Oscar Nominees Producers/Directors Dinner 2022

Last night's Oscar nominees producers/directors dinner was a blast. What a privilege to be amongst some of our greatest living directors!! With all the horsing around they did to prep for a group photo, they obviously enjoyed being in front of the camera as much as behind! Problem was, no one was directing! lol.

Particularly heartwarming for me was reconnecting with Steven with whom I spent every minute of the shoot in Shanghai on EMPIRE OF THE SUN. Thank you, Steven (and Kathy and Frank) for the amazing opportunity to work on this historic film. Steven and I had so much fun reminiscing about the experience. What I also learned is that he had just watched a Russian movie the night before the first day of shooting which had 150,000 extras, so he was nervous that our mere 10,000 extras wouldn't be enough! (That's how it was done then!! No CGI.) But all worked out splendidly.

And finally, what a pleasure it has been to get to know the director and producer of DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Terahisa Yamamoto. We've had many occasions to get to know one another and they are definitely kindred spirits!

Thank you, Tom Oyer, also pictured, and so many individuals who are part of the Academy family for organizing these heart-warming gatherings of creative souls.