In the News: Todd Shares Expertise for Oscars Story
When the 94th Academy Awards ceremony is televised on Sunday, March 27, from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, viewers can revel in the glitz and glamour surrounding a slate of nominated actors, directors, producers, and other creative individuals who bring movies to life.
The ceremony, however, is not without controversy or questions of relevance.
Macy Todd, Buffalo State College assistant professor of English who teaches courses within the television and film arts (TFA) program, shared his thoughts on the storied awards ceremony in a lengthy interview with Wallethub. The personal finance website featured an article on “Oscar Facts,” including the $42.9 million it costs to produce the 2022 ceremony, and tapped Todd’s expertise on everything from the diversity of nominations to his predictions of winners.
When asked how the Academy can improve the diversity of the awards in light of controversies from past years, Todd replied, “I am going to have to argue that what is being confronted is not just an Academy Awards problem, but a much larger movie problem. A broader spectrum of experiences is needed not only in the content of movies but in the positions of power within the industry. This means more women and people of color directing films, producing films, and serving as studio executives.”
When asked his thoughts on who will leave the ceremony with golden statues, Todd admitted he’s terrible at making predictions but did share his preferences.
“I liked [Denzel] Washington’s performance in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth quite a bit, even though Shakespeare is far from my favorite. Penelope Cruz was fantastic in Parallel Mothers. It is a shame that Pedro Almodóvar was not nominated for Best Director. In that category, I like Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s work on Drive My Car the best, although you can never go wrong naming Jane Campion ‘Best Director’ in any year. As for Best Picture, I will be rooting again for Hamaguchi and Drive My Car—a really memorable and stylistically striking film that stands out from its competitors.”
Todd, who joined the Buffalo State faculty in 2015, has research interests in early and transitional film, genre studies, and psychoanalysis.
