What ‘Wicked’ Producer Marc Platt Really Thinks of Awards
‘The way I measure success is the journey that I go on’
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Incredibly, producer Marc Platt’s never won an Oscar himself, save for the two minutes or so when La La Land mistakenly became best picture winner at the 2017 Academy Awards due to an envelope mix-up.
“That was a momentary disappointment,” Platt said about the unforgettable scene before the correct winner, Moonlight, was announced as best picture. “But the joy of making that film with Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone lives in me forever. And the joy I know it brings others is most significant…. The way I measure success is really the journey that I go on.”
Nonetheless, Platt’s movies have received a whopping 41 Oscar nominations, including 10 last year for Wicked: Part One. (In addition, his productions have earned 36 Tony nominations and 48 Emmy nominations.)
Platt produced the blockbuster stage musical of Wicked in the early 2000s and pushed to get a theatrical version off the ground for years. Today, the Wicked movies have earned more than $1.2 billion and dominated conversation.
“That was one of the really exciting things about Wicked, that it became monoculture for a while,” he said. “It was a moment where wide swaths of the population were talking about the same thing.”
It’s a trait Platt sees with the Oscars ceremony itself, which announced it will be decamping for YouTube in 2029. “I think the Oscars have that place in culture in the right way of celebrating, ultimately not the specific craft of one person — even though we give out awards to each person — but celebrating an art form that is hopefully transcendent and long-lasting.”
The Wicked franchise went against typical Hollywood narratives and trends — not just by embracing the musical genre, but by featuring a diverse group of collaborators in front of and behind the camera.
“I believe both in the future and believe in creating opportunities for folks who don’t have it,” Platt said. “I think if you tell a story well, it will be received.”