reason that I -- the reason that I'm so happy that he got this is because this has been sitting with him for a long time. This was something that was intrinsically himself, it was his life, it was -- but he had witnessed what he had always felt.
Even when he was doing comedy he had come back to it and then would put it down and come back and he could not shake it and for that reason I thought it was --
VAUSE: And he never thought the movie would get made and that's what he said backstage, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORDAN PEELE, OSCAR WINNER, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: It's the renaissance. This is something that -- I almost never became a director because there was such a shortage of role models. We had Spike, we had John Singleton, we had the Peebles's, we had the Huge Brothers but they felt like they're exception to the rule. I'm so proud to be a part of a time -- the beginning of a movement where you -- where I feel like the best films in every genre are being brought to me by my fellow black directors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This category, screenplay was the most diverse probably being about 90 years because the other winner of what was (INAUDIBLE) was James Ivory, 89, the oldest ever Academy Award winner. But Jessica, we also have this evening at the Academy Awards TimesUp decided not to be there because they don't want to become an awards protest group. Good call, bad call?
BARTH: I would have like to see a stronger stance at the Oscars just because Harvey Weinstein rules the Oscars, so I would have preferred them to actually do what the Oscars as suppose to the Golden Globes.
But what I do want to say in terms of moving forward with TimesUp with the next movement, a lot of us who have spoken out have kind of found ourselves being accident activists and a part of this wonderful under strange circumstance is sisterhood and for me personally, my next step is a bunch of the women who initially spoke out against Harvey Weinstein have created this organization called Silence Breakers.
And we have phenomenal support within the entertainment industry. We're building a community for victims speaking out, supporting them through their journey, speaking out, we're backing bills like I was talking about earlier. And then we're also educating, going to institutions and establishments and educating people on what actually constitutes sexual harassment and sexual assault because for a long time, I didn't even realized what I had gone through with Harvey Weinstein was considered sexual harassment. I may have spoken up sooner.
SESAY: Yes.
BARTH: But as far as TimesUp, what I would like to see is those women who want to create this change are really starting to do that. Take the women who have spoken out and make it a positive thing. Reese Witherspoon acted in an unknown female director's move, do one project a year, that's the only way because they -- it's really -- they have the power. So Reese Witherspoon and Ava DuVernay and all these people to have such a platform start taking projects on for unknown female artists and bring them along and make it so that speaking out as a positive as opposed to win negative.
HAL SPARKS, COMEDIAN, ACTOR, DIRECTOR: That's why the screenplay category and women writers I think is one of the areas where it just doesn't get enough attention. We are very star and director focused and especially around the award shows.
[01:40:19]
But it's -- the page, the screenplays when the stories starts getting told and that's where I think more women writers will be the key to the real movement taking off and having a lasting change because that story has to be there. Wonder Woman was written by a man, there were would I would consider parts of Wonder Woman's storyline that should have been fixed for a better representation of women in that particular circumstance.
I think a woman director can only do so much along that part of that process. So it's very important that at the beginning stages of a project that the woman's voice is there if that's the project that you're trying to make. And as long as we don't take the writing aspect to have it seriously enough, we're not going to really see this becoming more than a trend or a blip or a slight one step forward, two steps back circumstance. The writers have to be there, women scripts have to start taking precedent.
SESAY: And Rebecca, to bring you in because often talked about the pipeline.
REBECCA SUN, SENIOR REPORTER, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Right.
SESAY: So talk to us about that. I mean, it's not just what's being green lighted but the scripts as they are created.
SUN: Right. I mean, I like what Hal said about writers. Now, in film though you can overstate that the director is king or rarely queen as I said before. But there's a whole pipeline and going from indie and actually getting your shot at making that leap to studios has been a significant gap in the pipeline. Sundance usually averages around 25 percent directors. Big Studio Movies, 4 percent and that has remained fixed for a decade.
VAUSE: You're talking about the directors being king or queen, if you look -- and there were some breakthrough moments when it comes to the nominations this year. But Sandro, there was a study came out that says that out of the movies over the last 10 years basically 667 top directors, 43 are women.
SANDRO MONETII, TV AND FILM JOURNALIST: Yes. One in ten directors of the film is women. It's just not good enough and this was the 90th Academy Award. Normally, this would be an occasion for celebration. No, it's an occasion for reflection and that's what its been because how would you celebrate an industry where there's so much disparity, where there's so much sexual con -- misconduct, where there's so many enablers?
It's decades of shame that we're reflecting on here. And so this is why discussions like these are so good tonight, these are discussions that's happening all over Hollywood. Change needs to happen. And by the time we had the 100th Academy Awards, let's hope we're looking at a very different Hollywood.
