A Great Day In Beverly Hills…And I Was There!

Oscars: 34 Legendary Producers Gather for THR's Once-in-a-Lifetime Class Photo

by Stacey Wilson, Scott Feinberg, Carrie Smith, The Hollywood Reporter

Winners and nominees -- past and present -- assembled at the Beverly Hills home of Robert Evans on Feb. 19 for The Hollywood Reporter's exclusive photo shoot.

This story first appeared in the March 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

THR deputy photo editor Carrie Smith, senior editor Stacey Wilson and awards analyst Scott Feinberg managed to convince 34 Oscar-winning and -nominated producers of 48 movies to assemble at Evans' Woodland estate in Beverly Hills. "We decided to aim big and gather a cross-section of generations," says Feinberg.

Quincy Jones (The Color Purple) arrived fashionably late to a hero's welcome; Gibson wore the same shirt as Jon Landau (Titanic), who quipped, "Did you bring another shirt?" The shoot also reunited Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II) and Michael Phillips (The Sting) after 40 years.

"Knowing that we were among some of the greatest personalities in the history of cinema was amazing," says Wilson.

Academy Award-winning and nominated producers of 48 films in the running for best picture gathered at the Beverly Hills home of Robert Evans for a class photo. Click the photo to take a look inside the once-in-a-lifetime moments. 

Who's Who and Their Oscar History

1. Jon Landau, Winner, Titanic (1998); nominee, Avatar (2010)
2. Robbie Brenner, Nominee, Dallas Buyers Club (2014)
3. Ron Yerxa, Nominee, Nebraska (2014)
4. Jonathan Gordon, Nominee, Silver Linings Playbook (2013), American Hustle (2014)
5. Nicolas Chartier, Winner, The Hurt Locker (2010)
6. Donna Gigliotti, Winner, Shakespeare in Love (1999); nominee, The Reader (2009), Silver Linings Playbook (2013)
7. Richard Suckle, Nominee, American Hustle (2014)
8. Bill Pohlad, Nominee, The Tree of Life (2012)
9. Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Nominee, The Wolf of Wall Street (2014)
10. Michael Phillips, Winner, The Sting (1974); nominee, Taxi Driver (1977)
11. Frank Marshall, Nominee, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982), The Color Purple (1986), The Sixth Sense (2000), Seabiscuit (2004), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009)
12. Irwin Winkler, Winner, Rocky (1977); nominee, Raging Bull (1981), The Right Stuff (1984), Goodfellas (1991)
13. Stanley R. Jaffe, Winner, Kramer vs. Kramer (1980); nominee, Fatal Attraction (1988)
14. Mike Medavoy, Nominee, Black Swan (2011)
15. Rachel Winter, Nominee, Dallas Buyers Club (2014)
16. Arnold Kopelson, Winner, Platoon (1987); nominee, The Fugitive (1994)
17. Jason Reitman, Nominee, Up in the Air (2010)
18. Stacey Sher, Nominee, Erin Brockovich (2001), Django Unchained (2013)
19. Ivan Reitman, Nominee, Up in the Air (2010)
20. Dan Jinks, Winner, American Beauty (2000); nominee, Milk (2009)
21. Reginald Hudlin, Nominee, Django Unchained (2013)
22. Mark Johnson, Winner, Rain Man (1989); nominee, Bugsy (1992)
23. Mel Gibson, Winner, Braveheart (1996)
24. Brian Grazer, Winner, A Beautiful Mind (2002); nominee, Apollo 13 (1996), Frost/Nixon (2009)
25. Sherry Lansing, Nominee, Fatal Attraction (1988)
26. Albert Berger, Nominee, Nebraska (2014)
27. Alan Ladd Jr., Winner, Braveheart (1996)
28. Robert Evans, Nominee, Chinatown (1975)
29. Albert S. Ruddy, Winner, The Godfather (1973), Million Dollar Baby (2005)
30. Fred Roos, Winner, The Godfather, Part II (1975); nominee, The Conversation (1975), Apocalypse Now (1980)
31. Walter Mirisch, Winner, In the Heat of the Night (1968)
32. Lawrence Bender, Nominee, Pulp Fiction (1995), Good Will Hunting (1998), Inglourious Basterds (2010)
33. Diana Ossana, Nominee, Brokeback Mountain (2006)
34. Quincy Jones, Nominee, The Color Purple (1986)

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Behind The Scenes Of This Year’s Image Awards

I wanted to post these earlier, but I was too busy making the doggone show!

Here’s Stevie Wonder, America’s National Treasure, in rehearsal. One of the keyboardists in his band was jamming one of my favorite songs, Weather Report’s YOUNG AND FINE to warm up.

After hearing Stevie run it down, I made the executive decision to give him more time and add one more song to the medley. More is always more with Stevie. 

These signs help the crew in rehearsal so they know how to position themselves to capture crowd reactions and winners as they walk to the stage. 

California Attorney General Kamala Harris with her very adorable Godchildren being interviewed on the Red Carpet by Kevin Frazier.

During the Red Carpet show (a NAACP Award first!), I ran into screenwriter John Ridley, who won an Image Award and an Oscar for 12 YEARS A SLAVE.

When I saw two the biggest stars in Hollywood talking backstage, I had to capture Kevin Hart and Tyler Perry together. Kevin was the big winner of the night with awards for best actor in a sitcom, best sitcom for REAL HUSBANDS OF HOLLYWOOD and Entertainer of the Year.

After the show, me and fellow producers Phil Gurin and Byron Phillips took a picture with friends and family. Many of these people grew up with me in East St. Louis. Others are more recent but no less dear. These people are what it’s all about.

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  THE HUDLIN 100 2013

Ten lists of ten favorites of the year. This installment is about the movies.

Best Movies Of The Year

1. Fast And Furious 6

I went to the FAST AND FURIOUS premiere, and a few weeks later, paid money see it again.

2. World War Z

Finally, a zombie movie that looks at the big picture of global infection!

3. Philomena

Great example of how to tell a story about a social injustice with the right mix of humor and pathos.  

4. Wolf Of Wall Street

When Martin Scorcese makes movies about amoral characters like GOODFELLAS and CASINO and RAGING BULL, he doesn’t get any awards…but years later, people lament that he wasn’t recognized for his most vital work. Well, it happened again. 

5. The Purge

One of the best concepts for a film I’ve seen in a while. We’ll be seeing sequels and spinoffs to this idea for a long time. 

6. Iron Man 3

I love that they used one of the best modern IRON MAN storyline with Warren Ellis’ extremis and made a sequel that not only topped the first two films, but could follow THE AVENGERS.  

7. Blue Jasmine

One can argue that Woody Allen is the greatest living filmmaker. He’s had such a long and prolific career, one could name at least 12 masterpieces from different phases of his career. 

8. Despicable Me 2

This is my kids’ favorite film of all time, beating out the first DESPICABLE ME. I enjoyed it too! Not to mention it totally deserved to win best song…not just for HAPPY, but this song too.

9. Her

I’ve never seen a movie about how technology changes society that didn’t involve a trumped up excuse for violence. And the production design was glorious. 

10.  Fruitvale Station

This movie made me squirm in recognition of the sweet hearted screw up of a lead character. Yes, I cried at the end, but that’s not a reason to avoid the film. See it!  

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