Oscar Nominations!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Okay. I got up at 5:30 for the announcement but I'm still struggling to take this in. This morning. "The Revenant," directed by my student Alejandro Iñárritu, nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. "Mustang," directed by my student Deniz Gamze Ergüven, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. This is the third year in a row that films directed by students of mine have received Oscar Best Picture nominations. Last year, "Birdman" (which won), directed by Alejandro, and "Selma," directed by my student Ava DuVernay. The year before, "12 Years A Slave" (which won), directed by my student Steve McQueen. These are all beautiful, kind people that I know and cherish and always believed in. I've been lucky that their lives have touched mine. But it's more than pride in the achievement of this handful. I'm proud of all my students. And I'm super proud that my students have practically single-handedly represented the pathetically meager amount of inclusion and diversity in the Oscar nominations of this and the past two years.

  • “I am eternally grateful for your help.”

    TAIKA WAITITI, writer-director, JOJO RABBIT, THOR RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, BOY, EAGLE VS SHARK, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

  • “I took a seminar with an acting teacher named Judith Weston. I learned a key insight to character. She believed that all well-drawn characters have a spine, and the idea is that the character has an inner motor, a dominant, unconscious goal that they’re striving for, an itch that they can’t scratch. I took to this like a duck to water.”

    ANDREW STANTON [from his Feb 2012 TED Talk] writer-director, FINDING DORY, WALL-E, FINDING NEMO, A BUG’S LIFE; director, BETTER CALL SAUL, STRANGER THINGS; writer, TOY STORY, TOY STORY 2, TOY STORY 3

  • "Judith's method is wonderful because it is practical. She has given me numerous tools to solve problems on the set and to earn the trust of actors. Her classes and her book are invaluable resources to any director."

    LAWRENCE TRILLING, director, GOLIATH, RECTIFY, PARENTHOOD, MASTERS OF SEX, PUSHING DAISIES, DAMAGES, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, NIP/TUCK, MONK, SCRUBS, INVASION, ALIAS, FELICITY

  • "Thank you for teaching me how to direct actors. Taking your classes made me believe I could direct. Taking your classes gave me a base, a foundation, a framework to find my own style. To step out on faith. I'm forever grateful. Love and respect to you, magnificent Judith Weston." 

    AVA DuVERNAY, director, WHEN THEY SEE US, QUEEN SUGAR, A WRINKLE IN TIME, SELMA, SCANDAL, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

  • "Everything you taught me was more than useful. I am deeply grateful."

    ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU, director, THE REVENANT, BIRDMAN, BIUTIFUL, BABEL, 21 GRAMS, AMORES PERROS