• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Oscars Aftermath: The Good, The Bad & The Kenergy

Nolan’s big night, Jason Kilar memories, and a few other light Oscars observations and impressions from my seat at the Dolby and the parties thereafter.

christopher nolan
Nolan and his studio benefactor succeeded creatively and financially the old-fashioned way, not via some innovative strategy. Photo: eff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Matthew Belloni
March 12, 2024

Christopher Nolan didn’t thank Jason Kilar in his Oscars acceptance speech last night, but the seeds of the Oppenheimer quasi-sweep were sown on December 3, 2020. That date—let’s call it the Big Bang of the current Hollywood solar system—was when Kilar, the former Hulu executive whom AT&T hired to turn WarnerMedia into Netflix, announced Project Popcorn, his plan to leverage the pandemic to boost HBO Max by debuting the entire ’21 slate online the day the titles hit theaters.