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Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award

  • Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
  • Brad PittBrad Pitt left the University of Missouri two weeks short of completing the coursework for his degree. As graduation approached, he did not feel ready to settle down. He loved films, which he once called "a portal into different worlds for…
  • Christopher NolanChristopher Nolan has no smartphone and no email address. He hand-delivers his scripts to the actors he wants.
  • Peter JacksonPeter Jackson saw King Kong at nine, and a few years later tried to remake it with stop-motion models he built himself.
  • Paul Thomas AndersonPaul Thomas Anderson, the American filmmaker known by his initials PTA, earned a C+ on his very first film school assignment. The task at New York University was simple: write a single page of screenplay. Anderson handed in a page from…
  • Clint EastwoodPresident Reagan quoted Clint Eastwood's line "Go ahead, make my day" to Congress.
  • Jack L. WarnerJack Warner once rushed onstage at the Oscars and took a trophy that was not his. The prize was for Casablanca.
  • James CameronJames Cameron dropped alone to the deepest point on Earth in 2012. He stayed more than three hours on the bottom.
  • Michael DouglasMichael Douglas won a Best Picture Oscar before he was a star. He produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
  • Irving ThalbergIrving Thalberg ran MGM's production, yet his name never appeared on screen while he lived.
  • Guillermo del ToroAt about eight, Guillermo del Toro filmed a serial killer potato with a Super 8 camera. It sought world domination.
  • Francis Ford CoppolaMarlon Brando won the Godfather role only after a screen test and a reduced fee.
  • George ClooneyIn 1977, a teenage George Clooney tried out for the Cincinnati Reds and did not make it past the first round of player cuts. No contract was offered. Clooney, an American actor and filmmaker, would go on to collect two Academy Awards, a…
  • Harvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein was thanked by name in 34 Academy Award acceptance speeches. That is as many times as God was thanked, and only Steven Spielberg, with 43 mentions, was thanked more often. The tally comes from an analysis of speeches made…
  • Ron HowardRon Howard, age five, had to cry while holding a toy turtle. Andy Griffith coached him through it in 1960.
  • Mel GibsonMel Gibson was paid $400 for his first film role, in Summer City, while he was still a drama student. A short time later, the title role in Mad Max paid him $9000. In the year 2000, Hollywood handed him a record $25 million to star in The…
  • Ben AffleckBen Affleck directed Argo, and for it he collected the Golden Globe, the Directors Guild Award and the BAFTA for Best Director without ever being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. No director had done that before him. The…
  • Saul ZaentzSaul Zaentz won three Best Picture Oscars, a feat almost no one else in Hollywood has matched.

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