Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter! - MMO Interviews: THE Oscar-ologist - Ep 165

Published: Feb. 19, 2019, 1 p.m.

Scott talks a crazy awards season, how to do a great interview, his bio & more! MMO Interviews: Scott Feinberg Intro / Awards Chatter, Feinberg Forecast, & The Resume of an Oscar-ologist Who’s Winning Best Picture? - 3:26 A Familiar Question / The Scott Feinberg Backstory- 5:54 Separating Film Fan from Oscar Prognosticator - 13:20 Interview Techniques & Does He Still Get Star Struck? - 15:53 Feinberg’s Infamous Forecast / How He Does It - 18:15 This Awards Season: 2018/19’s Overall Theme - 21:44 Can “Popular Film” Survive THIS Best Picture Race? - 23:23 Does Netflix Loom Large Over the Season? - 26:22 Has Academy Expansion Changed Things? - 29:34 Specifics for 2018/19: What the Hell Happened to A Star Is Born? - 35:40 Supporting Actress is Anyone’s Guess - 41:20 What’s Next for Scott Feinberg? - 46:41 Scott Feinberg Pitches the Worst Possible Movie - 49:25 Outro/Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 54:14 Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter is a name to trust during awards season. He’s the host of the Awards Chatter podcast, the oracle behind the Feinberg Forecast, and moderator of Q&A’s around the film world. His track record as a prognosticator is the best in the business, and through his many interviews, we can get to know the industry’s most award worthy filmmakers & stars. We’ve read & listened to Scott for years, well before our show began, and we’ve long hoped for the chance to talk to him about his life & career, and to pick his brain about the latest twists & turns of the next Oscar Race. We did just that last Friday. We begin with the Best Picture race, and Scott breaks down many of the Oscar categories throughout the episode. But what makes this interview extra special for us is Scott’s origin story. He began his love & study of film like many of us, with a movie list & a library. Listening to Scott talk about how he got started in this business was certainly one of the highlights of this or any show, and we left this interview as encouraged & inspired as ever. We hope the same for you. Scott is kind enough to chat with us for nearly an hour. We dive into his career path from the Connecticut local news & blogosphere to the LA Times & THR, and we ask him about his interview techniques & what kind of work process goes into his forecasting. This awards season has certainly left an impression on Mr. Feinberg, and he talks about the Popular Film category, Netflix, & the new Academy membership while also taking us back through Oscar history and citing many examples of what this voting body has stood for & championed since Scott began walking red carpets and brushing shoulders with the business. We also question Scott about the illustrious rise & fall of A Star Is Born and the unprecedented situation in the Best Supporting Actress category. Whether tuning in before or after Oscar’s big night, do not miss this episode. It is most definitely, one of our finest hours, and to Scott Feinberg, we thank him on behalf of our show. Do make sure to follow him on social media: at ScottFeinberg on Twitter, scott_feinberg on Instagram, and you can read & listen to his work on THR. As always, let us know what you think. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you enjoy podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!