want this [career path], and I am
going to create it.” And Rashaad
and I just looked at him and
we smiled because we could see
it. And so, if he wanted to be here,
he would be, but this is not the
only game in town for someone
who looks like us anymore.
DANIELS Yes, sir.Have the studio executives caught
up? You guys are still making
many of these projects outside of
the studio system ...
PEELE The last piece of the excuse
for this sort of systemic lack
of inclusion that we’ve seen, with
some exceptions, was the business
part of it kicking in. For so long,
you’d hear this notion that the
international business is not there
and that black people, we’ve always
watched white movies, but white
people don’t come to black movies.
And there are other exceptions
that have inched us forward, but
when Straight Outta Compton
came out, it was an international
blockbuster.
SINGLETON 12 Years a Slave was an
international blockbuster, too.
JENKINS Even Moonlight, not a
blockbuster, but we made more
money overseas than we did
domestic.
DANIELS As did The Butler.
PEELE Right. And that’s why
we’re in this renaissance right
now, because you can’t make
that excuse anymore. The genie
is out of the bottle. And what I
love about what Panther is doing
is it almost feels like, “Are black
people gonna go see white peo-
ple’s movies now that we have our
own?” (Laughs.)DANIELS Hashtag How-you-doin’?
(Laughter.)We started with the 1992 Oscars,
and I’d like to end with the 2018
awards. What advice do the three
of you have for Jordan?
SINGLETON I already told you I
didn’t enjoy it because I was ner-
vous as hell, but you’re different.
You had a career as a performer
before you were a filmmaker. So,
everything now is just gravy for
you. It’s just gravy.
DANIELS And keep that smile on.
The world will be watching every
move on your face, so when they
mention your name, smile, and
keep that same smile even if you
don’t win.
PEELE As the tear goes down the
cheek ...
DANIELS Yeah. (Laughs.) And John
told me this when it was my turn,
and I don’t know whether you
will be able to, but embrace that
you are talented and that you
deserve to be at the table. Take it
in. I didn’t.
JENKINS I have mixed emotions.
It’s cool to be here now a year
later because all the things I
felt like I wanted to do heading
into the ceremony, I did. We went
and made Beale Street [based
on the James Baldwin novel], and
we’re making Underground
Railroad at Amazon. Those were
things that were going to hap-
pen whether we lost or won. And
for two minutes, we lost. And
in those two minutes, I was still
self-satisfied because I knew
I’m going to go off and do these
things, you know? Winning or
losing is not gonna take any of
those things off the table. But it’s
bittersweet because when that
switch happened, I didn’t enjoy it.
And I look back on that whole pro-
cess, the process that you (looks
to Jordan) have handled very well,
my friend, and all that shit comes
together at the end and because
of how things went down, I didn’t
enjoy it. And I’m never going
to get the opportunity to enjoy
that — because even if it hap-
pens again, it won’t be the same.
Moonlight was a very special film
for me. It was super personal,
as this film is for you, so, bro, I’m
gonna have to say what he said:
Smile, yeah, but enjoy that shit,
man, ’cause you earned it.John mentioned Black Panther
earlier. By the time this is
published, that movie is likely to
have made hundreds of millions
of dollars. (The film opened with
a record-breaking $242 million in
the U.S. and Canada.)
SINGLETON It will. Trust me.
What will the impact of that be?
DANIELS Where’s mine? I gotta
have one. Where’s mine?
Do you have a black superhero
movie in your back pocket?
DANIELS We all have our own ver-
sion of one, I’m sure. And he has
paved the way now.
JENKINS One of the cool things is,
if you do the work, you can make
any film you want right now. You
can manifest your own destiny.
If Ryan Coogler wanted to, he’d be
sitting in this room. He could’ve
gone from Fruitvale [Station]
to his version of Moonlight or Boyz
N the Hood or whatever. But he
saw his career. He saw it. And it
went from Fruitvale to Creed to
Panther. I remember I had dinner
with him back in 2013 — I was
living in Oakland at the time, and
it was the month before Fruitvale
premiered at Sundance, and it
was me, him and this other film-
maker, Rashaad Ernesto Green,
and Ryan’s wife. And he said, “ISingleton (right) with Spike Lee and documentarian Debra Chasnoff at the
1992 Oscars. The Boyz N the Hood helmer says he felt he was nominated
because Lee had been passed over in 1990 for Do the Right Thing.149
SIDIBE: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES. LEE: JOHN BARR/LIAISON VIA GETTY IMAGES.