SPARKS: But I also think every stage of healing has to be given credit otherwise it will stagger and stop.
VAUSE: Good place to stop.
SESAY: Well we're going to take a quick break because the Oscar's red carpet, we're going to talk some fashion, one of the showcase of glamour (INAUDIBLE) interesting accessories, the hits and what some would say the misses, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:45:14]
VAUSE: Welcome back to CNN's special coverage of the Oscar's Hollywood's biggest night. We're here to talk about all the glitch and the glamour and the fashion (INAUDIBLE) George, it's good to see you George.
GEORGE KOTSIOPOULOS, STYLE EXPERT: Hey guys.
SESAY: George, welcome. Welcome.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Thank you. Thank you.
SESAY: Given that it is so important, the Oscars, you'd expect to see the celebrities bring their A Game with the fashion, they'll bring the glitch, they'll bring the glamour, but some of them brought something a little bit extra, you may have notice the pins that people were wearing, the TimesUp pins in reference to the MeToo Movement and also the orange pins in reference to gun violence.
I mean, Hollywood celebrities not being afraid to take a stand, what do you make of what we're seeing now, the politics on the carpet?
KOTSIOPOULOS: Well the pins are the accessory du jour right now. They did the blackout at the Golden Globes which is all of the ladies wore black for the TimesUp Movement and now, you know, it is the Oscars, I didn't think that we would see that, I think that it was going to be business as usual and we see a lot f these pins and it's people standing up for these causes that they believe in.
VAUSE: This just now seems to be like a permanent fashion accessory though at all of these award shows.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Well I think that it's moving away, the red carpet is moving away from who are you wearing and objectifying women in that way and they're just moving in a different more -- I don't know, the covers that I saw, not one person asked what they were wearing, it was all just talking about the films.
VAUSE: So you're protesting.
SESAY: But --
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. Not even some of the protesting but it was just saying -- the first question wasn't, "What's your dress?" And "What are your shoes?"
VAUSE: Right.
SESAY: But also just -- before we move on, I also like to say that the celebrities wearing pins is kind of inline where the country is. Everyone is talking about these issues, this is what people are thinking and people talking about and so they're just reflecting that.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. I mean, and it's having movement. I mean it's having movement. I mean, the TimesUp thing, that had a huge impact, that was a big deal, so.
VAUSE: OK. Since I don't know nothing about fashion, I would like to start with --
SESAY: Nice (INAUDIBLE) there.
VAUSE: Let's start with Actress Rita Moreno. Now this -- I love this because on the left is Rita from the Oscars, on the right though, that's the dress she wore to the Oscars, what, 1962?
SESAY: I love this.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. I mean --
VAUSE: You know, that's a kind of classic thing. KOTSIOPOULOS: Well this is a test to a couple of things, repurposing which I love, I think this is brilliant and it's also that fashion is -- the last 100 year -- the last 20 years have been a regurgitation of the last 100 years of fashion and this looks just as relevant right now as it did, what was this, 50 years ago?
VAUSE: Fifty six I think or more, yes.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. And she was -- and she looks amazing.
SESAY: It's fabulous. She moved well in it, she felt very comfortable, the necklace is gorgeous, I think --
KOTSIOPOULOS: I mean, this is like -- for me, it's about making a statement when you're wearing -- when you're getting dressed for a red carpet and this is a statement, she looks incredible.
VAUSE: Obviously the dress on the right looks a little different. That's when she won the Academy Award for Westside Story but, again, she look great.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. Which is funny, she modified the neckline.
SESAY: Yes. Yes, she brought it down, exactly.
KOTSIOPOULOS: (INAUDIBLE) strapless. And then -- yes. Well, there you go.
SESAY: I love it. I thought she look good. George, I want to talk about some of the looks where they're generating a lot of buzz online, we're going to put some of the celebrities up on screen to get your thoughts. Do you love it or are you happy to lose it? Let's start with Allison Janney who, of course, won the Oscars for best supporting actress. I love this.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Love. Love.
SESAY: What do you think?
KOTSIOPOULOS: I love it. I love it. The color is phenomenal. Love the sleeves, it's very dramatic. I mean, this is statement making and I love her hair. She hasn't really been wearing her hair up at all and I think she should have because this looks fantastic, she looks like a movie star, million bucks, love this one.
SESAY: Yes. Feels like old Hollywood, am I right?
KOTSIOPOULOS: I mean, it's also like kind of --
SESAY: I love it.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Like what are these -- these are like kind of princess sleeves, it's Rapunzel like (INAUDIBLE)
SESAY: Kind of like Lord of the Rings.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes, exactly. It's like kind of great.
