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This is what it’s like to miss out on a Best Picture Oscar

Real talk from “Get Out” producer Jason Blum.

Hollywood Producer Jason Blum at Code Media 2017
Hollywood Producer Jason Blum at Code Media 2017
Asa Mathat
Peter Kafka
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.

What’s it like to have a realistic chance to win the Oscar for Best Picture and not win?

There are only a handful of people who can answer that question. One of them is Jason Blum, the producer behind “Get Out.” And he shared it with me and and a live audience yesterday, at Vox Media’s The Deep End outpost at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

The short version: Blum says he had convinced himself he was going to win. So not winning came as a rude shock.

Slightly longer version: The reason Blum had convinced himself he was going to win was that he had practiced his acceptance speech, over and over and over, so he wouldn’t flub things if he did win. (I got to see one of his dry runs, recorded on his iPhone. It was good! He should share it with everyone.)

One of the reasons Blum is great to talk to — in addition to the fact that he has a really interesting and successful approach to moviemaking — is that he is great to talk to. He always wants to contribute more to the conversation.

Here Blum offers some more real talk about what it’s like to not win, even though director and screenwriter Jordan Peele did win an Oscar for his original screenplay. If you’re impatient, skip ahead to the 44-second mark:

If you like listening to people have this kind of conversation in podcast form, you are in luck. We’ll have this one up on Recode Media later this week, or you can watch the full interview below.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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