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Reginald Hudlin Hearts NPR

Angie Hamilton-Lowe
/
NPR

Reginald Hudlin produced one of this year's most talked-about films, Django Unchained. He is also one of just a handful of African-Americans among nearly 6,000 voting members of the Academy Awards, the group that decides who gets an Oscar.

In an interview on Tell Me More, the filmmaker talks about why there are so few female and minority contenders for Best Director among this year's nominees. He tells guest host Celeste Headlee that as the movie industry is changing, studios are taking fewer risks, and breaking into the big tent-pole movies is getting harder and harder, even as women and minorities are gaining a lot of experience in the industry. Change is happening however, Hudlin points out. Django Unchained, a Black Western considered a safe box-office bet this year, never would have gotten made when he was a kid.

Just before his interview, NPR West played host to the kind of run-in that seems to only happen in LA - Hudlin crossed paths with Django Unchained director Quentin Tarantino, who was heading out after a chat with Fresh Air Host Terry Gross.

And while we didn't have a gold statuette for him, Hudlin was happy to show some NPR love with something a little less shiny.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Melissa Kuypers