Seven Ways to Produce an Oscar Contender, From ‘The Irishman’ to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’

It’s so easy to make a bad movie, and so hard to produce a great one.

Two producers this year each managed the rare feat of producing not one, but two movies that are in the race for 2020 Oscars.

Emma Tillinger Koskoff produced Martin Scorsese’s big-budget period epic “The Irishman” as well as Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” while David Heyman supported two writer-directors, Quentin Tarantino and Noah Baumbach, with sprawling showbiz mosaic “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and bicoastal tug-of-war divorce drama “Marriage Story,” respectively.

All required a range of skills learned over many years, not least of which is knowing when to say no, and when to say yes.“A producer is only as good as the director you work with,” Heyman told IndieWire.

“You can make a great film with a great director, but you can’t make a great film with a bad director.”1.

Hitch yourself to an A-list director.

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