VAUSE: Chadwick Boseman, let's have a look.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I think his look is cool. I think it's a very cool look. I don't get black tie out of this look but I do think it's cool and I like what he's wearing.
VAUSE: I think rhinestone cowboy out of that look.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. I mean, I wouldn't say rhine -- maybe -- I would say rhinestone cowboy.
SESAY: I mean, it's clearly a play on Black Panther was kind of embroidery, the African embroidery that you'll find on clothing for (INAUDIBLE)
KOTSIOPOULOS: But I think he could have done like a formal shoe and a bowtie or a straight tie, just something -- this is a black tie event, it's not the Grammy's, so just kind of keeping in that theme.
SESAY: OK. I want to put up Salma Hayek, tell me what you thought of this though because this has been -- people have kind of liked or really (INAUDIBLE)
KOTSIOPOULOS: I -- well -- and that's the thing with fashion, this is very directional, this is by Gucci, it's custom made for her and it's -- Gucci is the most directional brand right now. Everything is about Gucci, everything is over embellished and crazy, I mean, this is the hottest designer there is.
SESAY: Wow.
KOTSIOPOULOS: So it will cause a lot of reaction and people either loving it or hating it and that's when the fashion pendulum swings, when people start talking about it.
SESAY: And -- go ahead John.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) making nose when the wind blew, like vines.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I'm sure it made a lot of noise but I think she looks beautiful, her body looks fantastic, I love it.
VAUSE: OK. Who do we got next?
[01:50:15]
SESAY: Lupita.
VAUSE: Lupita Nyong'o, did I get that right?
SESAY: Yes, that's close enough.
VAUSE: Thank you.
SESAY: Well let's -- VAUSE: Thought it's good enough.
KOTSIOPOULOS: And this is Atelier Versace, it's beautiful and this is -- goes along with the Gucci trend where everything is very embellished. I think it's pretty. This is not one of my favorites on Lupita but I do love it, I think she looks beautiful in it.
SESAY: I mean, again, channeling the whole Black Panther thing, it does a very regal --
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes, it does.
SESAY: And I think I like that and with the little detail in the hair, I like it. But I agree, I've seen her wear other more --
VAUSE: I think it was classic but modern.
SESAY: Yes.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Yes. I must think I would love it without the embellishment, you know.
SESAY: Yes. Yes.
KOTSIOPOULOS: A little more simple.
SESAY: Need to show you this, I'm just going to put up the picture and you can run with this. Take a look at this, Adam Rippon.
VAUSE: OK.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I actually really like this. I really like. I don't like it for the Oscars but I think it's cool and I also don't like the loafers.
SESAY: What is it?
KOTSIOPOULOS: It's just not something I would wear.
SESAY: What is it?
KOTSIOPOULOS: This is Moschino.
SESAY: OK.
KOTSIOPOULOS: And it's -- there's -- it looks like there's -- there was like modifying deconstruct things. So this looks like this is your braces, the one that you would wear, your suspenders up here and it's harness that he's wearing on the inside which is more of an S&M kind of thing. But he is creative, it's a cool look. I don't like the shoes, I love everything but the shoes.
SESAY: The shoes are the thing that bother you out of all of this?
KOTSIOPOULOS: I think he should have won something a little more tough. I mean, he's wearing a freaking harness. VAUSE: You don't see the harness in the shirt a whole lot.
KOTSIOPOULOS: No, you do not.
SESAY: You're not (INAUDIBLE) as he's stepping out there. He gets (INAUDIBLE)
KOTSIOPOULOS: Absolutely. I mean --
SESAY: For taking a leap.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I think for the Grammy's, great look, not really for the Oscars. But I do like it.
VAUSE: OK. Jordan. OK.
SESAY: I don't remember it. How about we put it like that? I'm going to --
VAUSE: I want to see you wearing that --
KOTSIOPOULOS: I would wear that.
VAUSE: -- next year.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I mean, maybe not with -- I probably would not wear the harness but I'll wear that jacket, the jacket's cool.
VAUSE: George, thank you so much.
SESAY: George, a pleasure.
KOTSIOPOULOS: We didn't talk about my favorite yet.
SESAY: Tell us your favorite.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Wait, or are we going to do that later?
VAUSE: No, do it now.
SESAY: Tell us.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Oh. We didn't even talk about Nicole Kidman.
SESAY: That was your favorite?
KOTSIOPOULOS: I love that. She's wearing your beautiful blue color there.
SESAY: Well a little more really, but yes.
