West Side Story director and producer Steven Spielberg was the star of the Producers Guild of America awards nominee breakfast on Saturday morning, as one producer after another praised him, even though they were all competing for the same prize at Saturday night’s award show.
Spielberg didn’t disappoint, and gave up several memorable tidbits, including saying that he won’t direct another musical after West Side Story. Producing is a different matter, as he and his company, Amblin Entertainment, are producing the musical adaptation of The Color Purple.
“The worst day of the West Side Story shoot was the last day, because I knew I wouldn’t direct another musical,” said Spielberg, who is up for the PGA’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures alongside his longtime producing partner, Kristie Macosko Krieger.
Spielberg repeatedly praised Krieger, who couldn’t be at the breakfast panel at the Skirball Cultural Center hosted by the PGA and presented by The Hollywood Reporter. For decades, Spielberg’s go-to producers have been female, including Kathleen Kennedy, who now runs Lucasfilm (both Krieger and Kennedy began as his assistants).
“The smartest thing I do is hire women,” Spielberg said. “I always will.”
The iconic director also provided plenty of levity when recounting a visit to the late Stephen Sondheim in an effort to make a new West Side Story. He said that Sondheim’s two dogs kept “sniffing at his crotch,” but that he didn’t dare shoo them away. “So I endured these lovely animals for a while,” Spielberg said.
The other PGA nominees appearing on the panel were Todd Back (Being the Ricardos), Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Philippe Rousselet (CODA), Kevin Messick (Don’t Look Up), Mary Parent (Dune), Tim White (King Richard), Sarah Murphy (Licorice Pizza), Tanya Seghatchian, (The Power of the Dog), Julie Oh (Tick, Tick … Boom!). Messick and Branagh both participated virtually.
Each producers shared the trials and tribulations of making their various films. All the nominated films have multiple producers, but only one can participate in the two-hour PGA breakfast panel.
Legendary’s Parent said no one knew whether Dune would work at the box office in the fall of 2021, considering the constraints of the ongoing pandemic. From director Denis Villeneuve, Dune earned north of $400 million at the global box office despite a day-and-date release on HBO Max. “As a result, we don’t look dumb,” said Parent.
The production veteran also said that the next Dune won’t be a sequel per se, but Part II of the first film. “Denis always said that the movie was Part I.”
Black and Spielberg also engaged in a dialogue about whether movie stars still matter. Spielberg kicked it off by saying that domestic stars aren’t as important currently, and that international stars are on the rise because of various streaming series. Black suggested that might be true for a Spielberg movie, but that an “anchor” star is still key.
Spielberg agreed that such an anchor is still needed for a film, but that you can round your cast out with lesser-known names. He then quipped: “Squid Game comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us.” Spielberg then went on to thank Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, who was in the audience to support Don’t Look Up and Power of the Dog. (Netflix is home of Squid Game.)
The PGA Awards will be handed out beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Source: Hollywood