VAUSE: And there she is.
SESAY: There she is. You see, we imagine -- it's very Jessica Rabbit though, the little --
VAUSE: Yes. It looks like it's on backwards.
KOTSIOPOULOS: I -- no you guys, I think this is amazing. Like I love the big bow, I think she just -- she looks phenomenal.
SESAY: I do think she's phenomenal.
VAUSE: I had to tell.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Beautiful color, everything is like perfect to her.
VAUSE: Yes. We're going to take a short break.
KOTSIOPOULOS: OK.
VAUSE: Stay with us. George, thank you again.
SESAY: Thank you George.
VAUSE: A lot more of Hollywood's biggest night right after this, stay with us you're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Welcome back everyone to Hollywood's Biggest Night. We still have our panel with us for our closing thoughts.
VAUSE: OK everybody, 30 seconds and mean 30 seconds Hal. Final thoughts, biggest take away from the Academy Awards and how (INAUDIBLE)? Segun, 30 seconds. Segun first, you go first, you go last.
ODUOLOWU: My take from the Oscars were it was a little bit too bland for my taste, I want more. I just want people to feel this -- these movements that are going on, to feel them a little bit more deeply, and to start doing something, to start calling these men out that are sitting there side-by-side with some of these monsters and aren't stepping or aren't speaking up, that's when I think the movement will really start to find the momentum.
SESAY: Quick five second interjection, someone will be offended that you're telling them how they should feel about --
ODUOLOWU: No, I'm not talking to women, I'm talking to the men. I'm talking to the men.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are, you've got nothing to lose.
VAUSE: Jessica.
BARTH: On that note, on that note, with the men, I agree with you and I encourage men to speak up, powerful men in Hollywood we need your voice. I understand that there's a fear around it because of what happened with Matt Damon and you think you're going to get eviscerated in the press. To that I say, step up, support us, listen, believe, and we need your support.
[01:55:31]
VAUSE: Rebecca.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop mike.
SUN: If you work in the industry, (INAUDIBLE) meeting with a women this week. If you're a woman, put an inclusion writer and say, "I want to make sure that there are enough women in the crew," that sort of thing. I would say, if you're having a meeting with a woman, no, she's not interested in dating you and don't think about that. Just treat her like she's a dude and you want to have business with. And if for just the movie goers out there, if you haven't seen it yet, go watch get out.
VAUSE: Yes, good point. And Sandro.
SESAY: Yey. That's a good point. Sandro.
MONETTI: Thirty men won Oscars tonight, only six women did. That's the lowest number since 2012. Only fifteen percent of the Oscar winners were females. All this talk of equality, let's see some action. Those numbers aren't good enough. change the numbers, you change the game.
VAUSE: OK. Let's go to George.
KOTSIOPOULOS: Oh. I think my take away is Tiffany Haddish should host next year and make it more fun because it was just a little bland. I even think the fashion was bland. It wasn't an epic year and the Oscars are historically about fantasy and people dreaming and being aspirational and it just kind of wasn't that this year.
VAUSE: OK. Hal, 30 seconds and we mean 30 seconds.
SPARKS: All right. All right. I wouldn't have a second or so. Here's what I would say, Hollywood and storytelling is very good at the abstract of movement. Stories about marginalized human beings, emotions, people, people in certain circumstances.
Once it gets too specific, it starts to bifurcate itself into a new level of exclusion. And I think the important thing is that we ended up with the Oprah Oscar, everyone has one under your seat. We'll give one little one to almost everybody and act like we did something.
VAUSE: OK. Great.
SESAY: Yey.
SPARKS: (INAUDIBLE) Twitter.
VAUSE: Very quickly, Hal suppose next year, would be even longer. We should say that George and Sandro had a perfect score for predicting (INAUDIBLE) well done. My final thought on the Oscars is now say (INAUDIBLE) now open for sea creatures and women to feel free to love.
SESAY: I think it was a good moment to see people take the stage and certainly the women like Ashley Judd and others speak out and hopefully it has solidify on everyone (INAUDIBLE)
SPARKS: This has got to be a 20-year process. It's got to be --
VAUSE: You had to get the last word.
SESAY: All right. That does it for us here --
SPARKS: You bet I did.
SESAY: -- with Hollywood's Biggest Night. All thanks to everyone who joined us to this panel, thank you so much.
VAUSE: You guys have been awesome, even Hal. I'm John Vause, thank you very much for being with us.
SPARKS: Especially Hal.
VAUSE: Especially Hal.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay, the news continues on CNN --
VAUSE: And Hal probably, he'll still be here.
SESAY: -- right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
